Industry news

With vet drugs pumping, it's no wonder that pharma's eyeing M&A

Carly Helfand / FiercePharma

What's with all the M&A rumors floating around in the animal health world? Just look at Zoetis' ($ZTS) Apoquel and it's clear why Big Pharma names are keen to bolster their positions in the space.

Go big or go home: A call for 2015 Fierce 15 nominations

Stacy Lawrence / Fierce Medical Devices

Med tech has the reputation of being incremental. Of being populated by small companies, with little investment and tiny revenues or, perhaps worse, giant conglomerates with minuscule ambitions for novel products addressing large markets.

Taking Flight: Pharm Exec's Top 50 Pharma Companies 2015

Michael Swanick, David Hole, Ben Comer / Pharmaceutical Executive

Specialty drug sales, record-breaking M&A paired with tax synergies, and global expansion helped to bring a new face into this year’s Pharma 50 top 10, and substantially boosted the rankings of several others. 

SEC starts pursuit of biotech-focused hacking ring

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech IT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is going after the biotech-focused hacking ring known as FIN4. Details of the group first emerged last year when security company FireEye reported on how it was breaking into email accounts in search of stock-moving news nuggets, a modus operandi that has put it in the crosshairs of the SEC.

Pharma to EU officials: We need 'contingency' supply plans in case of 'Grexit'

Tracy Staton / Fierce Pharma

Drugmakers are raising an alarm about shortages in Greece as the possibility of a "Grexit" looms. That "worst-case scenario" could put supplies in peril, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (Efpia) warned European Commission officials, with suddenly cheap meds in Greece diverted for sale at higher prices in neighboring EU countries.

Google to pair its cloud-computing power with Broad's analytic tools

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech IT

Google ($GOOG) has signed up a high-profile collaborator to work on its burgeoning cloud genomics platform. The agreement will see the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard work with Google to create new tools that pair their respective strengths in data analysis and cloud computing, starting with the offering of GATK as a service.

Is Celgene killing the traditional biotech partnering formula?

John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Celgene has been a disruptive player on the biotech dealmaking scene for years. Armed with some big money, CEO Bob Hugin and his deal chief George Golumbeski have roiled the market paying handsome, some would say ridiculous, upfront prices to buy into experimental drug projects. 

ICYMI: The Importance of Enrolling in Clinical Trials

Emma Van Hook / PhRMA

Clinical trials are a crucial step in the long and costly process of researching and developing a new medicine to address substantial unmet medical needs in such areas as Alzheimer’s, cancer, and many rare diseases. At the center of the clinical trial process is the patient. In an Op Ed in the New York Times, Stan Collender reflects on his own experiences as a cancer patient and the importance of participating in clinical research.

Bigger pharma may be scraping for good deals, but Horizon has plenty of options, analysts say

Carly Helfand / FiercePharma

Horizon Pharma isn't exactly the only specialty pharma company hunting for deals. Allergan, Mallinckrodt, Endo and the ever-acquisitive Valeant have all been on shopping sprees lately, leaving some analysts wondering just what's left worth buying in the space. But Horizon is much smaller than its specialty peers--meaning it's got plenty of opportunities, UBS analysts figure.

Analyst: R&D time pressures mean clinical trial tech and automation are finally taking off

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech IT

After years of dabbling, biopharma companies may finally be setting aside their conservatism and fully embracing the wealth of clinical trial technologies now available. The trend, according to the analyst who observed it, is partly a result of the pressure on R&D teams to hustle drugs to market as quickly as possible while also generating the pharmacoeconomic data payers now demand.