Murder...?

Pharmaceutical companies are "getting away with murder," President-elect Donald Trump said during his Wednesday press conference — and the sector didn't get away unscathed.

After Trump mentioned drug prices and pharmaceutical companies' tax inversions, the nine biggest pharmaceutical companies by market cap on the S&P 500 shed roughly $24.6 billion in 20 minutes. That includes the market caps of Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Amgen, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Celgene, and Eli Lilly.

The Indexes which tracks pharmaceutical stocks, fell nearly 4% in that time. Granted, the loss in market cap for big pharma is small relative to companies' overall market cap of combined $906.8 billion before Trump's speech.

Roberry...?

Hope the new administration would do something about the high prices of medication.
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Namenda...*

Alzheimer's medication Namenda is due to go generic next year. Forest Laboratories plans to stop the sale of the current version at least six months before a less expensive, generic product could become available.

The company is telling doctors to transition patients to a Newer Form, not a New Drug, one that has additional patent protection and is unlikely to go generic for years.

The purpose is "to get patients over to this new product as fast as possible," said David Maris, a stock analyst with BMO Capital Markets who covers pharmaceuticals. Thus, when the patent ends on the old product, "patients are already on the new product and there's no existing product left."

The retail price of Namenda is more than $300 a month. When generic companies compete, the price of a drug usually drops to $30. 

"The reason drug companies do these forced switches is that the switches are sticky. 
This  is denying the patient the medication, reasonable price, after the patent of 20 years expired.

First: Since the company can't, or wouldn't produce the Namenda, the generic company should be allowed to start marketing the generic 9 month earlier.

Second: The regular Namenda should be placed over the counter by the approval of the pharmacist. If the patient has been on it, no prescriptions is necessary for 9 months.

Third: Allow free importation of this medication from other countries by Walmart, CVS and the like for 9 months.                      Just a thought.

Position of...?

The former director of the pharmacy at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for stealing about $58,000 worth of cancer-fighting drugs and other prescription medicines and selling them for cash, Federal prosecutors said.

He was employed by the hospital pharmacy from 1968 until his arrest, pleaded guilty to distributing wholesale prescription drugs without a license.

A former pharmacy school classmate arranged to buy drugs and recorded telephone conversations, according to court papers. In sentencing, Judge Allen G. Schwartz of United States District Court in Manhattan said that Mr. harry Morelli had abused his position of trust with the hospital.

Gerald B. Appel, director of clinical nephrology, wrote: ''In the 20 years I have known Mr. Morelli, I have never seen any part of his character that is not upstanding and honorable. I can say that my colleagues feel the same way about Mr. Morelli.''

In addition to being sentenced to prison, fined $30,000, pay $58,500 in restitution and gave up his license.  [Summery.. NYT TERRY PRISTINSEPT. 11, 1998]

One Loophole....

The Treasury Department introduced a regulation that would negate the tax benefits of Pfizer's acquisition of Allergan.  Shares in Allergan opened down more than 15 percent on Tuesday, after the U.S. Treasury Department proposed new tax regulations that could kill its $160 billion agreement to be bought by Pfizer.

Pfizer's deal to buy Dublin-based Allergan was conceived under rules that would have allowed the company to move its headquarters to Ireland and lower its tax rate. 

Tax inversion is a term for the relocation of a corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation, or corporate haven, usually while retaining its material operations in its higher-tax country of origin. 

Tax inversions are a form of tax avoidance, whereby corporations and individuals arrange their affairs to legally reduce their tax obligations.  U.S. Internal Revenue Code imposes income tax on the profits of American corporations' foreign subsidiaries.This creates a strong incentive for American companies with large overseas markets to seek to re-characterize themselves as a foreign corporation.

Lack of competition with Canada,  Prevent individual from importing their own medication, Allowing fake internet pharmacies which scam the consumer, free to price their medication 5000% higher than what it was a week ago and you get Monopoly.

How much did Pfizer paid in taxes the past five years?  Just a thought.

Valeant Canada

In a chaotic day of trading, once-highflying Valeant Pharmaceuticals defended itself against some of the most severe criticism yet of its business practices, denying allegations of improper accounting from an investor who is betting against the company.  The short-seller’s report knocked Valeant’s stock down wiping some $20 billion from its market value .

The report, from research firm Citron Research, fanned concerns about Valeant’s accounting, raising questions about its use of certain pharmacies to supply its drugs and its accounting for the dispensing. Valeant “categorically” denied the report.

Doubts about the sustainability of the approach, long harbored by hedge funds that made and lost bets against the company, came into the open after Valeant sought to make its biggest deal yet last year with a hostile offer for Botox maker Allergan. In fighting back, Allergan’s then-CEO David Pyott campaigned against Valeant’s accounting practices and said its aversion to research threatened its ability to find new growth sources.

Valeant said last week it had received subpoenas from federal prosecutors asking about its drug pricing and patient-assistance programs.
The company said it would change its approach, spending more on R&D and focusing more on reducing its debt than on dealmaking. Shares fell nearly 8% that day.

When you charge patients and government the highest prices ever it is ok, but when you screw up with hedge Fund, you go down.  Just a thought.

Rip-off..?

Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs. The same day, their list prices rose by 525% and 212%.
Neither of the drugs, Nitropress or Isuprel, was improved as a result of costly investment in lab work and human testing, Valeant said. Nor was manufacture of the medicines shifted to an expensive new plant. The big change: the drugs’ ownership.

More pharmaceutical companies are buying drugs that they see as undervalued, then raising the prices. It is one of a number of industry tactics, along with companies regularly upping the prices of their own older medicines and launching new treatments at once unheard of sums, driving up the cost of drugs.

Valiant received subpoenas from federal prosecutors seeking information related to how it prices drugs, distributes them and helps patients afford the medicines.
The subpoenas also seek information and documents from the Canada-based drug company regarding information it provided to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

This is a Rip-off plan by all means. Prices are over the top. The big one buy the little and off they go. Request Tax reduction for business competitiveness and then create a fictitious domicile in Ireland or so.

The market must have competition in the pharmaceuticals area.   Just a thought.

Pain Pill...

 Chicago filed a lawsuit against five major producers of  pharmaceuticals accusing the group of concealing the risks associated with certain painkillers.        

The drug maker "should never place its desire for profits above the health and well-being of its customers,".

The city said that the companies knew for years that certain pain-alleviating drugs were addictive and could prove debilitating in the long-term.

       

The drug makers "spent millions of dollars funding, assisting and encouraging doctors and front groups" to promote the drugs and broaden their reach among users afflicted with chronic pain,

Chicago says.  The United States is now awash in opioids," the suit said, citing data showing that more than 250 million prescriptions for the narcotic were filled in 2010.      

The suit contends that the drugs have ramped up addiction.

Pain Medicine helps those with disability, Cancer, Surgery, etc and yet is a subject of abuse. However,  it is a matter of law enforcement actions at the end user and or the provider. No easy result.      Just a [painful] thought. 

Buying everybody...!

Pfizer has reportedly made overtures offering to buy pharma giant AstraZeneca for $101 billions, the first mega matchup in pharma land in years.

Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert in 2000 for $90 billions, Pharmacia in 2003 for $60 Billions, and Wyeth, for $68 billions in 2009.
Sold for $16.6 billions its consumer-products division to Johnson & Johnson in 2006,

Big money is moving back and forth on minimum new medications of real benefits to the patients.

Pfizer should be looking for more Research and Development to add more drugs into its pipeline.  The market place see minor amount of new drugs in general. Diversify its business model is also important.

The structure and laws in USA must be changed. The market structure should be geared into profitable R&D not marketing and Financial Engineering of the same back and forth. This is the hardest thing to do.

Just a thought.