Pharma News

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc., and Lundbeck announced that Brintellix (vortioxetine) will be marketed in the United States under the new name Trintellix (vortioxetine) starting in June of 2016. This name change comes after receiving reports of name confusion in the marketplace between Brintellix and the anti-blood clotting therapy Brilinta® (ticagrelor).

All-stock transaction with combined 2015 revenue of $7.2 billion and combined equity market capitalization of $17.6 billion

IMS Health Holdings, Inc. and Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. approved a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which the companies will be combined in an all-stock merger of equals transaction. The merged company will be named Quintiles IMS Holdings, Inc. Based on the closing of IMS Health and Quintiles common stock prices on May 2, 2016, the equity market capitalization of the joined companies is more than $17.6 billion and the enterprise value is more than $23 billion. The 2015 pro forma reported revenue for Quintiles IMS was $7.2 billion; adjusted EBITDA was $1.7 billion and adjusted unlevered free cash flow was $1.3 billion. Please see attached appendix for reconciliation of non-GAAP measures. Under the terms of the merger agreement, IMS Health shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.384 shares of Quintiles common stock for each share of IMS Health common stock. Upon completion of the merger, IMS Health shareholders will own approximately 51.4 percent of the shares of the combined company on a fully diluted basis and Quintiles shareholders will own approximately 48.6 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.

AstraZeneca has fulfilled the deal of the core respiratory business of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. The agreement, announced in December 2015.  Agreement includes the expansion of rights to roflumilast (marketed as Daliresp in the US and Daxas in other countries), the only approved oral PDE4 inhibitor for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. AstraZeneca marketed Daliresp in the US in the first quarter of 2015.

AstraZeneca  announced that it has handover global rights of  Imdur, outside the US, to China Medical System Holdings Ltd and its associated company, Tibet Rhodiola Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Under the agreement,

Boston Scientific get U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for two catheters that can be used with the Rhythmia™ Mapping System. The IntellaNav™ XP and the IntellaNav MiFi™ XP navigation-enabled ablation catheters were approved to treat Type I atrial flutter. These are the first magnetically-tracked catheters that Boston Scientific will offer to the U.S. market. Type I atrial flutter  is an abnormal rhythm of the upper chambers of the heart.

Perrigo announced that it has received U.S.FDA approval for the generic version of Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc.'s BenzaClin® Pump Topical Gel. BenzaClin® Pump Topical Gel (clindamycin phosphate 1% and benzoyl peroxide 5%) is indicated for the topical treatment of acne vulgaris.

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. received from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track designation for AXS-02 for the treatment of the pain of knee osteoarthritis (OA) associated with bone marrow lesions (BMLs). There is currently no product approved specifically for this indication.

Roche announced new results from 19 approved and investigational medicines will be presented during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from 3rd – 7th June in Chicago, United States. More than 200 abstracts have been accepted across eight cancer types, including four “late breakers” and nearly 30 oral presentations.

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (RXi) and privately-held Thera Neuropharma, Inc. (Thera) have entered into an exclusive license agreement for RXi's novel and proprietary sd-rxRNA platform to develop therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.