Most-clicked pharma news for week ending April 1 2023: Signify Health acquisition, Ferring Research Institute shutdown, Jardiance sales increase, and more

This past week, news from Ferring, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Boehringer topped the list of those with the most clicks, as well as a story about the CVS Health acquisition of Signify Health.

The most popular piece was this one about the closing of the CVS acquisition of Signify Health. Signify Health brings clinicians into the home to identify chronic conditions. The company operates in all 50 states, with a network of over 10,000 clinicians. The transaction was worth approximately $8 billion.

The next most-clicked article was from Fierce Biotech, detailing Ferring Pharma’s shutdown of its Ferring Research Institute, which was described as a “global research arm and ideas incubator.” The institute, located in the San Diego area, was opened over 25 years ago. Almost 90 employees with lose their jobs as a result of the closing.

An article about Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly’s Jardiance was next in the click countdown. Jardiance, the first drug to receive approvals for both major types of heart failure, has shown a significant increase in sales since its approvals. Jardiance generated €5.8 billion ($6.1 billion) in sales in 2022, a 39% increase from the previous year, following endorsements for HF with reduced ejection fraction in August 2021 and another in February 2022. 

Users also clicked on this article about Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug, Ozempic. Novo’s stock reached a record high after conducting tests on its drug (also known as semaglutide), in patients with type 2 diabetes. The study, which lasted for a year, tested three oral doses of semaglutide, with the highest doses of 25mg and 50mg leading to greater reductions in body weight and blood sugar than the already approved 14mg dose.

Finally, this Fierce Pharma article about drugs which will be subject to new CMS price negotiations rounds out the list of the most popular news items for the week. Moody's has identified the drugs likely to be subject to negotiations, based on 2021 CMS spending data. Eliquis (Pfizer/Bristol Myers Squibb), is expected to be at the forefront of Medicare Part D price negotiations, as CMS paid over twice as much for the blood thinner to seniors in 2021 than for any other medicine, with total spending at $12.6 billion, excluding rebates and discounts.

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