The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made no secret of its intent to tighten its oversight of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, an emphasis that has already been felt in the med-tech space. Soliton Inc., of Houston, said in its latest 8-K filing that the FTC wants to see more information about plans for the company to be acquired by Allergan Aesthetics plc, a demand that at the very least will delay – and potentially derail altogether – the acquisition.
LONDON – Mission Therapeutics Ltd. has honed down a collection of 100-odd deubiquitylating (DUB) enzymes, to identify two that degrade misfolded proteins in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, triggering a $20 million milestone from partner Abbvie Inc.
Citing a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April that denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ability to seek restitution or disgorgement, the FTC, on July 30, withdrew its remaining count against Abbvie Inc. involving sham litigation intended to delay generic competition to its blockbuster testosterone replacement drug, Androgel.
More than a decade after the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act became law and nearly six years after the first biosimilar launched in the U.S., the country’s first potential interchangeable is on deck awaiting an FDA decision.
The M&As that are the current business model of the drug and device world are in for increased scrutiny under the executive order U.S. President Joe Biden signed July 9. Answering the administration’s call for a whole-of-government-approach to increasing competition in the U.S., the Department of Justice “will closely examine its antitrust guidelines and policy statements to better educate the public on its enforcement priorities, and it will heighten its efforts to prevent mergers that would result in excessive consolidations of purchasing power,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) came out swinging against the biopharma industry’s innovation talking point July 8 when she released a House Oversight Committee staff report on U.S. drug prices and the games drug manufacturers play to delay competition.
DUBLIN – In a busy week at the EMA, its Committee on Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) nodded through eight marketing applications at its June meeting. The haul included a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy, three antibodies, including a biosimilar, and two new small-molecule drugs, as well as two generics.
In denying cert to Abbvie Inc. v. FTC June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court may have strengthened an FTC tool for going after biopharma companies that try to protect their patents. The high court’s refusal to hear the case reinforces a September decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that the biopharma industry has said will make it more difficult for drug companies to pursue patent infringement cases in keeping with Hatch-Waxman.
Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group Co. Ltd. has received a milestone payment of $20 million from Abbvie Inc. for dosing the first two patients in the U.S. for a global phase I/IIa study of SHP2 inhibitor JAB-3312 in combination with PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab and MEK inhibitor binimetinib, taking another step forward in the global SHP2 race.
Beigene Ltd. unveiled positive interim results from its Alpine phase III trial comparing its small-molecule BTK inhibitor, Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), to Abbvie Inc.’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib), lending validity to one of the company’s most important development programs.
