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A significant portion of the public have negative perceptions of pharmaceutical companies, particularly when it comes to pricing. So nobody needs to tell you that the pharma-giant denying a very sick toddler compassionate use of its not-yet-approved gene therapy drug, Zolgensma, is not a good look. In fact, the optics are outright ugly and the company looks more than a little salty. It happened. “The Brussels Times reported that De Block’s spokesperson Audrey Dorigo said Novartis had rejected a request for compassionate use, even though the government considered that all conditions were met.” Did I mention how ugly this situation looks? http://bit.ly/2lxQn0n
While we’re on the topic of Zolgensma, it’s hard not to mention the fact that the drug’s story is almost as negative as it can be while still being positive. A baby died during a clinical trial in Europe. Meanwhile, Novartis was called out for submitting questionable data. Not only that, a JPMorgan survey of physicians made clear that there were some reservations about the drug’s effectiveness. There are whispers that the drug will struggle to be profitable. http://bit.ly/2lvJ758
Chalk another one up for cannabis pharma front-runner, GW Pharma has had it’s epilepsy drug approved in the European Union. That’s good news. (See, it’s not all pharma bashing here today.) http://bit.ly/2mXrGe0
So back to the unflattering Big Pharma narratives. (Really, they do it to themselves quite a bit.) According to FiercePharma, “As U.S. officials press a massive case for alleged generic drug price fixing, authorities in the U.K. have unearthed an example of rivals working a little too closely with each other.” Click on. Read on. Get mad. http://bit.ly/2n2NCof
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