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Roche (ROG.S), opens new tab on Thursday launched direct-to-consumer U.S. sales of its influenza antiviral pill Xofluza at a discounted cash price of $50, following similar moves by rivals as they scramble to address pressure from the Trump administration to lower prescription drug prices paid by Americans. The Xofluza cash price, offered by Roche's U.S. biotech unit Genentech at 70% below list price, will be available to insured and uninsured patients from Alto Pharmacy and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. Same-day delivery will be available via Alto Pharmacy. Major U.S. pharmacy chains like CVS (CVS.N), opens new tab will not be involved, Roche confirmed. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has said it plans to launch, likely early next year, a website called TrumpRx that aims to help consumers buy some medicines directly from the manufacturers. Roche said its new program will not be accessible through TrumpRx, but that it will continue to evaluate its options. Few people in the U.S. pay cash for prescription medications. Most have insurance - either commercial or federal plans like Medicare - that charge them a fixed co-pay or percentage of a drug cost. Insurers typically receive confidential discounts or rebates directly from drug...

Chinese biotech Hansoh Pharma said on Friday it had signed a licence agreement worth up to $1.45 billion with Roche for an investigational treatment of colorectal cancer and other solid tumours. Hansoh Pharma units Shanghai Hansoh Biomedical and Changzhou Hansoh Pharmaceutical will grant Roche subsidiary F. Hoffmann-La Roche an exclusive worldwide licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise the product. The licence excludes rights in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The licensors will receive an upfront payment of $80 million and be eligible to receive up to $1.45 billion in milestone payments associated with the development, regulatory approval and commercialisation of the product, among others.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and Omeros have signed a licensing deal worth up to $2.1 billion for the U.S.-based company’s experimental drug, which is being developed for rare blood and kidney disorders, they said on Wednesday. Omeros shares more than doubled to $9.90 in morning trading. As part of the agreement, Novo gains exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize Omeros’ drug zaltenibart, designed to inhibit MASP-3 — a protein that acts as a key activator of the alternative pathway of complement. The complement pathway is a system of proteins in the blood that enhances the immune system’s ability to fight infections. Omeros is eligible to receive up to a total of $2.1 billion, including $340 million upfront and near-term milestone payments. The company had said in March it began enrollment for late-stage trials studying the drug for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare blood disorder in which part of the immune system attacks and damages the red blood cells and platelets. Zaltenibart has shown several potential advantages over other alternative pathway inhibitors currently in development or on the market, the companies said. The drug was safe and well tolerated in the trials. After the deal closes, expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, Novo aims to...

U.S. biotech firm Nabla Bio said on Tuesday it has signed a second major research partnership with Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical, deepening their use of artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery. Under the new multi-year agreement, which builds on an earlier collaboration launched in 2022, Nabla will receive upfront and research cost payments in double-digit millions. The company is also eligible for success-based payments worth more than $1 billion. The move underscores growing momentum across the pharmaceutical industry to harness AI in drug development, with hopes of significantly reducing timelines and costs in the coming years. Nabla said it would use its proprietary AI platform, Joint Atomic Model (JAM), to design protein-based therapeutics for Takeda's early-stage pipeline. The companies will focus on hard-to-treat diseases and include multi-specific drugs and other custom biologics. Comparing to how ChatGPT answers text questions, Nabla CEO Surge Biswas said JAM responds to molecular queries by designing antibodies from scratch that bind targets with desired properties. The company claims to maintain "probably the fastest feedback loop in the industry", with a turnaround of three to four weeks from design to lab testing. "We are basically working on whatever the most pressing problems in Takeda's discovery portfolio is at any given time,...

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday raised its 2025 sales forecast after reporting quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street expectations, and announced plans to spin off its orthopedics business into a standalone company. The healthcare conglomerate now expects product revenue of $93.5 billion to $93.9 billion, about $300 million higher than its prior forecast and above analysts' expectations of $93.4 billion, according to LSEG data. Alongside the upbeat forecast, J&J said it plans to separate its orthopedics business into a standalone company named DePuy Synthes within the next 18 to 24 months, marking its second major spinoff since 2023. J&J's orthopedics unit, which makes hip, knee, and shoulder implants, surgical instruments, and other products, generated around $9.2 billion last year, or about 10% of total revenue. J&J in 2023 announced a two-year restructuring program for its orthopedics business, saying it planned to exit certain markets and stop selling some products, after having recently spun off its $15 billion consumer unit into Kenvue. The company said it planned to focus on high-growth, high-margin areas as part of its separation plans, such as oncology, immunology, neuroscience, surgery, vision care, and cardiovascular. J&J Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk said the company was exploring multiple paths for the separation, with...

South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J), opens new tab said on Monday it had secured regulatory approval to market Eli Lilly's (LLY.N), opens new tab blockbuster diabetes and obesity drug, Mounjaro, for chronic weight management in the country. The greenlight follows Aspen's earlier approval and launch of the drug, chemically called tirzepatide, in South Africa last December as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. Aspen, a sales agent for Lilly, will launch Mounjaro for weight management in South Africa as an easy-to-use KwikPen injector device. The company has been betting on Mounjaro's imminent launch to compete against Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab rival product, Wegovy, which the Danish drugmaker had debuted in South Africa in August, eight months after Eli Lilly. The approval by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority positions Aspen to tap into the booming weight-loss drug market, which is estimated to reach at least $100 billion by the end of the decade, as global demand for obesity treatments continues to soar.

Roche Diagnostics (ROG.S), opens new tab said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared its and partner Eli Lilly's (LLY.N), opens new tab blood test as an aid in the initial assessment for Alzheimer's disease. This comes at the heel of FDA's nod for Fujirebio Diagnostics' blood test Lumipulse in May, the first such device to get approval to diagnose the brain-wasting condition. Roche's test Elecsys measures pTau181, a key protein associated with Alzheimer's disease. It is intended for patients ages 55 and older presenting signs, symptoms or complaints of cognitive decline. Blood tests could speed up diagnosis of the disease and make it easier to access treatments such as Biogen (BIIB.O), opens new tab and Eisai's (4523.T), opens new tab Leqembi and Eli Lilly's Kisunla, since traditional tests are often costly or uncomfortable. Other options to detect Alzheimer's include procedures such as a spinal tap, which requires an invasive puncture to collect spinal fluid, or an expensive PET brain scan that may not be reimbursed by health insurers. Analysts have said blood-based diagnostics could be positive for Alzheimer's drugs that have been facing slow starts due to concerns over cost, efficacy and side effects. In July, Biogen said improved rates of blood tests to diagnose the memory-robbing condition have helped with the uptake...

Johnson & Johnson is in discussions to buy Protagonist Therapeutics, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Shares of Protagonist surged more than 30% in afternoon trading. The company had a market capitalization of $4.2 billion as of Thursday's close. The two companies are working on the development of an oral treatment, icotrokinra, for immune diseases, including plaque psoriasis and ulcerative colitis, with J&J holding the exclusive rights to commercialize the product. Protagonist declined to comment, and J&J did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal reported the matter earlier in the day.

-Novo Nordisk (NVO) said on Thursday it would buy U.S.-based Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) for up to $5.2 billion to add its promising experimental liver disease drug, in the first major deal by the Danish drugmaker's new CEO to boost growth. Shares of Akero jumped more than 18% in premarket trading, while Novo's Denmark-listed shares were down nearly 2%. The deal underscores new Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar's efforts to revive sales growth and fend off intense competition from U.S. rival Eli Lilly. Doustdar, who took over the reins in July, last month also announced the company would cut 9,000 jobs. Akero is testing its drug, efruxifermin, in a late-stage trial of patients with severe liver scarring, or cirrhosis, due to a type of fatty liver disease known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Efruxifermin could be a potential breakthrough in treatment of fatty liver disease and become a "cornerstone" treatment either on its own or in combination with Wegovy, Doustdar said in a statement on Thursday. Under the deal, Novo would pay Akero shareholders $54 per share upfront in cash, which represents a premium of about 16.2% to Akero's last close of $46.49 on Wednesday. The Danish drugmaker will also pay an additional $6 per share...

-Novo Nordisk has cut its cell therapy division, where it was trying to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. It also cited Danish newspaper Borsen, which reported that the company would lay off nearly all of the unit's 250 employees. Novo was testing its cell therapy to generate insulin-producing beta cells for patients with type 1 diabetes in a preclinical study, along with another cell therapy candidate for Parkinson's disease in early-stage trials. The latest move is part of CEO Mike Doustdar's plan to reduce headcount by 11% and reallocate resources to high-priority research areas, the Bloomberg report said. Novo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Danish drugmaker is seeking partners to continue developing its innovations, according to the report. It has laid off dozens of employees at the largest U.S. manufacturing site for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a review of LinkedIn posts. Novo said on Thursday it would buy U.S.-based Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion to gain access to a promising liver disease drug candidate in the first major deal by the Danish drugmaker's new CEO to spur growth. Earlier this month, it called off...