Why Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Is Sinking

 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) were sinking 6.5% lower at 11:10 a.m. ET on Thursday and had been down as much as 11.7% earlier in the morning. The decline came after the pharmacy retailer and wholesaler announced its fiscal 2024 first-quarter results and reduced its dividend payout by 48%.

Walgreens' fiscal Q1 revenue of $36.7 billion was better than the consensus Wall Street estimate of nearly $34.9 billion. Its adjusted earnings per share of $0.66 also topped the average analysts' estimate of $0.61 per share.

However, investors reacted negatively to the company's dividend cut. Walgreens had previously increased its dividend for 47 consecutive years.

Why did Walgreens cut its dividend?

New Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth stated in a press release that the dividend cut was a "difficult decision." He said that the reduction was needed to "strengthen our long-term balance sheet and cash position." Wentworth added that the move will increase the company's cash flow and free up additional capital to "invest in sustainable growth initiatives in our pharmacy and healthcare businesses, which we believe will ultimately improve shareholder value."

All of Wentworth's statements can be summed up succinctly: Walgreens simply didn't have a better alternative. The company has a significant debt load. It faces challenging market dynamics. Although the decision to cut the dividend was no doubt painful, it was necessary.

Is Walgreens stock a buy on the pullback?

Income investors could be attracted to Walgreens despite the lower dividend. The pharmacy giant's dividend yield will still top 4%. Value investors looking for turnaround opportunities might like the stock as well, with Walgreens now trading at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of under 7.7.

However, most investors may be better off staying on the sidelines with Walgreens for now. There are plenty of stocks that offer better risk-reward propositions.

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/e00be5a1-b1b4-31a0-a971-90c3e7657494/why-walgreens-boots-alliance.html

Merck KGaA and AbbVie in new deals to fortify cancer pipelines

Merck KGaA and AbbVie each inked new deals to top up their cancer pipelines.

Merck KGaA tacked on ex-US licensing rights to Inspirna’s phase 2 colorectal cancer med, ompenaclid. Inspirna has aimed the med specifically at patients with RAS-mutated, advanced forms of the cancer, showing at last year’s European Society for Medical Oncology annual meeting that the drug produced a 37% objective response rate in 30 evaluable patients. The median progression-free survival was 10.2 months in a slightly larger sample size of 41 patients.

The German pharma is paying $45 million upfront with an undisclosed amount of biobucks on the table. Merck also has the option to co-develop and co-commercialize the med in the U.S. alongside Inspirna. 

AbbVie, fresh off its end-of-the-year shopping spree, is heading back to the deal well, this time for Umoja’s cell therapies. The top prize is licensing rights to Umoja’s lead in-situ candidate UB-VV111, currently in IND-enabling studies. The asset is the first test of Umoja’s in-vivo CAR-T, aiming to break some of the limitations associated with current autologous manufacturing processes. Umoja plans to ask regulators to enter a phase 1 trial in the first half of this year.

The second part of the deal is a larger discovery pact for up to four additional in-situ candidates, aimed at targets selected by AbbVie. All told, Umoja received both an undisclosed upfront payment and equity investment, with $1.4 billion in milestone payments available.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/avenzo-merck-kgaa-and-abbvie-each-ink-new-deals-fortify-cancer-pipelines

Cigna upped to Outperform from Market Perform by Bernstein

 Target to $372 from $330

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=CI&ty=c&ta=1&p=d

OPKO Health Announces Private Offering of Convertible Senior Notes Due 2029

 

Proceeds to be used for privately negotiated repurchases of common stock and outstanding 4.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/03/2803661/0/en/OPKO-Health-Announces-Private-Offering-of-Convertible-Senior-Notes-Due-2029.html

WW International and LifeMD fall as Eli Lilly launches website for weight-loss drug

 ** Shares of WW International WW.O and LifeMD LFMD.O fall 13% and 20%, respectively, after Eli Lilly LLY.N launches website for weight-loss drug

** U.S. drugmaker LLYlaunched a website that will allow people with obesity to get prescriptions through telehealth providers and opt for home delivery of the company's weight-loss drug

** Shares of weight-loss services company WW International WW.O, earlier known as WeightWatchers, down 13.6% at $6.60

** Shares of direct-to-patient telehealth services provider LFMD fall 20% to $6.20

** LFMD, in December,entered into an agreement with health and wellness company Medifast MED.N that sells a variety of weight loss, weight management and healthy living products

** LFMD stock gained 327.3% in 2023

** WW stock more than doubled in 2023, boosted by its acquisition of subscription telehealth platform Sequence to enter the obesity drug prescription business

https://www.xm.com/research/markets/allNews/reuters/ww-international-and-lifemd-fall-as-eli-lilly-launches-website-for-weightloss-drug-53731311

Avenue Agreement with FDA for Phase 3 Safety Study for IV Tramadol

 Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATXI) (“Avenue” or the “Company”), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of neurologic diseases, today announced that it has reached final agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) on the Phase 3 safety study protocol and statistical analysis approach, including the primary endpoint, for intravenous (IV) tramadol, which is in development for the treatment of acute post-operative pain in a medically supervised setting. The final non-inferiority study is designed to assess the theoretical risk of opioid-induced respiratory depression related to opioid stacking on IV tramadol compared to IV morphine.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/04/2804007/0/en/Avenue-Therapeutics-Reaches-Final-Agreement-with-the-U-S-FDA-for-the-Phase-3-Safety-Study-for-IV-Tramadol.html

Lilly launches website, home delivery option for weight-loss drugs

 Eli Lilly and Co on Thursday launched a website that will allow people with obesity to get prescriptions through telehealth providers and opt for home-delivery of the company's weight-loss drug.

The service, called LillyDirect, comes on the back of the launch of Lilly's obesity drug Zepbound last month, the latest entrant to a market that is forecast to grow to about $100 billion by the end of the decade.

Powerful weight-loss medicines, like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, have seen extraordinary demand over the last one year, leading to their acute shortage in the United States.

Lilly said its direct-to-consumer service will also be available for patients with diabetes and migraine, with the website's pharmacy page listing migraine drug Emgality, insulin and similar products for home delivery.

The website will connect patients to independent telehealth providers who can complement their current team of doctors or be an alternative to in-person care for certain conditions, the company said.

It will also provide pharmacy services through third-party providers, completing the company's so-called "end-to-end" service for these patients.

"We're used to buying consumer goods directly from manufacturers all the time on online websites," Lilly CEO David Ricks told NBC News.

"It really hasn’t been an option that's been provided before" for prescription drugs, Ricks added.

The soaring popularity of obesity drugs has also attracted interest from weight management service providers WW International and Ro, which have also launched telehealth services for these drugs.

Lilly also said it does not promote the use of its obesity and diabetes drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound outside of their approved purposes, and said it stands against their use for "cosmetic weight loss".

The company in September filed lawsuits against 10 U.S. medical spas, wellness centers and compounding pharmacies for selling products claiming to contain tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-lilly-launches-website-home-130018435.html