Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Sunny skies and mild breezes are enveloping the Pharmalot campus once again. And to celebrate, we are brewing still more cups of stimulation and inviting you to join us. Our choice today is blackberry hibiscus. Remember, a prescription is not required. So no need to mess with rebates or even TrumpRx. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest. Hope you have a meaningful and productive day and, of course, do stay in touch. …
Novo Nordisk chairman Lars Rebien Sorensen will face investors at the company’s annual meeting for the first time on Thursday after his boardroom coup and is in for an earful, Bloomberg News tells us. Sorensen and new chief executive officer Mike Doustdar have had just months to start remaking Novo as a more aggressive and fast-moving company, but investors point to two recent missteps. The drugmaker failed in an attempt last fall to wrest an obesity startup away from Pfizer and it surprised the market this year with a gloomy forecast that sent shares plunging. Two other events further eroded investor faith in the company at the heart of the obesity drug revolution. Novo shares have fallen about 45% since Sorensen, a company veteran, intervened to oust former chief executive officer Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen last May. Over the same period, Eli Lilly’s market value grew by a fifth, briefly turning a key rival into the world’s first $1 trillion drugmaker.
Novo Nordisk is cutting South African prices of its weight loss drug Wegovy for a second time since it launched in August, pointing to fierce competition in a market led by Eli Lilly, Reuters says. The company launched Wegovy in South Africa in August, when reference pricing was uncertain due to talks with the U.S. administration on its proposed “most-favored nation” policy linking U.S. drug prices to those in peer countries. “We were of the view that the prices at the time were not conducive for the South African market,” said Thabeng Leping, who oversees market access and public affairs in South Africa. Because we couldn’t delay the launch, we just decided we’ll fix it as we go along. So we reduced our prices in December. We’ve submitted another reduction of our prices yesterday.” The lowest injected dose dropped 60% to $110, while the highest dose fell 27% to $221. A further 12% cut to the 1.7-milligram dose — the second highest — awaits approval.Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…