Orgenesis announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Digilab to develop a live cell printing process and systems designed to automate the production of three-dimensional live cellular structures and tissues. Under the agreement, Orgenesis will have the exclusive rights to co-develop the process and systems required for its therapeutic collaboration programs and to utilize, market and distribute the new cell printer systems and related products.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2888669
Thursday, April 4, 2019
U.S. to wrap case against Insys execs tied to opioid crisis
Prosecutors on Thursday will present their closing arguments in the trial of the wealthy founder of pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics Inc and four colleagues accused of contributing to the U.S. opioid epidemic by bribing doctors to prescribe an addictive fentanyl spray.
John Kapoor, who served as the Arizona-based drugmaker’s chairman, and his co-defendants are the first executives of a painkiller manufacturer to face trial for conduct that authorities say was tied to the deadly opioid crisis.
Prosecutors say Kapoor oversaw a wide-ranging scheme to bribe doctors nationwide by retaining them to act as speakers at poorly-attended sham events at restaurants ostensibly meant to educate clinicians about its fentanyl spray, Subsys.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved Subsys for use in treating severe pain in cancer patients. Yet prosecutors says doctors who took bribes often prescribed Subsys to patients without cancer, helping boost sales at Insys.
Prosecutors said Kapoor also sought to defraud insurers into paying for Subsys. He is alleged to have had help from 2012 to 2015 from his co-defendants, former Insys executives and managers Michael Gurry, Richard Simon, Sunrise Lee and Joseph Rowan.
All five have pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Lawyers for Kapoor acknowledge that Insys paid doctors but contend that he believed they really were being paid to talk up the product’s benefits.
Beth Wilkinson, Kapoor’s lead attorney, told jurors at the trial’s start in January that he had no idea about any “side deals” that were being cut with doctors.
Kapoor’s 2017 arrest came the same day U.S. President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. In 2017, a record 47,600 people died of opioid-related overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two top former executives – Michael Babich, Insys’ chief executive from 2011 to 2015, and Alec Burlakoff, its ex-vice president of sales – testified against Kapoor after pleading guilty to carrying out the scheme at his direction.
Babich, who joined Insys in 2007 after helping manage investments for Kapoor at the pharmaceutical industry veteran’s family office, told jurors Kapoor wanted a “return on investment” from paying doctors to act as speakers.
Much of the trial’s testimony focused on how Insys marketed Subsys to doctors. One witness testified that Lee, a former stripper who became a regional sales director, gave a doctor a lap dance at a Chicago club one time while promoting Subsys.
Perrigo price target lowered to $46 from $51 at SunTrust
SunTrust analyst Gregg Gilbert lowered his price target on Perrigo to $46 and kept his Hold rating, saying his analysis suggests that the earnings dilution from the sale or spin of its Rx Pharma business would be “significant” at over 20%. The analyst adds that his new price target is based on the company’s “more conservative growth assumptions” as he looks ahead to more specifics on the separation of its Rx business at the May 9th Investor Day.
Puma Biotechnology expands cohorts in Phase II SUMMIT trial of neratinib
Puma Biotechnology has expanded two additional cohorts from the Phase II SUMMIT clinical trial investigating its lead drug candidate neratinib in patients with solid tumors who have an activating EGFR or HER2 mutation. The cohorts that have been expanded are HER2 mutant patients with metastatic salivary gland cancer and patients with EGFR exon 18 mutation-positive lung cancer. The Phase II SUMMIT basket trial is an open-label, multi-center, multi-histology, international study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of neratinib administered daily to patients who have solid tumors with activating EGFR, HER2 or HER4 mutations. The salivary gland cancer patients initially entered the study in the “other solid tumors with a HER2 mutation” cohort, and due to the preliminary activity seen in the trial, the Company has expanded a separate salivary gland cancer cohort pursuant to the protocol for the trial. The expanded HER2-mutant salivary gland cancer cohort and the expanded EGFR exon 18 mutant lung cancer cohort will each now enroll approximately 18 patients.
Ziopharm initiated at Lake Street
Ziopharm initiated with a Buy at Lake Street. Lake Street analyst Thomas Flaten started Ziopharm with a Buy rating and $7 price target. “By unlocking the potential of its Sleeping Beauty technology,” Ziopharm is poised to “deliver a leap forward” in the personalization of cancer therapy, Flaten tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees an opportunity for “significant value generation” with near-term clinical catalysts.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2888599
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2888599
Cigna, Express Scripts launch two voice skills for Amazon Alexa
Cigna (CI) and Express Scripts (ESRX) have collaborated with Amazon (AMZN) Alexa to launch two voice skills to make health care more engaging, personalized and convenient for customers. The Cigna and Express Scripts Alexa skills will enable eligible customers to use voice technology to manage pharmacy prescriptions, engage in health improvement programs and track wellness incentives. The Express Scripts voice skill is available now to customers who use Express Scripts’ prescription home delivery services. Users can say, “Alexa, open Express Scripts” to check their prescription order status and set notifications for when orders are received, processed and shipped. Cigna is piloting “Cigna Health Today,” a voice skill aimed at increasing proactive health engagement with one of Cigna’s national clients. Eligible employees can opt-in to track personalized wellness incentives, including redeemable gift dollars, which are used to reward healthy behaviors. They can also receive daily motivational health and well-being tips.
CVS Health launches same-day, on-demand Rx delivery nationwide
CVS Health's retail division CVS Pharmacy is now offering prescription delivery within hours in addition to their 1-2 day prescription delivery service available nationwide. The service, delivered by Shipt, a same-day delivery marketplace, is available at 6,000 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country. The delivery service charge is $7.99 and the packages will be delivered by Shipt. The fee for 1-2 day delivery is $4.99.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2888627
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2888627
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