Drug maker Shire has rejected three takeover bids from Takeda Pharmaceutical that valued Shire at more than $60 billion, according to multiplereports, and now Allergan appears to be entering the sweepstakes, per Reuters.
The bottom line: Acquiring Shire, a large and profitable firm that makes hyperactivity drugs Adderall and Vyvanseamong others, would easily catapult Takeda or Allegan into the ranks of the largest global drug manufacturers.
Procter & Gamble is acquiring the consumer health products division of German conglomerate Merck KGaA for $4.2 billion, its first major deal since activist investor Nelson Peltz won a seat on the company's board of directors. This adds to P&G's lineup of health products like Crest, Pepto-Bismol and Vicks.
Why it matters: P&G's buyout of Merck KGaA's consumer health business comes right after Novartis sold its own to GlaxoSmithKline. Meanwhile, Pfizer is still looking to unload its bigger over-the-counter division to a market that now excludes two large purchasers.
Republicans are planning to campaign aggressively on their repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, despite the high likelihood that insurers will announce a big round of premium increases just weeks before Election Day. They're counting on the mandate's unpopularity to shield them from Democrats' claims of "sabotage."
Between the lines: Both parties are right: The individual mandate was the most unpopular feature of the ACA, and its repeal will surely contribute to significant premium hikes.
The White House's Office of Management and Budget is officially evaluating a proposal from the Health and Human Services Department that would "lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs," ahead of President Trump's speech about drug prices next week.
The big picture: HHS and OMB did not respond when asked what was included, but the proposal likely will include ideas from Trump's budget that won't really target the pricing practices of pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Lobbyists representing cancer hospitals are urging Medicare officials to create a new set of payments for new, expensive CAR-T treatments.
Looking ahead: Medicare is expected to release a big annual payment rule any day now, and there's a chance it could propose "add-on" payments for CAR-T therapies — a move that would cost the government millions of dollars while immediately broadening dying cancer patients' access to promising new treatments.
