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| Roche's Daniel O'Day |
Roche ($RHHBY) pharma chief Daniel O'Day expects payers to continue piling on the pressure when it comes to drug pricing. He just doesn't expect it to affect his company's cancer stars anytime in the near future. Blockbusters Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin won't be subject to "short term" U.S. pricing pressure since the meds treat patients with few other options, he told Reuters. Instead, he figures, it's generic drugmakers that'll take the hit. "There will be a bifurcation of the industry. There will be true innovators that are providing transformational medicines. And then there will be the generic medicines," he told the news service. More from FiercePharma
> Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) and Pfizer ($PFE) have inked a collaboration deal with Portola Pharmaceuticals to develop and market Portola's andexanet alfa--a candidate reversal agent for new-age anticoagulants such as the pair's Eliquis--in Japan. Release
> Pfizer's ($PFE) Lyrica and Neurontin--meds that are often recommended as safer alternatives to opioid pain therapies--could face new U.K. restrictions thanks to increasing reports that they're being abused. More
> The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie's ($ABBV) multiple myeloma immunotherapy, Empliciti, for approval. Report
> The FDA has approved a label expansion for Eisai breast cancer drug Halaven; it green-lighted the med for use in treating a rare type of soft tissue cancer. More
> Teijin Pharma has launched Loqoa Tape, a new transdermal anti-inflammatory analgesic patch formulation.
And Finally... Abbott Labs ($ABT) has agreed to buy diagnostics company Alere ($ALR) for $5.8 billion. Report