Vertex nonopioid painkiller posts positive midstage trial results

A sign hangs in front of the world headquarters of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston on Oct. 23, 2019. Brian Snyder | Reuters Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals jumped Wednesday after the company’s painkiller, which is being tested as an alternative to opioids, significantly decreased pain in a midstage trial. Those positive results for diabetes patients suffering … Read more

Pfizer 2024 revenue, profit forecast disappoints

Shares of Pfizer fell Wednesday after the drugmaker forecast 2024 revenue and profit below Wall Street’s expectations, as it sees weak demand for its once-blockbuster Covid products.  Pfizer also raised the target of its sweeping cost-cutting plan by $500 million, bringing the anticipated total to $4 billion. The company expects 2024 revenue of $58.5 billion … Read more

Occidental Petroleum to buy Permian producer CrownRock for $12 billion, raise dividend

Occidental Petroleum on Monday agreed to buy CrownRock, a major privately held energy producer that operates in the Permian Basin, for $12 billion. The deal is latest in a spate of consolidation in the U.S .energy sector, particularly in the Permian, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S. The transaction is expected to close in … Read more

Cigna shares jump on abandoned Humana buyout, buyback plans

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Shares of Cigna jumped Monday following reports that the health-care giant has scrapped its plans to buy rival Humana due to disagreements on price, putting an early end to what would have been one of the largest deals of the decade. Cigna late Sunday also announced plans to … Read more

Patients on Eli Lilly drug regain weight after stopping it

Eli Lilly’s drug tirzepatide was approved for weight loss by the FDA. Courtesy of Eli Lilly Patients who took Eli Lilly‘s weight loss drug Zepbound regained around half the weight they shed after stopping the newly approved treatment for a year, according to data released Monday.  The data, which represents the full results from an … Read more

Pfizer enters weight loss drug market with Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images As its Covid gains evaporate, Pfizer wants a chunk of the budding weight loss drug market.  Analysts say upcoming data on Pfizer’s experimental obesity pill, danuglipron, will be crucial in determining how competitive the company can be against the space’s dominant players Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Those … Read more

CDC expedites release of Sanofi, AstraZeneca drug amid shortage

A RSV-infected child receives treatment, as RS-Virus infections spread among children at Missio children’s clinic Moenchberg, in Wuerzburg, Germany, December 2, 2022.  Heiko Becker | Reuters The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expedited the release of more than 77,000 additional doses of a new drug designed to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus amid … Read more

Free at home Covid tests available starting Monday

COVID-19 home test kits are pictured in a store window during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 19, 2022. Carlo Allegri | Reuters The Biden administration on Monday said it is offering another round of free at-home Covid tests to U.S. households ahead of … Read more

First CRISPR gene-editing treatment approved in U.S.

Blood sample tube with blood for Sickle Cell Screen -Test. Sickle cell blood test, abnormal hemoglobin test. Md Babul Hosen | Istock | Getty Images The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the country’s first gene-editing treatment, Casgevy, for use in patients with sickle cell disease. The approval comes about a decade after … Read more

Biden administration asserts power to seize drug patents

President Joe Biden speaks about protecting Social Security, Medicare, and lowering prescription drug costs, during a visit to OB Johnson Park and Community Center, in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2022. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The Biden administration on Thursday opened the door to seizing the patents of certain costly medications from drugmakers in … Read more