Latest news with #BhanviSatija
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Drug pricing reform talks with US government lack clarity, industry executives say
By Bhanvi Satija and Christy Santhosh (Reuters) -Talks with the Trump administration about lowering U.S. drug prices have so far not provided clarity on when and how reduced prices will be implemented, top executives from Eli Lilly and Merck said at an industry conference on Tuesday. President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month directing drugmakers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay. According to the order, the administration was to set "most favored nation" price targets within 30 days. The Department of Health and Human Services has said it expects drugmakers in the U.S. to set prices for their products at the lowest price paid by other high-income countries. Lilly's chief financial officer, Lucas Montarce, said that it was not clear when a resolution on the pricing reform would be achieved. "It's hard to make any assumption about when, but they haven't shared with us any details at this time," said Montarce at the Goldman Sachs' Healthcare Conference. On Monday, Pfizer's chief executive Albert Bourla had said that the meetings with the Trump administration were focused on high-level ideas and not "digging into the substance." "Conversations are ongoing. No clarity yet on where it's going to go," said Merck's CEO Robert Davis. Davis added that Merck has discussed how to share the cost of drug innovation, both in the United States and other countries, with the administration. "But how does that all translate into an actionable plan in the near term? There's still a lot of dialog happening, so that's not as clear," he said. Lilly and Merck executives said that any pricing reforms would require regulatory changes or government-to-government actions. AbbVie's CEO also said that there was a "long way to go" before an agreement would be reached on the pricing reform. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eli Lilly's strong quarter undercut by CVS move to drop Zepbound coverage
By Bhanvi Satija and Patrick Wingrove (Reuters) -Eli Lilly on Thursday posted better-than-expected quarterly results, but CVS Health's decision to drop the company's obesity drug Zepbound from the list of medicines it covers for reimbursement dragged shares down over 5%. CVS said its pharmacy benefit management unit, which is the largest in the U.S., would drop Zepbound coverage from July 1, but keep reimbursing for rival GLP-1 weight-loss drug Wegovy after negotiating a more favorable price from Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk. The success of Lilly's diabetes and weight-loss treatments has led the Indianapolis-based drugmaker to become the world's most valuable healthcare company, with a market value of more than $800 billion. "The battle between Novo and Lilly is clearly adding meaningful price pressure" to the GLP-1 medicines, said Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen, adding that patients and doctors have shown preference toward Zepbound. Lilly said lower prices for Zepbound trimmed revenue in the quarter, but that demand remained strong. Sales of the drug came in at $2.31 billion for the first quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.33 billion, according to LSEG data. In February, Lilly cut the price for vials of Zepbound by $50 or more and expanded the range of doses it sold online to address competition from compounding pharmacies and Novo. It now offers the two lowest doses of Zepbound for $349 and $499 for a month's supply. Weekly U.S. prescriptions of Wegovy have plateaued since mid-February, according to IQVIA data provided by analysts, with Zepbound prescriptions overtaking Novo's obesity drug by more than 127,000 for the week ending April 18. Lilly said it had captured about 53.3% of the U.S. market share. "There's always the risk of a price competition when your competitor Novo Nordisk is frankly not doing enough with its pipeline. So they may try to get a bit too aggressive on pricing just to maintain market share," said Kevin Gade, portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor, which owns Lilly shares. Sales of Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro, which has the same active ingredient as Zepbound, were $3.84 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.80 billion. Lilly cut its full-year adjusted profit forecast to between $20.78 and $22.28 per share, from its previous view of $22.50 to $24.00 per share, citing deal charges. The drugmaker said its forecast is based on "the existing tariff and trade environment," and did not quantify any impact from potential tariffs. Lilly, like Novartis and Johnson & Johnson, has committed to increasing its U.S. manufacturing presence, pledging to spend at least $27 billion as the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump looms over the sector. On an adjusted basis, Lilly earned $3.34 per share for the quarter, topping analysts' estimates by 32 cents. Total revenue for the period was $12.73 billion, above Wall Street expectations of $12.67 billion. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eli Lilly's strong quarter undercut by CVS move to drop Zepbound coverage
By Bhanvi Satija and Patrick Wingrove (Reuters) -Eli Lilly on Thursday posted better-than-expected quarterly results, but CVS Health's decision to drop the company's obesity drug Zepbound from the list of medicines it covers for reimbursement dragged shares down over 5%. CVS said its pharmacy benefit management unit, which is the largest in the U.S., would drop Zepbound coverage from July 1, but keep reimbursing for rival GLP-1 weight-loss drug Wegovy after negotiating a more favorable price from Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk. The success of Lilly's diabetes and weight-loss treatments has led the Indianapolis-based drugmaker to become the world's most valuable healthcare company, with a market value of more than $800 billion. "The battle between Novo and Lilly is clearly adding meaningful price pressure" to the GLP-1 medicines, said Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen, adding that patients and doctors have shown preference toward Zepbound. Lilly said lower prices for Zepbound trimmed revenue in the quarter, but that demand remained strong. Sales of the drug came in at $2.31 billion for the first quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.33 billion, according to LSEG data. In February, Lilly cut the price for vials of Zepbound by $50 or more and expanded the range of doses it sold online to address competition from compounding pharmacies and Novo. It now offers the two lowest doses of Zepbound for $349 and $499 for a month's supply. Weekly U.S. prescriptions of Wegovy have plateaued since mid-February, according to IQVIA data provided by analysts, with Zepbound prescriptions overtaking Novo's obesity drug by more than 127,000 for the week ending April 18. Lilly said it had captured about 53.3% of the U.S. market share. "There's always the risk of a price competition when your competitor Novo Nordisk is frankly not doing enough with its pipeline. So they may try to get a bit too aggressive on pricing just to maintain market share," said Kevin Gade, portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor, which owns Lilly shares. Sales of Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro, which has the same active ingredient as Zepbound, were $3.84 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.80 billion. Lilly cut its full-year adjusted profit forecast to between $20.78 and $22.28 per share, from its previous view of $22.50 to $24.00 per share, citing deal charges. The drugmaker said its forecast is based on "the existing tariff and trade environment," and did not quantify any impact from potential tariffs. Lilly, like Novartis and Johnson & Johnson, has committed to increasing its U.S. manufacturing presence, pledging to spend at least $27 billion as the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump looms over the sector. On an adjusted basis, Lilly earned $3.34 per share for the quarter, topping analysts' estimates by 32 cents. Total revenue for the period was $12.73 billion, above Wall Street expectations of $12.67 billion.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Novartis to buy kidney disease drug maker Regulus in up to $1.7 billion deal
By Bhanvi Satija and Mariam Sunny (Reuters) -Novartis has agreed to buy Regulus Therapeutics for up to $1.7 billion, giving the Swiss drugmaker access to an experimental drug to treat a life-threatening kidney disease. Under the deal terms, Novartis will pay $7 per share in cash upfront, or about $800 million, and another $7 per share to Regulus shareholders if the lead drug candidate, farabursen, gets regulatory approval, the California-based biotech said on Wednesday. The offer represents a premium of about 108% to the stock's last closing price. Shares of Regulus more than doubled to $7.8. The deal, expected to bolster Novartis' lineup of kidney disease drugs in development, will also give the company access to Regulus' proprietary platform to develop treatments targeting a type of genetic material called microRNAs. Regulus' drug, farabursen, is expected to enter a late-stage study this year to test it for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, which causes fluid-filled cysts in the organ. The deal is a "sensible bolt-on" for Novartis, said Barclays analyst Emily Field. Farabursen is a potential improvement over poorly tolerated standard-of-care therapy, tolvaptan, Field said. Otsuka Pharmaceutical's tolvaptan is the only treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the country for the condition, but it carries the risk of potentially fatal liver injury. Novartis has recently received U.S. approvals for its drugs Fabhalta and Vanrafia for the treatment of different types of kidney disorders. It had bought Chinook Therapeutics for $3.5 billion in 2023 for its candidate to treat a rare kidney disease. Its agreement with Regulus comes when policy and regulatory changes for the healthcare sector in the U.S. have been stalling large lifescience deals in what was initially expected to be a stellar year for mergers and acquisitions. Novartis said on Tuesday it expects adjusted earnings to grow by "a low double-digit" percentage in 2025. Sign in to access your portfolio
Zawya
17-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Lilly pill leads to 7.9% weight loss in late-stage trial, shares jump
Eli Lilly said on Thursday its experimental pill, orforglipron, led to a weight loss of nearly 8% at the highest dose and lowered blood sugar for overweight patients with type 2 diabetes in a late-stage trial. Shares of the company jumped nearly 13% in premarket trading. Lilly, which has already begun stockpiling supplies of the pill, said it plans to file for approval to global regulators by the end of this year. The company currently sells injectable tirzepatide -- the active ingredient in diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity treatment Zepbound -- which mimics natural peptide hormones GLP-1 and GIP. Orforglipron also targets GLP-1, but unlike hormone-mimicking peptides, which also include Novo Nordisk's injected Ozempic and Wegovy, it is a synthetic small molecule drug that can be taken orally. (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Deena Beasley; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sriraj Kalluvila)
