BioArctic teams with Eisai to further characterize Alzheimer’s candidate

BioArctic AB (BIOAB:SS) will collaborate with Eisai (OTCPK:ESALY) on research aimed at further characterizing the mechanism of action of Alzheimer’s disease candidate BAN2401, in-licensed by Eisai in December 2007.

Under the terms of the agreement, Eisai will pay up to €3.25M (~SEK 34M) to BioArctic under the partnership, expected to run through June 2021.

Results will be submitted for presentation at future medical conferences.

Eisai is currently conducting a large-scale Phase 3 study, CLARITY AD, with collaboration partner Biogen (BIIB -1.1%) evaluating BAN2401 in patients with early Alzheimer’s. The estimated primary completion date is February 2022.

BAN2401 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to (and eliminates) toxic amyloid beta aggregates in the brain.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3526821-bioarctic-teams-up-eisai-to-characterize-alzheimers-candidate-ban2401

CVS and Walgreens in red on NY lawsuit over billing practices

CVS Health (CVS -0.8%) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA -1.3%) are both near session lows in apparent response to reports that CVS Omnicare has been sued in New York over alleged fraudulent billing practices.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3526828-cvs-and-walgreens-in-red-on-ny-lawsuit-over-billing-practices

Zero out-of-network billing by 4 specialists could save $40B, study finds

If four out-of-network specialty providers — anesthesiologists, pathologists, radiologists and assistant surgeons — could no longer balance bill patients for care provided at in-network hospitals, about $40 billion in savings would be realized each year, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.

For the study, researchers from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., examined 2015 data from a national commercial insurer covering tens of millions of lives through employer-sponsored plans. The researchers analyzed rates that the four specialties billed out of network in the study period, and what would have happened if their in-network payments were reduced to 164 percent of Medicare rates.

Across the in-network hospitals included in the study, 12.3 percent of pathologist care, 11.8 percent of anesthesiology care, 11.3 percent of assistant surgeon care and 5.6 percent of radiologist care were billed out of network. Researchers estimated the mean potential balance bills for pathologists, anesthesiologists, assistant surgeons and radiologists were $177, $1,171, $7,420 and $115, respectively.

The study authors found that if these four specialties weren’t allowed to bill out of network, physician payments for privately insured patients would be reduced by 13.4 percent. Ultimately, this would reduce healthcare spending for people with employer-based coverage by 3.4 percent, or $40 billion each year, according to the researchers.

Notably, the study authors found that out-of-network billing was concentrated in a minority of hospitals included in the study and was more prevalent at for-profit hospitals. Across all specialties, out-of-network billing was highest in four states: Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi and Montana.

The preferred solution offered by the researchers is regulating the contracts of physicians who work in hospitals but are not chosen by patients.

“Under this policy, hospitals would be required to sell a bundled package of services that included the fees for [emergency department] physicians, anesthesiologists, pathologists, radiologists, and assistant surgeons. As a result, for example, hospitals would bill for anesthesiology services and then be responsible for recruiting anesthesiology providers to work in their facilities. Those anesthesiologists could be employees of the hospital or independent contractors and could bargain over compensation with the hospital,” the authors said.

To view the full study, click here.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/zero-out-of-network-billing-by-4-specialists-could-save-40b-study-finds.html

Amazon’s electronic health record-mining tool adds ontology linking feature

Data extracted from Amazon Comprehend Medical, a software that mines patient health records, can now be linked to select medical ontologies, according to an Amazon Web Services blog post published this week.

Amazon launched Comprehend Medical in November 2018. The software uses natural language processing and machine learning to highlight key data points, including medical condition and clinical trial reports, from EHRs and clinical notes. Physicians can then use the data to inform a patient’s care.

The ontology-linking application programming interfaces allow clinicians to detect medication and medical conditions in unstructured clinical text. Amazon now supports links with the following ontologies through Comprehend Medical: ICD-10-CM and RxNorm.

ICD-10-CM is a diagnosis code set that can be applied to population health analytics; the code set can identify medical conditions as entities and connect related information such as diagnosis and severity as attributes of the particular entity.

RxNorm allows healthcare providers to create an accurate, up-to-date list of all possible medications a patient is taking by identifying medications as entities and linking attributes including dose and frequency to that entity.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ehrs/amazon-s-ehr-mining-tool-adds-ontology-linking-feature.html

Novartis top of pile in European pharma in 2020: Jefferies

Jefferies’ team of analysts have recently been touting Roche as their favourite big European pharma – but going into 2020 it’s Novartis that gets the strongest “buy” rating in a broker note as the risk of price interventions in the US recedes until after presidential elections.

Roche, which has just got the go-ahead from US competition watchdogs to buy the gene therapy firm Spark, has been knocked off the top because of slight concerns about biosimilars competing with its older blockbuster cancer drugs.

According to the analysts led by Peter Welford, Jefferies is “much more optimistic” about revenues from psoriasis drug Cosentyx, which is pulling in sales at almost a billion dollars per quarter for Novartis and contributing earnings per share of 2%-6% above consensus.

The team is also looking forward to launches of Novartis’ ultra-pricey but highly effective gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, Zolgensma.

Other new products to interest the Jefferies analysts are the PIK3CA class breast cancer drug Piqray (alpelisib) and its longer-lasting ophthalmology injection Beovu (brolucizumab), which looks set for approval in the EU after backing from the CHMP late last week.

The Jefferies team still likes Roche – it’s just not going to go gangbusters like Novartis with an EPS of 2-3% above consensus and a “plethora” of pipeline opportunities.

Next on the list of EU pharma is Sanofi, which gets a “buy” rating thanks to its decision to abandon R&D into diabetes drugs, amid pricing pressure in the US and competition from the likes of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

GlaxoSmithKline is the preferred option of the two big UK-based pharmas, which has a “buy” rating thanks to “growing interest” in its pipeline and optimism about its Shingrix shingles vaccine, although this is tempered by a cautious outlook on ViiV’s HIV drugs joint venture.

AstraZeneca has a “hold” rating – although the UK pharma’s earnings trajectory is “impressive” its share price is unlikely to go much higher and the Jefferies team predicts EPS 6% below consensus.

At the bottom of the pile is Novo Nordisk, the only one of the six companies to get an “underperform” rating thanks to concerns about the pricing pressure on the GLP-1 class drugs that are becoming increasingly important to the Danish pharma and its reliance on the diabetes market.

Overall the outlook for the sector is good thanks to new products and breakthrough technologies, growth opportunities in China, and regulatory authorities that are keen to approve novel therapies.

One possible headwind is drug pricing reform in the US, but the team sees only a “dim likelihood” of legislation passing into law ahead of the presidential elections later in 2020.

According to Jefferies updated proposals could be less punitive to pharma than those already tabled by Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives and drug pricing campaigner.

However AZ and Novo are most likely to be hit by reforms, with Roche vulnerable to tinkering with Part B of Medicare, which includes outpatient care, preventive services, and medical equipment.

Novartis top of pile in European pharma in 2020, say Jefferies analysts

Bellerophon stock is up 35% on hypertension trial data

Shares of Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc. BLPH, +5.06% gained 38% in premarket trading on Tuesday after its experimental therapy to treat certain forms of pulmonary hypertension reported positive clinical data. The Warren, N.J.-based company said that the Inopulse, a device that dispenses nitric oxide, showed an improvement in moderate to vigorous physical activity for patients taking the drug in an ongoing Phase 2/3 trial. A late-stage trial is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year. Bellerophon’s stock is down 47% year-to-date. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.11% is up 27%.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bellerophon-stock-is-up-35-on-hypertension-trial-data-2019-12-17

UAE’s NMC Health tanks as Muddy Waters takes short position

U.S. short-selling firm Muddy Waters said on Tuesday it had acquired a short position in NMC Health Plc, criticising the healthcare group’s financial statements and wiping more than a third off the value of the company’s share price.

The short seller questioned the value of the London-listed firm’s assets and cash balance, as well as its reported profits and debts. Muddy Waters said in a research note that NMC’s asset purchase prices and capital expenditures were inflated.

NMC, which is based in the United Arab Emirates, declined to comment. Britain’s financial watchdog also declined to comment.

Shares in the healthcare provider, founded and co-chaired by Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, plunged more than 35% to 1,674.5 pence, sliding to the bottom of London’s bluechip index. The stock was on track for its worst day ever.

NMC, with operations in 17 countries, reported net debt and payables of $1.89 billion at the end of 2018. NMC said in October it expected double-digit revenue and core earnings growth in 2020.

Muddy Waters, known in financial markets for declaring short equity positions on the basis of its in-house research, said NMC’s reported cash balances could be “materially overstated” and said its margins were “too good to be true” relative to UAE-focused publicly traded companies Mediclinic and Aster DM Healthcare.

Shetty also founded Finablr, a London-listed payments and foreign exchange company, whose shares lost almost 20% on Tuesday. As well as founding Finablr, Shetty is co-chairman of the company, according to its website.

Finablr could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shetty did not respond to Reuters calls or requests sent to him via his LinkedIn page for comment on the NMC and Finablr share moves.

About 10% of NMC’s outstanding shares were in short position as of Dec. 13, according to FIS data. It was not immediately clear how much of that short position was accounted for by Muddy Waters, a company founded by American Carson Block.

Short sellers borrow shares and immediately sell them, betting the price will fall. They then buy the shares back and return them to the lender, aiming to pocket the capital gain.

Advocates say the practice puts a check on investor over-confidence and corporate spin. Critics say it destabilises markets because shortsellers have an interest in driving a company’s share price down.

Muddy Waters, which came to fame by betting against some Chinese companies, took its first short position in a London-listed company in August, when it bet against litigation funder Burford Capital.

https://www.marketscreener.com/ASTER-DM-HEALTHCARE-LIMIT-41613140/news/UAE-s-NMC-Health-tanks-as-Muddy-Waters-takes-short-position-29737792/?countview=0