Tag Archives: nvs

Novartis’ Neupogen Knockoff Now First U.S. Biosimilar

Swiss pharma Novartis (NVS) won the first FDA approval for a biosimilar drug Friday, as the agency cleared a knockoff of Amgen’s best-seller Neupogen. The drug, called Zarxio, was approved for the same five indications for which Neupogen is approved, boosting the white-blood-cell count in patients suffering from cancer and other diseases. Although Neupogen’s patent expired in 2013, the fact that it’s a biologic drug, rather than a pharmaceutical

AbbVie Stock Slides On Pricey Pharmacyclics Deal

Big pharma AbbVie’s $21 billion deal to acquire hot biotech Pharmacyclics was met with widespread skepticism by AbbVie investors Thursday, sending AbbVie’s stock down 4% in afternoon trading. AbbVie (ABBV) announced the cash-and-stock acquisition late Wednesday after rumors had been swirling all afternoon that Novartis (NVS) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were engaged in a bidding war for Pharmacyclics (PCYC). It surprised Wall Street that AbbVie

Biotech Pharmacyclics Spikes On Buyout Rumors

Pharmacyclics (PCYC) stock soared to an all-time high Wednesday on media reports that the biotech is considering selling itself to a big pharmaceuticals company. Pharmacyclics, whose only marketed product is the Imbruvica blood-cancer drug, has drawn interest from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Novartis (NVS), according to a report from Bloomberg, which cited unidentified sources with “knowledge of the matter.” No representatives from any of those