Sanofi Aventis (NYSE:SNY) yesterday filed another patent lawsuit against Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (NYSE:MRK), alleging that Merck’s product infringes upon two patents covering Sanofi’s insulin glargine product, Lantus. In July, Merck won tentative approval for its follow-on biologic version of Sanofi’s Lantus. The agency’s final regulatory nod is contingent upon the resolution of these patent infringement suits, […]
Merck
Cyber attack stalls manufacturing for Merck, narrows outlook
Merck (NYSE:MRK) narrowed its full-year earnings outlook while announcing its second quarter results today. The company revealed that an international cyber attack, which hit the drugmaker in June, halted some of its manufacturing operations. While touting its second quarter financial results, Merck said that it doesn’t yet fully comprehend the magnitude of the disruption caused by the […]
Trump pushes ‘America First’ policy with pharmaceutical packaging industry
Donald Trump yesterday revealed an initiative to bring jobs and investment into the U.S. drug packaging industry, spearheaded by Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). At the ‘Made In America’ event, Trump announced that the companies are making a $500 million investment to create 1,000 jobs at manufacturing facilities in New York, New Jersey and an unnamed site in […]
Lawsuit stalls approval of Merck’s insulin injection
Merck (NYSE:MRK) said today that the FDA granted tentative approval for its Lusduna Nexvue insulin glargine injection. The biologic basal insulin met regulatory standards, the company said, but a patent infringement lawsuit initiated by competitor Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) in September of last year invoked an automatic delay for the drug-device combination product’s final approval. Get the full story at […]
Halyard Health taps former Acelity head Woody for CEO | Personnel Moves July 5, 2017
Halyard Health (NYSE:HYH) said late last month it tapped former Acelity prez & CEO Joseph Woody as its new chief executive officer, replacing a retiring Robert Abernathy. Woody will also assume a seat on the board of directors, with former CEO Abernathy continuing on as board chair, the Alpharetta, Ga.-based company said. “On behalf of the […]
DeviceTalks: Big data, virtual reality and the connected brain in medtech
The future of medical technology could involve artificial intelligence, virtual reality and even direct connections to the human brain. A panel at DeviceTalks, led by Worrell Design’s director of advanced development, Derek Mathers, discussed how technological developments like Amazon’s Alexa and the accumulation of big data could shape future trends in medtech. Wielding big data […]
Report finds Pfizer has hiked prices of nearly 100 drugs this year
As other major pharma players like Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) vow to limit annual price hikes, a report by the Financial Times found that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has raised prices on 91 drugs by an average of 21% in 2017. The most recent price hike at the start of June was the company’s 2nd for […]
7 medtech stories we missed this week: May 26, 2017
From Merck’s new licensing agreement to surgical study data being touted, here are 7 medtech stories we missed this week but thought were still worth mentioning. 1. Merck inks exclusive licensing agreement for Alzheimer’s antibody Merck announced in a May 25 press release that it has entered an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Teijin Pharma. […]
Study: Radiation may boost immunotherapy in mesothelioma treatment
Doctors in Pennsylvania reported this week that combining immunotherapy drugs with radiotherapy could help to more efficiently treat malignant pleural mesothelioma. The analysis from the University of Pennsylvania looked at studies that combined immunotherapy drugs like Merck‘s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda with radiation therapy. The team concluded that radiotherapy may boost the cancer-killing effects of immunotherapies. Get the […]
FDA approves 1st cancer drug based on genetics, not tissue type
In a landmark decision, the FDA approved Merck‘s (NYSE:MRK) immunotherapy Keytruda yesterday as the 1st cancer treatment indicated for any solid tumor with a specific genetic feature, regardless of tissue type. Traditionally, the location where a cancer originates in a patient’s body determines the course of treatment. The move to treat cancers based on genetic biomarkers […]
ATS Roundup: Emulate models viral infection in “asthma-on-a-chip”
Emulate‘s small airway-lung chip could help researchers study viral-induced exacerbations of asthma, according to data presented this week at the American Thoracic Society’s annual meeting. The studies were conducted as part of the company’s partnership with (NYSE:MRK). The collaborative project was designed to enable development of new anti-inflammatory treatments for patients with asthma, according to Emulate. […]