TOP STORIES
Thank you, Turing and Valeant, for more fuel to the regulatory fire during a presidential election year. The federal committee reviewing e-mails from leaders in the two companies find plenty of evidence of brazen price-gouging.
Remember this phrase: “aggressive pricing through consultant recommendation.” – Wall Street Journal, STAT
Gene editing company Editas Medicine Inc. raised $94.4 million in an IPO through the sale of 5.9 million shares at $16, the low end of its previously proposed range. Underwriters were Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Cowen and JMP Securities. — Boston Business Journal, BioCentury, Xconomy
LIFE SCIENCES
An open letter about sexism at JP Morgan Healthcare events may just turn into a broader petition. Read excerpts from the letter and how you can get involved. – FierceBiotech
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Kadmon, a biotech founded by once-jailed ImClone CEO Sam Waksal, will file its IPO paperwork this week or next. – CNBC
Seven $1 billion drugs hitting the market this year? We’ll see what the government says about that. – Reuters
A new collar device designed for athletes has been developed to slightly increase the amount of blood in the brain and thereby cushion it to avoid head injuries. — MIT Technology Review
Insulet is selling its Neighborhood Diabetes supplies business to mail order medical supply company Liberty Medical for $5 million in cash. — MassDevice
Invetech and Celyad, a biopharmaceutical company focused on identification and development of specialized cell-based therapies with product candidates in oncology and cardiology, announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Invetech will develop and supply manufacturing systems to support production needs for Celyad’s most advanced product candidate. — PR Newswire
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
Target continues to get out of consumer health. CVS Health rolled out its first CVS Pharmacy in Target stores this week and will convert 1,672 Target pharmacies to CVS Pharmacy locations in the next eight months. – PR Newswire
Mixed messages on the Zika front:
- Here’s a deeper dive into drug-company efforts to find a vaccine or treatment. – Wall Street Journal
- Zika can be sexually transmitted, according to a Dallas County Health and Human Services report and confirmation from the CDC. – Reuters, Becker’s Hospital Review
- The first cases have spread to Ireland. – Reuters
- New Red Cross rules on donations after visiting Zika-infested countries. – Reuters
Western Maryland Health System is doing clinical trials for a medical marijuana business. – Washington Business Journal
TECHNOLOGY
Survey: Most people would use a health tracker if it worked (no word on if they would use it for longer than a month and throw it into a drawer, though). – MobiHealthNews
Greyhealth Group, a healthcare-focused agency owned by WPP that was a founding partner of Text4Baby and an early IBM Watson partner, has acquired The Lathe, a health app design and development firm. — MobiHealthNews
The iPhone is being tested as an accelerometer for train of four monitoring for patients after anesthesia. — iMedicalApps
POLITICS
President Obama wants to spent $1.1 billion on prescription painkiller and heroin abuse – half of which would go to treatment facilities. – The New York Times
The House failed to override President Obama’s veto of legislation that would have repealed much of Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood. — The Hill
NIH has launched a public health campaign to acknowledge the link between hypertension and brain health. — NIH
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
There are cat people and there are dog people. But which pet will love you more? Some new research suggests dogs could really be a man’s best friend potentially because of its ability to produce more of the “love hormone” oxytocin after playing with owners. — IFLScience
Photo: Flickr user Libertas Academica
