The dealmaking machine that is Sanofi-Aventis is at it again, signing an oncology drug pact with Avila Therapeutics in Waltham, Massachusetts, worth $40 million up front and up to $154 million in milestone payments per program. Overall, the deal is valued at $800 million, according to FierceBiotech.
The U.S. House gave final approval on Thursday to a bill that would avert a 25 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors by freezing reimbursement rates at current levels until the end of next year, reports the New York Times. President Obama, who hailed the nearly unanimous action by Congress, promised to sign the legislation.
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
Sagent Holding Co., the Schaumburg, Illinois, company that is developing generic injectable pharmaceuticals, has filed for a $100 million initial public offering just as a host of drug companies tap public capital markets, with many seeking to raise proceeds for research, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Jeff Kindler, a lawyer tapped as a fresh face to lead drugmaker Pfizer out of its dodrums, is out, after just a little over four years as chairman and chief excutive, reports NPR's health blog. Kindler's executive bio already has been erased from Pfizer's website. Ian C. Read, 57, head of the company's global biopharmaceuticals operations, is in.