Target to $93 from $88
https://www.benzinga.com/stock/WELL/ratings
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
New Sanofi CEO Aims to Prioritize Investment on Winnable Areas
Sanofi
new Chief Executive Paul Hudson said Tuesday that the company needs to
better focus its investment to prioritize areas where it can win.
In his first press conference for Sanofi, Mr. Hudson said he was spending his first weeks in the job deciding in which areas the company should direct investment.
“We need to make good choices,” said the new CEO, who joined Sanofi from Novartis last month. “I’m bringing a sense of urgency and prioritization.”
Sanofi is one of the most diversified companies in the industry, spanning branded prescription drugs, vaccines and over-the-counter treatments. Within branded drugs, it produces medicines ranging from insulin for diabetes to specialty medicines for rare diseases.
Asked whether he would maintain that diversification, Mr. Hudson said the board “should expect that I should look with clear eyes at how we allocate capital.”
Regarding the company’s branded drug pipeline, Mr. Hudson said he would set a high bar for investment, requiring that drugs are the first of their kind and the best of their kind.
“We have to be more critical to decide whether we have literally life-changing science,” he said.
Sanofi, maker of Lantus, the world’s best-selling insulin, has long been associated with diabetes. But with sales of that product falling amid increased competition and pricing pressure in the all-important U.S. market, that franchise is shrinking. Mr. Hudson said he would not treat the diabetes franchise any differently from any other therapeutic area when deciding how best to allocate resources.
On deal-making, he said the company would first establish its priorities then “look at where we have gaps, where we should be stronger and find the best approach to deal with that.”
Mr. Hudson said he would provide a strategy update to investors at an event in December.
https://www.marketscreener.com/SANOFI-4698/news/Sanofi-New-Sanofi-CEO-Aims-to-Prioritize-Investment-on-Winnable-Areas-29317781/
In his first press conference for Sanofi, Mr. Hudson said he was spending his first weeks in the job deciding in which areas the company should direct investment.
“We need to make good choices,” said the new CEO, who joined Sanofi from Novartis last month. “I’m bringing a sense of urgency and prioritization.”
Sanofi is one of the most diversified companies in the industry, spanning branded prescription drugs, vaccines and over-the-counter treatments. Within branded drugs, it produces medicines ranging from insulin for diabetes to specialty medicines for rare diseases.
Asked whether he would maintain that diversification, Mr. Hudson said the board “should expect that I should look with clear eyes at how we allocate capital.”
Regarding the company’s branded drug pipeline, Mr. Hudson said he would set a high bar for investment, requiring that drugs are the first of their kind and the best of their kind.
“We have to be more critical to decide whether we have literally life-changing science,” he said.
Sanofi, maker of Lantus, the world’s best-selling insulin, has long been associated with diabetes. But with sales of that product falling amid increased competition and pricing pressure in the all-important U.S. market, that franchise is shrinking. Mr. Hudson said he would not treat the diabetes franchise any differently from any other therapeutic area when deciding how best to allocate resources.
On deal-making, he said the company would first establish its priorities then “look at where we have gaps, where we should be stronger and find the best approach to deal with that.”
Mr. Hudson said he would provide a strategy update to investors at an event in December.
https://www.marketscreener.com/SANOFI-4698/news/Sanofi-New-Sanofi-CEO-Aims-to-Prioritize-Investment-on-Winnable-Areas-29317781/
Monday, September 30, 2019
Spending Variation ‘Substantial’ Between Providers in Same Specialty
A report indicates that variation among providers affects spending on “medications, labs and radiology.”
Behavioral factors by doctors contribute to significant cost variations, even among the same type of patients, according to an Illumicare report released Tuesday morning.The analysis of 15 sub-specialty groups with the largest cost variations found that the most significant factor was “what type of spender a patient’s provider is,” with cardiology and OB/GYN specialists leading the way.
Between the 25th and 75th percentiles, there was a $5,438 variation among pediatric hematology-oncologists, a difference of $3,885 among OB/GYN orders of cesarean sections without complications or comorbidities, and almost a $3,000 difference among OB/GYN orders on vaginal delivery without complicating diagnosis.
G.T. LaBorde, CEO of IllumiCare, told HealthLeaders that the purpose of the report was to communicate to the broader healthcare market about how much variation exists among doctors taking care of the same group of patients.
“What frustrates so many [healthcare executives] is when they say to a cardiologist, ‘Your patients are staying 1.2 days longer,'” LaBorde said. “Telling the cardiologist that isn’t insightful to them, it doesn’t help them understand the behavior that might be aberrant that leads to a longer length of stay. It only becomes actionable if [CFOs] can get so discreet that they can say, ‘Well, in this scenario, you’re the only provider that uses this drug,’ or ‘You tend to order this lab test more frequently than your peers.'”
“If a CFO can get that discreet, they can get to a point where they start changing behaviors which can change outcomes.”
The Illumicare report states that it should be “alarming” for health systems to see such substantial cost variations arising from standard medical procedures, which reinforces the need to address the issue with providers.
Ordering medications, lab tests and radiological exams were highlighted as the primary pain points for cost variations within a sub-specialty.
In one example from the report, cardiologists at three separate hospitals were analyzed on the basis of medications ordered for patients.
Thirty-three medications were ordered by cardiologists at all three hospitals, whereas 54 medications were ordered by cardiologists at only one hospital.
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/spending-variation-substantial-between-providers-same-specialty
Servier acquires lymphoma treatment PIXUVRI from CTI BioPharma
Servier, an independent international pharmaceutical company, today announced the acquisition of PIXUVRI®
from CTI BioPharma. PIXUVRI is a treatment for adult patients with
multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma.
Servier and CTI Biopharma completed an Asset Purchase Agreement which
transferred worldwide rights of PIXUVRI to Servier. Servier
commercialized PIXUVRI globally, in all countries where the drug was
approved under an exclusive license from CTI BioPharma.
“The acquisition of PIXUVRI is an important step towards Servier’s long-term strategy to become a key player in oncology. Within oncology, one of our key focuses is hematology, and we now have two medicines that are marketed globally alongside a strong and innovative pipeline of drug candidates which includes CAR-T therapies,” said Claude Bertrand, Executive VP, Global Head of R&D at Servier. “As part of our strategy, we are committed to invest 50% of our R&D budget in oncology.”
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/Servier-acquires-non-Hodgkin-B-cell-lymphoma-treatment-PIXUVRI-pixantrone-from-CTI-BioPharma-s–29317108/
“The acquisition of PIXUVRI is an important step towards Servier’s long-term strategy to become a key player in oncology. Within oncology, one of our key focuses is hematology, and we now have two medicines that are marketed globally alongside a strong and innovative pipeline of drug candidates which includes CAR-T therapies,” said Claude Bertrand, Executive VP, Global Head of R&D at Servier. “As part of our strategy, we are committed to invest 50% of our R&D budget in oncology.”
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/Servier-acquires-non-Hodgkin-B-cell-lymphoma-treatment-PIXUVRI-pixantrone-from-CTI-BioPharma-s–29317108/
AstraZeneca Update on US regulatory review of PT010 in COPD
AstraZeneca today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) has issued a complete response letter regarding the New Drug
Application (NDA) for PT010 (budesonide/glycopyrronium/formoterol
fumarate), an inhaled triple-combination therapy and potential new
medicine for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The NDA submitted to the FDA by AstraZeneca included data from the Phase III trial KRONOS. The Company will now work closely with the FDA regarding next steps, including submitting for review recent results from the second positive Phase III trial, ETHOS, which was not completed at the time the NDA was submitted.
PT010 was approved in Japan (https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2019/breztri-aerosphere-pt010-approved-in-japan-for-patients-with-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-19062019.html) in June 2019 as Breztri Aerosphere, a triple-combination therapy to relieve symptoms of COPD. PT010 is under regulatory review in China where it has been granted priority review by the National Medical Products Administration, and is also under regulatory review in the EU.
https://www.marketscreener.com/ASTRAZENECA-4000930/news/AstraZeneca-Update-on-US-regulatory-review-of-PT010-in-COPD-29317116/
The NDA submitted to the FDA by AstraZeneca included data from the Phase III trial KRONOS. The Company will now work closely with the FDA regarding next steps, including submitting for review recent results from the second positive Phase III trial, ETHOS, which was not completed at the time the NDA was submitted.
PT010 was approved in Japan (https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2019/breztri-aerosphere-pt010-approved-in-japan-for-patients-with-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-19062019.html) in June 2019 as Breztri Aerosphere, a triple-combination therapy to relieve symptoms of COPD. PT010 is under regulatory review in China where it has been granted priority review by the National Medical Products Administration, and is also under regulatory review in the EU.
https://www.marketscreener.com/ASTRAZENECA-4000930/news/AstraZeneca-Update-on-US-regulatory-review-of-PT010-in-COPD-29317116/
Three pharmacies now pulling Zantac over FDA alert
Three major pharmacies are now pulling Sanofi’s (NASDAQ:SNY) heartburn medication Zantac off the shelves, after an FDA alert about potential low levels of a probable human carcinogen.
CVS (NYSE:CVS) had previously pulled the drug, and Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) and Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) have joined in by removing the medication.
The FDA has said some ranitidine medicines
including Zantac contain NDMA at low levels (levels that barely exceed
amounts you might expected to find in common foods, it says).
There’s no recall of the medication, but all three pharmacies are accepting it for returns.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3502763-three-pharmacies-now-pulling-zantac-fda-alert
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