Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
SHANGHAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly’s popular drug Mounjaro will be added to China’s state-run health insurance scheme from January 1 for patients with type 2 diabetes, the National Healthcare Security Administration said in a website notice on Sunday. Inclusion in the national reimbursement list makes drugs more widely available to the public in a country with a population of 1.4 billion, but an increase in sales volume is often mitigated by lower prices. Mounjaro, a once-weekly injectable therapy, was introduced in China in January this year following the launch of Ozempic, a similar diabetes therapy from rival Danish…
Dec 8 (Reuters) – Mirum Pharmaceuticals said on Monday it will acquire Bluejay Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $820 million, adding a late-stage experimental drug for a severe liver disease to its portfolio. Under the agreement, Mirum will pay $250 million in cash and $370 million in stock upfront, plus up to $200 million in potential sales-based milestone payments. “This acquisition fits squarely with what we do best – advancing high-impact medicines for patients with rare diseases,” said Mirum CEO Chris Peetz. The deal will give Mirum worldwide rights to brelovitug, a monoclonal antibody being tested for chronic…
Dec 9 (Reuters) – CVS Health (CVS) on Tuesday forecast 2026 profit above Wall Street estimates and this year’s projected earnings, signalling steady progress in the health conglomerate’s turnaround plan. CVS stock rose more than 3% before the bell on Tuesday. The company in October projected double-digit earnings growth for 2026 after raising its 2025 profit forecast for the third time. “We are closing out 2025 with meaningful momentum across our businesses and we expect another year of strong earnings growth in 2026,” said Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman on Tuesday. The company forecast 2026 adjusted profit to be in…
Dec 9 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly said on Tuesday it will invest more than $6 billion in a new active drug ingredient manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama, to expand U.S. production and bolster medicine supply chains. The site, the third new U.S. facility announced by Lilly, will make small-molecule synthetic and peptide medicines, including orforglipron, its first oral GLP-1 weight-loss drug anticipated to receive U.S. approval early next year. Global pharmaceutical companies have been increasing U.S. investments after President Donald Trump urged the industry to make more medicines domestically rather than importing active ingredients or finished medicines. Earlier this year,…
Paired with high-deductible healthcare plans, health savings accounts help ease healthcare costs. HSAs are a triple tax-advantaged vehicle in the tax code, allowing for pretax contributions, tax-free compounding, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. However, few owners fund their HSAs to the maximum, and even fewer invest their HSA dollars outside a savings account. Most consumers likely don’t fill their HSAs because they lack the financial means; critics note that the HDHP/HSA combination can be less beneficial for lower-income workers. But even wealthy consumers may decline to fully fund their HSAs. Many HSAs charge account-maintenance fees and extra costs…
Dec 12 (Reuters) – The weight-loss drug market is booming, with biotech firms racing to secure their place in a lucrative sector currently dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Analysts project the industry could rake in $150 billion in annual sales by the next decade. Soaring demand for its obesity treatment has helped Lilly become the first pharmaceutical company to reach $1 trillion in market value last month. The following is a list of weight-loss drugs in development by Novo, Lilly and other companies chasing the next blockbuster treatment: NOVO NORDISK The Danish drugmaker is working on several experimental…
Valerie Health Valerie Health raised $30 million from Redpoint Ventures to automate healthcare front office tasks. The startup uses AI to automate referrals and scheduling for independent provider groups. We got an exclusive look at the 13-slide pitch deck Valerie Health used to raise its Series A. When Valerie Health CEO Peter Shalek demos his product to clinicians, he has an unusual pitch: “This is a weird demo, because you’ll never have to use this software.” Valerie Health, which Shalek cofounded alongside Uber Health founder Nitin Joshi, aims to fully automate time-consuming front-office tasks in healthcare, such as referrals and…
By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Genesis Healthcare is preparing for a new auction of its 175 long-term nursing homes in January, after a judge refused to approve an insider bid that would have left the same ownership group in charge after the company’s bankruptcy. Daniel Simon, the company’s bankruptcy attorney, said at a Wednesday court hearing in Dallas that the company is working with creditor representatives and hoping to conduct a new and more open auction in mid-January. While Genesis was “humbled” by the rejection of its initial sale proposal, the new auction must proceed quickly…
Dec 17 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly is slashing the prices of its popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound by 20% or more in Canada, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday, citing a note to pharmacies issued by the U.S.-based drugmaker. The Canadian list price of a four-week supply of Mounjaro or Zepbound would be lowered to 300 Canadian dollars ($217) for 2.5 mg and 5 mg doses, the report said. Higher 7.5 and 10 mg doses will cost 420 Canadian dollars for a four-week supply, the report said, adding that the new prices take effect on December…
Dec 18 (Reuters) – Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical said on Thursday its experimental pill for a type of skin disease, developed using artificial intelligence, succeeded in two late-stage studies. More than half the plaque psoriasis patients across the studies showed clear or almost clear skin after 16 weeks of treatment with the once-daily drug, zasocitinib, the company said. Takeda plans to file marketing applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities in 2026. If approved, zasocitinib would join a crowded plaque psoriasis market featuring well-established oral rivals like Bristol Myers’ Sotyktu and Amgen’s Otezla, plus injectables including…