Marathon Health Acquires Cerner Workforce Health Solutions Clinics
Marathon Asset Management has entered a definitive agreement to acquire nUS-based pharmaceutical firm Kaléo in a deal valued at $310m in cash.
Last year, Marathon Pharmaceuticals took an inexpensive steroid available for sale in the EU and Canada and brought it through the US FDA approval process before trumpeting an $89,000 annual price.
While the FDA itself has pooh-poohed any suggestions that it has grown more lenient, industry watchers aren’t buying it, EP Vantage wrote in its 2018 Preview. In fact, the agency’s “U-turns” on rigorous safety requirements in drugs, such as Eli Lilly’s rheumatoid arthritis drug Olumiant, and its controversial decision to approve Sarepta’s Duchenne drug Exondys 51 last year are helping drive the perception of a “friendly FDA.”
The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration questions whether the right financial incentives are in place for drugmakers who develop orphan drugs for rare diseases.
After taking a strong interest in drug prices over the last two years, Congress has been quieter on the topic over the summer. That changed on Thursday as reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., announced a new probe into multiple sclerosis drug costs, digging into “skyrocketing” prices from seven pharmaceutical companies.
Only a month or so after making an public relations gaff in pricing its steroid for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) for $89,000, Marathon Pharmaceuticals apparently has plans to close its doors.
With the sale of its controversial rare-disease drug finalized, Marathon Pharmaceuticals has taken the unusual step of resigning from the powerful industry lobbying group PhRMA.
PTC Therapeutics faces an uphill battle to extract brand-level pricing and sales with its new, and controversial, DMD drug Emflaza if a new policy report out of Washington state is any indication of payer sentiments.
The Cost of Drugs for Rare Diseases Is Threatening the U.S. Health Care System