Big Pharma didn't rest Thursday, with Celgene, Sanofi-Aventis and AstraZeneca among the big names reporting earnings. A deal between Stryker and Boston Scientific and Sanofi and BMP Sunstone also made the headlines, as did some hiring from Teva. Bristol-Myers Squibb received the anticipated new approval for one of its cancer drugs. But it was Celgene that led drug stocks higher.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, which sells blood thinner Plavix, today reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, mainly due to cost cuts. Revenue, however, fell short of expectations, and shares are down in trading Tuesday.
At a recent life-sciences conference in Stockholm, execs of several U.S. and foreign biotechs clashed with Big Pharma in a lively debate on the merits of their respective goals and products. The result, however, was a stand-off.
Global pharmaceutical sales are expected to grow by 5% to 7% in 2011, thanks to robust growth in emerging markets, especially China, as well as new innovative treatments, and despite patent expirations and budget pressures in the developed world.
Federal investigators are looking into allegations that major drug companies, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline, paid bribes overseas to boost sales and accelerate approvals.
Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb plans to buy ZymoGenetics, its partner in developing a hepatitis C treatment, for $885 million. The move is part of a trend of pharmaceutical acquisitions as several big patents face expiration soon.
Several recent studies of drugs used to treat and prevent strokes appear to favor AstraZeneca's (AZN) Brilinta and Eli-Lilly's (LLY) Effient over Plavix. Plavix, co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), is the second best-selling drug in the world.
Several biotech stocks were on the move Monday after Deutsche Bank started rating them. The bank's analyst, Robyn Karnauskas, took a generally wary view on the biotech sector, putting buy ratings only on Gilead and Dendreon.
Foreign subsidiaries of two American tobacco companies pled guilty to charges of bribing foreign countries. Units of Alliance One Int'l, a N.C.-based global tobacco leaf company, admitted bribing Thai and Kyrgyz officials and will pay $9.25 million in fines and disgorge $10 million in profits.
Bristol-Myers Squibb reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, driven in part by higher sales for some of its virology blood-thinner drugs, cost controls and a favorable tax rate.
Its development of novel treatments for hepatitis C is leading Achillion to seek partnerships with major drugmakers. Many analysts see great potential for its drugs and expect it to strike one or more deals soon.
Angiotensin-receptor blockers, a common class of blood pressure medications, have been linked to an increased risk of cancer in a recent study. These widely used drugs include medicines such as Boehringer's Micardis, Merck's Cozaar and Hyzaar, and Novartis's Diovan.
The stock of the world's largest drugmaker has been a laggard lately. But that could be soon changing if analysts who are pointing to a solid lineup of new products are right. They think the giant can easily offset the patent loss for Lipitor.
Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb said on Thursday that they've decided to halt a clinical trial several months early because data so far suggested the experimental drug apixaban was more effective than aspirin in preventing strokes among patients.
