The past few years have brought some groundbreaking drug launches, such as the record-breaking Gilead Sciences rollout of its hepatitis C medicines and the first PD-1 cancer fighters from Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). This year, though, looks to be somewhat slower on that front. Drug firms will aim most of their new launches at smaller markets or will build on existing franchises. Still, Merck (MRK), Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Eli Lilly
Big biotech Gilead Sciences (GILD) agreed to license an immunology drug from smaller counterpart Galapagos (GLPG) Thursday in a deal that could be worth more than $2 billion. Galapagos’ drug is filgotinib, which is due to start phase three trials in rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease next year. Gilead agreed to pay a $300 million license fee and buy $425 million in Galapagos stock upfront, and promised up to $1.35 billion in milestone
The long-awaited report from the Senate Finance committee on Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) pricing of its hepatitis C drugs came out Tuesday, and as expected, it was highly critical. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in the spring of 2014 that they would investigate Gilead’s pricing policies after Gilead priced its new hepatitis C drug Sovaldi at $84,000 for a 12-week regimen. Their criticism of the price led Gilead and nearly