Thursday, May 28, 2026

 

 

Teva Pharmaceuticals Commits to Veeva Vault CRM Platform Globally

(5/27, StreetInsider.com) ...Lavanya Narasimhamurthy, global vice president of IT at Teva, said the move expands the companies' strategic partnership and will support commercial execution. "We are excited to expand our strategic partnership with Veeva by moving to Vault CRM," Narasimhamurthy stated. "We share a deep commitment to customer success, and Vault CRM will provide Teva the technical foundation to drive commercial execution."... Sub. Req'd

 

 

Lilly Vows Global Drug Launches Despite Pricing Pressure

(5/27, Eru Ishikawa, Bloomberg) ..."Our goal is to continue to bring innovation to all the patients around the globe," Chief Financial Officer Lucas Montarce said in an interview in Tokyo, noting that pricing pressure from reference-pricing systems and MFN-style policies is "not new" for the pharmaceutical industry... Full

 

Trump's Drug-Pricing Deals Set to Be Tested by New Product Launches

(5/28, John Wilkerson, STAT+) ...Baxfendy and Veppanu aren't yet available in other wealthy countries that are used as comparisons for reference pricing. An AstraZeneca spokesperson said the company met the terms of the deal it struck with the administration, but declined to discuss the matter further. A Novo Nordisk spokesperson declined to say if Awiqli would tie its U.S. price to prices abroad, or what it will cost... Sub. Req'd

 

Amid Policy and Pricing Headwinds, US Healthcare and Life Sci Faces 'Vast Field of Opportunity': Survey

(5/27, Fraiser Kansteiner, Fierce Pharma) ...Overall, 75% of the respondents in AlixPartners' survey rated the industry's distress level as seven or higher on a scale of 10, with 10 indicating extreme distress. Meanwhile, less than 40% of the operators polled-representing healthcare and biopharma companies-reported being "significantly prepared for a wide range of potential changes" in the operating landscape... Full

 

AARP Compares US Drug Costs as Trump Weighs Foreign Price Plans

(5/28, Nyah Phengsitthy, Bloomberg Law) ...The findings, set to be published Thursday by AARP, found that the list prices for 25 top brand name drugs rose by an average of 81% after entering the US market, while prices for those same medications decreased by an average of 13% in 19 other high-income countries... Full

 

Tariffs on Medicines Will Do More Harm Than Good

(5/27, Anne Pritchett, DC Journal) ...Tariffs won't lower costs for patients or further increase U.S. investments. Rather, they could hinder planned U.S. investments; increase costs for manufacturers and ultimately patients; undermine relationships with trusted allies; and increase the potential for harmful retaliatory trade policies to be implemented, creating further uncertainty for manufacturers and increased costs that will be passed on to patients... Full

 

Trump Was Right, Germany Was Wrong - First on NATO, Now on Trade

(5/27, Sen. Tim Sheehy, Washington Examiner) ...If Germany and the rest of the European Union want continued access to the world's most advanced medicines, they should pony up to finance the innovation ecosystem that makes them possible. That means paying their fair share, distributing research costs more equitably, and creating stronger incentives for breakthrough therapies... Full

 

How Reform Can Make Medications Affordable for All

(5/27, The Wall Street Journal) ..."Rising prices set up a prescription for poor health," says former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance (PRA), a bipartisan group working to make prescription drugs more affordable. Meaningful reforms to Big Pharma are necessary, Hayworth says, to quash anticompetitive practices, lower prescription drug prices and ease the barriers to healthcare that so many Americans are facing... Sub. Req'd

 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Questions with USP's Tim Casey, Senior Director of Government Affairs

(5/28, Alexandra Gerlach, Tim Casey, Pharmacy Times) ...Tim Casey addresses what this means for health care providers and pharmacists, and why this may represent a rare window for meaningful, bipartisan reform... Full

 

House Rules Committee Moving Ahead With FDA Funding Bill

(5/27, Jessica Karins, Inside Health Policy) ...The rules committee will likely meet the week of June 1 to provide for floor consideration of the FDA-Ag bill, according to a notice from Foxx. Amendments will be considered at that hearing before the bill advances to the floor... Sub. Req'd

 

Proposed US FDA 'ABLA Pathway' Could Have Tiered Requirements Based On Product Complexity

(5/27, Kate Rawson, Pink Sheet) ...Brian Miller, of Johns Hopkins Hospital, who also serves on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, suggested during a recent Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing that the FDA could further streamline the approval process for follow-on biologics by requiring only pharmacokinetic studies. He said the agency could add requirements for more complex products... Global Sub. Full

 

Would Lowering ANDA Costs Boost Domestic Generic Drug Production?

(5/27, Maia Anderson, Healthcare Brew) ...Mark Cuban recently told Healthcare Brew the cost of the application drugmakers must submit to the FDA for permission to manufacture a generic drug[s]..."kills the economics" for companies like his online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs..."We're working with the FDA and…if we can get that waived or significantly reduced…then within 18 months, we'd be able to make most of our generic tablets here in the US," Cuban said. Cost Plus currently manufactures only sterile injectables, Cuban told Healthcare Brew, adding that the company cannot manufacture generics until it figures out the ANDA costs... Full

 

TN's PBM Law Challenged In Court Amid Vertical Integration Debate

(5/27, Jessica Karins, Inside Health Policy) ...The Freedom, Access and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act, signed by Tennessee's GOP Gov. Bill Lee on May 22, specifically bans PBMs from owning or controlling pharmacies in the state and requires them to divest from existing ownership... Sub. Req'd

 

Grasse-Backed Bill to Rein in Prescription Drug Prices Passes House

(5/27, Illinois House Democratic Caucus) ...Senate Bill 3496 establishes the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which tasks appointed members to review prescription drugs sold in Illinois and establish an upper payment limit (UPL) for consumers. Initially, the board will be tasked with adopting a UPL on 10 prescription drugs that meet Medicare's Maximum Fair Price (MFP) standards... Full

 

 

US FDA Approves AbbVie 's Rare Blood Cancer Drug

(5/27, Reuters) ...The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved AbbVie's drug to treat blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), a very rare type of blood cancer...The drug, pivekimab sunirine-pvzy, is given through a vein once every three weeks... Full

 

The 'Search for a Magic Bullet Has Faded' in Cancer Immunotherapy. Here's What's next

(5/27, Max Gelman, Endpoints News) ..."My sense is that this search for a magic bullet has faded. There's a much more cautious approach now," Evan Rachlin, co-founder and managing partner of the life sciences VC firm Ascenta Capital, told Endpoints News. Instead, companies are looking to bring the successes of precision oncology and targeted cancer drugs to immunotherapy, matching specific patient populations with well-suited drug regimens without the one-size-fits-all approach of anti-PD-1 drugs... Sub. Req'd

 

ASCO Preview: With Expectations Jacked Up, Akeso's Ivonescimab to Face Scrutiny in High-Stakes Plenary

(5/27, Angus Liu, Fierce Pharma) ...The premium status means the Harmoni-6 results will be put under the microscope and carefully critiqued, Leerink Partners analyst Daina Graybosch, Ph.D., said in an interview with Fierce previewing the readout. "It's totally going to get minced," Graybosch said. "That's the risk of getting in the plenary. If you had the same data in the regular oral [session], I'm sure they'll get less of a critical discussant."... Full

 

Merz Therapeutics Presents New Research at World Parkinson Congress 2026, Revealing the Hidden Burden of "OFF" Episodes in Parkinson's Disease

(5/28, Merz Therapeutics) ...The qualitative literature review demonstrates that these episodes are not only a re-emergence of motor symptoms, but also a complex mix of debilitating motor and non-motor symptoms that impact the lives of people with Parkinson's disease...Additional data presented at the congress also confirm the clinical profile of levodopa inhalation powder (INBRIJA®) as a reliable and well-tolerated treatment for these debilitating events... Full

 

Kaléo Speaks up on Allergy Awareness to Amplify Patient Stories

(5/28, Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Pharma) ...Kaléo has launched the "AUVI-Q Speaks Up" campaign to share patients', caregivers' and healthcare providers' stories about life with severe allergies... Full

 

GSK Says Hepatitis B Drug Candidate Cured Some Patients in Late-Stage Trials

(5/28, Adrià Calatayud, The Wall Street Journal) ...The U.K. drugmaker on Thursday released results from two phase 3 trials for the drug, bepirovirsen, which showed 19% of hepatitis B patients achieved a functional cure response rate in the overall study population after a six-month treatment. The drug delivered a functional cure rate of 26% in a smaller group of patients with lower viral activity, the company said... Sub. Req'd

 

 

GoodRx Launches Subscription Program for Low-Cost Generic Medications, Telehealth Services

(5/27, Cailey Gleeson, Fierce Healthcare) ...Through the $14.99 monthly GoodRx Companion subscription, users can access free and low-cost generic medications, online care visits and additional healthcare services. The company says the new subscription advances its strategy by adding broader offerings alongside its weight loss, erectile dysfunction and hair loss programs... Full

 

FAQ: What Causes Generic Drug Shortages?

(5/27, Stephen Appezzato, Rahul Mittal, Pharmaceutical Commerce) ...Generic drug shortages rarely stem from a single failure point. They typically emerge from a convergence of manufacturing disruptions, economic pressure, and supply chain fragility operating simultaneously. When examining root causes, the leading operational triggers are manufacturing infrastructure failures, quality compliance problems, and unsustainable product economics... Full

 

 

J&J Mastered Cancer Biotech Deals on the Cheap. Can it Stay on the Cutting Edge?

(5/28, David Wainer, The Wall Street Journal) ...J&J's strategy of getting in early and paying less through partnerships has mostly worked. But it is coming up against one of its biggest tests yet... Sub. Req'd

 

Biocon's Next Chapter

(5/28, Sohini Das, Business Standard) ...I did not focus on profitability, I could never have built such a big company. I love science, but I want science to drive profits." She summed up Biocon's journey in a single line: "If I can pride myself on one thing, it is that I am a leader in the business of science." That philosophy - science as a competitive moat, not a cost-centre - now underpins the succession architecture she is putting in place, with niece Claire Mazumdar at its centre, supported by Claire's brother Eric and her husband Thomas Roberts... Full

 

Verge, Following Trial Failure, Rebrands its AI Drug Discovery Ambitions

(5/27, Gwendolyn Wu, BioPharma DIVE) ...Drugs discovered by AI have been an object of fascination for many drugmakers. A few, including VRG50635 and Recursion Pharmaceuticals' REC-994, have made it into human testing, though they've struggled to prove their worth. Still, Zhang says that experience is par for the course even with traditionally discovered drugs. "Never in history has a transformational technology been just built overnight, and it is very rarely the case that the first attempt is the blockbuster," she said in an interview with BioPharma Dive... Full

 

CVS Returns Zepbound to Drug Plans After Lilly Slashes Price

(5/28, Ike Swetlitz, Madison Muller, Bloomberg) ...The reversal comes after Lilly agreed to cut the price it charges many health plans for Zepbound, a spokesperson for CVS said...Starting October 1 of this year, Zepbound and Wegovy will be on equal footing, CVS said. Both will be available for the same co-pay in health plans that use Caremark's standard formulary and cover obesity drugs... Full

 

Sandoz Escalates Chinese Antibiotics Concerns With Complaint To European Commission

(5/27, Dave Wallace, Generics Bulletin) ...Sandoz has ramped up its warnings over the potential impact of Chinese price-dumping for key antibiotics and ingredients by submitting a formal complaint to the European Commission. The move comes after India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade earlier this year took the step of restricting imports of certain antibiotics and key starting materials below a certain value, effectively setting a price floor for products that are increasingly produced at low costs in China, to protect its domestic industry... Global Sub. Full

 

 

Sandoz Marks 80 Years of Antibiotics With Call for Urgent Political Action to Safeguard European Medicine Security

(5/28, Sandoz) ...Speaking ahead of the event, Sandoz chairman Gilbert Ghostine said: "At Sandoz, antibiotics are not just part of our heritage; they are part of our Purpose. For decades, we have taken responsibility for keeping these essential medicines available reliably, at scale and with quality at the core...Safeguarding antibiotic manufacturing in Europe is not optional; it is a strategic necessity. And, looking ahead, Kundl's future is more important than ever. As the last fully vertically integrated site in Europe, it is uniquely positioned to secure the continent's supply of critical antibiotics."... Full

 

Global Medicine Supply Chains Face Growing Pressure, Moody's Warns

(5/28, Justin Varghese, Gulf News) ...The report warned that pharmaceutical supply chains have entered "a period of sustained instability" as multiple disruptions increasingly overlap across trade routes, production facilities and sourcing networks... Full

 

India's Drug Lifeline to Africa Disrupted by Iran War

(5/27, Murali Krishnan, Deutsche Welle) ...Remi Adeseun, a veteran pharmaceutical executive whose firm works with global medicine supply chains, told DW the crisis is exposing a deeper structural vulnerability than merely a temporary freight disruption. "Africa remains heavily reliant on Indian generics and Asian pharmaceutical supply chains, even where medicines are assembled locally, because Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), excipients and packaging materials are still largely imported from India and China," Adeseun added... Full

 

Validation to Velocity: Japan's Pharma Model Comes Under Execution Pressure

(5/28, Catherine Longworth, Pharmaceutical Technology) ...Japan's pharmaceutical industry - the world's third largest by market value after the United States and China - has long been associated with methodical development cycles and rigorous technical validation. But the sector is undergoing a gradual yet increasingly visible shift in how it evaluates external partners and drug development programmes... Full

 

Australia Cuts Drug Approval Times, Plans Next Wave Of Regulatory Changes

(5/27, Eliza Slawther, Pink Sheet) ..."The TGA has initiated comprehensive reforms to the prescription medicine registration process. Improvements to the pre-market process will reduce time to decision in the short term and promote system sustainability in the medium term," the agency said in its report... Global Sub. Full

 

Biogen Investigated by Italian Regulator over Multiple Sclerosis 'Market Abuse' Claims

(5/27, Ben Adams, Fierce Pharma) ...The AGCM said in a release that Biogen's actions appear "to be aimed at excluding their competitor Sandoz," which markets a cheaper biosimilar to Tysabri known as Tyruko... Full

 

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