Centene (NYSE:CNC): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.73 in-line; GAAP EPS of $0.49 misses by $0.06.
Revenue of $18.86B (+13.9% Y/Y) beats by $410M.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3537745-centene-eps-in-line-beats-on-revenueTuesday, February 4, 2020
France Investigates Sanofi Over Epilepsy Drug
Sanofi SA (SAN.FR) said Monday that its unit Sanofi Aventis France is
being investigated by Paris prosecutors over its Depakine drug used to
treat epilepsy.
The French pharmaceutical giant said the investigation is related to pregnant women suffering from epilepsy and using Depakine, which, when the treatment is suddenly interrupted, could cause birth malfunctions and risk the mother’s life.
The investigation will allow the company to defend itself and prove that it has fulfilled its duty of transparency, Sanofi said.
https://www.marketscreener.com/SANOFI-4698/news/Sanofi-France-Investigates-Sanofi-Over-Epilepsy-Drug-29937206/
The French pharmaceutical giant said the investigation is related to pregnant women suffering from epilepsy and using Depakine, which, when the treatment is suddenly interrupted, could cause birth malfunctions and risk the mother’s life.
The investigation will allow the company to defend itself and prove that it has fulfilled its duty of transparency, Sanofi said.
https://www.marketscreener.com/SANOFI-4698/news/Sanofi-France-Investigates-Sanofi-Over-Epilepsy-Drug-29937206/
Takeda sees surprise full-year operating profit on post-merger saving
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd expects to make an operating profit this fiscal year, compared with its previous forecast for a loss, thanks to sales growth in its core brands and savings from its purchase of Shire Plc, it said on Tuesday.
Japan’s largest drugmaker expects an operating profit of 10 billion
yen ($92 million) for the year ending in March, versus its previous
estimate for a loss of 110 billion yen, it said alongside its
third-quarter results.
That compares with analysts’ average forecast for a full-year loss of 75.6 billion yen from a poll of 13 by Refinitiv.
“The way business is progressing, the way we are delivering our synergies and managing our margin is very encouraging for next year,” Takeda CEO Christophe Weber said on conference call.
Takeda surprised markets in May last year when it reversed its full-year profit forecast to a loss, citing costs linked to its $59 billion Shire deal. It later revised the forecast to a smaller loss on strong sales of its core drugs.
The Shire acquisition, completed in January 2019, expanded Takeda’s pipeline and diversified its global sales, with half now coming from the United States.
The drugmaker, now the 15th largest in the world by revenue, told investors in November it expected to launch 14 new products through fiscal 2024 that combined would deliver about $10 billion in peak yearly sales.
But while the Shire purchase gave Takeda global heft, it left the drugmaker with a large debt pile, which stood at about $40 billion at the end of December.
To pare down debt, Takeda has pledged to dispose of $10 billion worth of non-core assets.
It completed $7 billion of divestments in calendar 2019, including assets in the Middle East and Africa and a dry-eye drug sold for $5.3 billion to Novartis, Refinitiv data show.
The company’s 14 global drug brands saw sales growth of 20% in the nine months through December, led by ulcer drug Entyvio. Overall revenue jumped 83% to 2.5 trillion yen in the period, while operating profit slid 43% to 162.5 billion yen.
Takeda is focusing on five key business areas: oncology, gastroenterology, neuroscience, rare diseases, and plasma-derived therapies.
Takeda’s shares rose 0.9% in Tokyo before the release of the results, versus a 0.5% gain in the broader market.
That compares with analysts’ average forecast for a full-year loss of 75.6 billion yen from a poll of 13 by Refinitiv.
“The way business is progressing, the way we are delivering our synergies and managing our margin is very encouraging for next year,” Takeda CEO Christophe Weber said on conference call.
Takeda surprised markets in May last year when it reversed its full-year profit forecast to a loss, citing costs linked to its $59 billion Shire deal. It later revised the forecast to a smaller loss on strong sales of its core drugs.
The Shire acquisition, completed in January 2019, expanded Takeda’s pipeline and diversified its global sales, with half now coming from the United States.
The drugmaker, now the 15th largest in the world by revenue, told investors in November it expected to launch 14 new products through fiscal 2024 that combined would deliver about $10 billion in peak yearly sales.
But while the Shire purchase gave Takeda global heft, it left the drugmaker with a large debt pile, which stood at about $40 billion at the end of December.
To pare down debt, Takeda has pledged to dispose of $10 billion worth of non-core assets.
It completed $7 billion of divestments in calendar 2019, including assets in the Middle East and Africa and a dry-eye drug sold for $5.3 billion to Novartis, Refinitiv data show.
The company’s 14 global drug brands saw sales growth of 20% in the nine months through December, led by ulcer drug Entyvio. Overall revenue jumped 83% to 2.5 trillion yen in the period, while operating profit slid 43% to 162.5 billion yen.
Takeda is focusing on five key business areas: oncology, gastroenterology, neuroscience, rare diseases, and plasma-derived therapies.
Takeda’s shares rose 0.9% in Tokyo before the release of the results, versus a 0.5% gain in the broader market.
https://www.marketscreener.com/TAKEDA-PHARMACEUTICAL-COM-6491073/news/Takeda-sees-surprise-full-year-operating-profit-on-post-merger-savings-29936283/
Monday, February 3, 2020
Hong Kong medical workers striking to demand closing border with China
More than 2,500 Hong Kong medical workers went on strike Monday
morning, seeking to pressure the government to bar travel to the
semi-autonomous city amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s government announced that it will close additional border checkpoints even as some strikers demand a complete shutdown, The New York Times reported. Lam reduced inbound flights, closed several checkpoints and shut down cross-border trains last week, as well as barring entry from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, which she said has slashed arrivals from mainland residents by 62 percent.
However, Lam declined to impose a blanket ban on Chinese arrivals, saying it would be “a discriminatory approach” citing recommendations from the World Health Organization that noted blanket travel bans can make travelers harder to track.
“To use extreme means in such a sensitive time would inevitably
affect the rights of the patient and add immensely to the burdens of the
already beleaguered Hospital Authority leaders,” she added in reference
to the striking hospital workers.
Members of the recently formed Hospital Authority Employees Alliance picketed public hospitals Monday morning before a meeting with a Hospital Authority official, where they said they were unable to reach an agreement.
“Our discussions have fallen apart,” Winnie Yu, the chairwoman of the union, said Monday, adding that the next stage of the strike will involve a work stoppage by emergency doctors and nurses beginning Tuesday and lasting the rest of the week.
About 9,000 of the union’s 18,000 members have signed pledges to strike.
In the meantime, many Hong Kong residents have expressed concerns that bans on Chinese travelers could affect them as well, citing the case of Vietnam, which initially included Hong Kong in a ban on most incoming flights from China and Taiwan before backtracking. Most of the cases of coronavirus in the city have involved patients who recently traveled to China but the most recent appears to have involved a woman contracting it from her son, who recently traveled to Wuhan, according to the Times.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481232-hong-kong-medical-workers-striking-to-demand-closing-border-with-china
Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s government announced that it will close additional border checkpoints even as some strikers demand a complete shutdown, The New York Times reported. Lam reduced inbound flights, closed several checkpoints and shut down cross-border trains last week, as well as barring entry from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, which she said has slashed arrivals from mainland residents by 62 percent.
However, Lam declined to impose a blanket ban on Chinese arrivals, saying it would be “a discriminatory approach” citing recommendations from the World Health Organization that noted blanket travel bans can make travelers harder to track.
Members of the recently formed Hospital Authority Employees Alliance picketed public hospitals Monday morning before a meeting with a Hospital Authority official, where they said they were unable to reach an agreement.
“Our discussions have fallen apart,” Winnie Yu, the chairwoman of the union, said Monday, adding that the next stage of the strike will involve a work stoppage by emergency doctors and nurses beginning Tuesday and lasting the rest of the week.
About 9,000 of the union’s 18,000 members have signed pledges to strike.
In the meantime, many Hong Kong residents have expressed concerns that bans on Chinese travelers could affect them as well, citing the case of Vietnam, which initially included Hong Kong in a ban on most incoming flights from China and Taiwan before backtracking. Most of the cases of coronavirus in the city have involved patients who recently traveled to China but the most recent appears to have involved a woman contracting it from her son, who recently traveled to Wuhan, according to the Times.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481232-hong-kong-medical-workers-striking-to-demand-closing-border-with-china
First US patient infected with coronavirus leaves hospital
A 35-year-old man who was reportedly the first U.S. patient diagnosed
with the coronavirus involved in an outbreak in China has left a
hospital in Seattle after receiving treatment.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the unidentified man wished to remain anonymous but thanked his doctors and nurses upon leaving Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.
“I am at home and continuing to get better,” the man said in a statement obtained by the AP. “I ask that the media please respect my privacy and my desire not to be in the public eye.”
“I appreciate all of the concern expressed by members of the public,
and I look forward to returning to my normal life,” he continued.
Thousands of people, mostly in China, have been sickened in the outbreak of coronavirus in recent weeks as Chinese officials struggle to control the disease’s spread. The virus, which officials believe originated in the city of Wuhan at a seafood market, causes a form of pneumonia that can be deadly. More than 300 people have died in the country from the disease.
An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called the outbreak an “unprecedented threat” in a statement last week, and added that CDC officials were hoping to join a delegation to China to assist with controlling the disease’s spread.
“I think that we at CDC have incredibly strong scientists who have a lot of technical experience with similar diseases,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said.
“Our presence on the ground in China would be a help to folks in China trying to unravel this thing,” she added.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481264-first-us-patient-infected-with-coronavirus-leaves-hospital
The Associated Press reported Monday that the unidentified man wished to remain anonymous but thanked his doctors and nurses upon leaving Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.
“I am at home and continuing to get better,” the man said in a statement obtained by the AP. “I ask that the media please respect my privacy and my desire not to be in the public eye.”
Thousands of people, mostly in China, have been sickened in the outbreak of coronavirus in recent weeks as Chinese officials struggle to control the disease’s spread. The virus, which officials believe originated in the city of Wuhan at a seafood market, causes a form of pneumonia that can be deadly. More than 300 people have died in the country from the disease.
An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called the outbreak an “unprecedented threat” in a statement last week, and added that CDC officials were hoping to join a delegation to China to assist with controlling the disease’s spread.
“I think that we at CDC have incredibly strong scientists who have a lot of technical experience with similar diseases,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said.
“Our presence on the ground in China would be a help to folks in China trying to unravel this thing,” she added.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481264-first-us-patient-infected-with-coronavirus-leaves-hospital
HHS to Congress: may transfer millions of funding dollars to respond to coronavirus
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified Congress
on Sunday that it may need to transfer millions of dollars of funding in
its budget to respond to the coronavirus.
HHS could shift up to $136 million to key agencies responding to the coronavirus, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
An HHS spokesperson said the notice was delivered “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure HHS’s ability to respond and adapt to a rapidly changing situation.”
Federal law requires HHS to notify Congress before shifting appropriated funds from one account to another.
A person familiar with the notice said HHS did not indicate which accounts it would be transferring the money from.
The CDC has already dipped into a $105 million fund created by Congress last year to help federal agencies respond to public health emergencies.
That funding was used to enhance laboratory capacity, communication and education efforts and to provide a surge in support for ports of entry and CDC technical assistance.
The CDC is performing enhanced entry screenings at five U.S. airports where passengers from Wuhan will arrive.
The CDC is also increasing staff at 20 ports of entry where the CDC’s medical screening stations are located.
“We are preparing as if this were the next pandemic,” said Nancy
Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and
Respiratory Diseases.
The CDC has confirmed 11 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. Nine of the patients had recently traveled in China. The other two patients contracted the virus from their spouses, who had recently traveled to China.
President Trump declared a public health emergency Friday and banned foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they had recently traveled to China.
American citizens can continue entering the U.S. from Hubei province — the epicenter of the outbreak — but may be quarantined for up to 14 days in a facility.
Other American citizens who have traveled in mainland China but not in Hubei may be self-quarantined in their homes.
All of these efforts are to prevent the virus from spreading to people in the U.S., the CDC says.
“The CDC, along with state and local health departments, has limited resources and the public health system could be overwhelmed if sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus occurred in the United States,” reads the White House proclamation issued Friday.
“Sustained human-to-human transmission has the potential to have cascading public health, economic, national security, and societal consequences,” it adds.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481267-hhs-tells-congress-it-may-transfer-millions-of-dollars-in-funding-to
HHS could shift up to $136 million to key agencies responding to the coronavirus, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
An HHS spokesperson said the notice was delivered “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure HHS’s ability to respond and adapt to a rapidly changing situation.”
A person familiar with the notice said HHS did not indicate which accounts it would be transferring the money from.
The CDC has already dipped into a $105 million fund created by Congress last year to help federal agencies respond to public health emergencies.
That funding was used to enhance laboratory capacity, communication and education efforts and to provide a surge in support for ports of entry and CDC technical assistance.
The CDC is performing enhanced entry screenings at five U.S. airports where passengers from Wuhan will arrive.
The CDC is also increasing staff at 20 ports of entry where the CDC’s medical screening stations are located.
The CDC has confirmed 11 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. Nine of the patients had recently traveled in China. The other two patients contracted the virus from their spouses, who had recently traveled to China.
President Trump declared a public health emergency Friday and banned foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they had recently traveled to China.
American citizens can continue entering the U.S. from Hubei province — the epicenter of the outbreak — but may be quarantined for up to 14 days in a facility.
Other American citizens who have traveled in mainland China but not in Hubei may be self-quarantined in their homes.
All of these efforts are to prevent the virus from spreading to people in the U.S., the CDC says.
“The CDC, along with state and local health departments, has limited resources and the public health system could be overwhelmed if sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus occurred in the United States,” reads the White House proclamation issued Friday.
“Sustained human-to-human transmission has the potential to have cascading public health, economic, national security, and societal consequences,” it adds.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/481267-hhs-tells-congress-it-may-transfer-millions-of-dollars-in-funding-to
Verastem +3.7% as Point72 discloses 7.4% stake
The firm discloses a 7.4% stake in the company, or 5.5M shares beneficially owned.
After a Thanksgiving low, shares in Verastem have gained 41.4% over the past month and are up 72.5% over the past three months.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3537709-verastemplus-3_7-point72-discloses-7_4-stake
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