UPDATE: AstraZeneca board rejects new offer from Pfizer
Pfizer’s proposed deal would have been the richest acquisition ever among drugmakers and the third-biggest deal in any industry, according to figures from research firm Dealogic.
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Bowl bid focuses on football safety, with Saturday at center of pitch
Indianapolis is betting that an ambitious project to study safety issues at all levels of football, plus expanding and snazzing up the Super Bowl Village, will help win the 2018 Super Bowl. And Jeff Saturday will help deliver the message.
MORRIS: Financial success is a bad thing?
Income inequality isn’t a non-issue, but the rhetoric surrounding it discourages meaningful discourse.
VOSS: Core supporters count more than ever with new media
The media has fragmented from relatively few outlets to a plethora of voices, particularly on the Internet. How will increasingly customized appeals to voters exacerbate the ability of elected officials to compromise on legislation? Have you ever read an article online that was shared by a friend or relative, completely agreed with it, then reshared […]
MATTHEWS: Lawmakers increasingly edge into ideological corners
The media has fragmented from relatively few outlets to a plethora of voices, particularly on the Internet. How will increasingly customized appeals to voters exacerbate the ability of elected officials to compromise on legislation? Can’t we all just get along? Unlikely. Gridlock and political dysfunction in Congress is at an all-time high. It hasn’t always […]
PARR: Poli sci class was glimpse of liberal IU culture
As the end of the school year quickly approaches, it seems prudent to let you, the Hoosier taxpayer, know exactly what your hard-earned dollars are going to support.
KETZENBERGER: We’ve got to stop running elections like this
It always was a little awkward entering a polling place during the primary and declaring to the poll judges which ballot I wanted. As a news reporter, I didn’t like having to declare my affinity for one party or the other.
Study: Hospital-doctor hook-ups swell prices
Now that Indianapolis-area hospitals employ large numbers of physicians, a new study suggests the integrated health systems will be able to charge higher prices to private health insurers.
Company news
A judge in Brazil fined Eli Lilly and Co. and a unit of Italy's ACS Dobfar an estimated $450 million on May 9 for allegedly exposing workers at a Brazilian plant to toxic substances. According to Reuters, the ruling followed a 2008 lawsuit that accused Indianapolis-based Lilly of incinerating toxic waste from third parties, releasing heavy metals and gases that poisoned some of the 500 workers. Lilly made agricultural chemicals at the plant north of Sao Paulo from 1977 to 2003. Lilly will appeal the ruling, General Counsel Michael Harrington said in a statement. The alleged contaminants–benzene and heavy metals–were never used in manufacturing operations, Harrington said, and the court’s ruling is based on inaccurate scientific claims as well as mathematical errors.
Eli Lilly and Co. announced Monday that its once-a-day insulin injection did a better job in clinical trials controlling diabetic patients’ blood sugar than Lantus, the dominant diabetes medicine sold by France-based Sanofi. But Lilly’s basal insulin also raised safety concerns, according to Bloomberg News. The clinical studies showed increases in liver enzymes, a potential sign of toxicity, and lower rates of good, or HDL, cholesterol. Those issues could hamper Lilly’s sales efforts, said ISI Group LLC analyst Mark Schoenebaum. U.S. regulators may also require another trial before granting approval, he said. Lilly said it plans to file the drug for U.S. regulatory approval in the first quarter. “We are reasonably bearish on this molecule due to potential toxicity concerns,” Schoenebaum wrote in an email to Bloomberg. Annual sales of the drug may be $600 million by 2020 if it is approved, he said. Lantus generated $7.6 billion for Sanofi last year. Lilly’s drug “is the first basal insulin to demonstrate consistently superior HbA1c reduction versus insulin glargine in Phase III clinical trials,” Enrique Conterno, president of Lilly’s diabetes business, said in a statement. In three trials including 3,373 patients, Lilly’s insulin was superior to Lantus in controlling blood sugar. It was tested in patients who’d never used an insulin before, those switching over from another insulin, and in combination with a shorter-acting insulin meant to control blood sugar after meals.
Indiana University biologists will receive more than $6.2 million from the U.S. Army Research Office to study how bacteria evolve in response to their environments. The five-year grant will fund research in the labs of professors Michael Lynch, Patricia Foster, Jake McKinley and Jay Lennon. They will sequence entire genomes of the bacteria that replicate under changes in conditions. The researchers hope to pinpoint—and possibly predict—molecular mechanisms of evolutionary change.
The Indianapolis-based American Legion, the nation's largest veterans service group, called for the resignations of U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and two of his top aides amid an investigation into allegations of corruption and unnecessary deaths at the veterans' hospital in Phoenix. "The existing leadership has exhibited a pattern of bureaucratic incompetence and failed leadership that has been amplified in recent weeks," National Commander Daniel Dellinger said in a news conference at legion headquarters. According to the Associated Press, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a statement rejecting the call for the resignations. The Phoenix hospital has been under fire over allegations that as many as 40 patients might have died because of delays in care and that the hospital kept a secret list of patients waiting for appointments, to hide the treatment delays. Shinseki announced May 8 that three officials there have been placed on leave. Dellinger also cited VA's acknowledgement that 23 have died as a result of delayed care in recent years and the findings of a VA Office of Medical Inspector investigation that clerks at the Fort Collins, Colo., clinic were instructed last year how to falsify appointment records.
Algaeon Inc. plans to use $2.75 million in new funding to begin commercial production of its algae-based nutritional supplements. The Indianapolis-based biotech company will move into an acre of greenhouse space owned by Heartland Growers at 2621 E. 186th St. in Westfield. The 18-employee firm plans to install more than 800 of its bioreactors that produce algae. The company in June will begin selling antioxidant supplement Astaxanthin. Its immune system booster Beta glucan will hit the market later this year. Algaeon markets Astaxanthin as a prevention for eye, heart and brain degeneration as well as an anti-inflammatory for joints. Beta glucan replaces antibiotics in animal feed. Last year, the company signed a “multi-year, multimillion-dollar” contract with Florida-based supplement manufacturer Valensa International to produce Astaxanthin. Three prior rounds of funding raised a total of $2 million for Algaeon.
Life sciences critical mass elusive in Indiana after years of effort
Attempts to build the sector are making headway, but Indiana still lags leading states.
Bayer’s $14.2 billion Merck buy shows pharma strategy split
Bayer AG’s $14.2 billion acquisition of Merck & Co. is the latest in a series of big pharma deals and it exposes a deepening split in the way drugmakers approach their portfolios.
HHGregg launches rebranding effort to improve sales
The electronics and appliance chain has unveiled a new logo and advertising spots, in addition to improvements to its website and delivery service, as it attempts to keep pace with competitors.
Company news
Indiana University plans to turn the former Wishard Memorial Hospital campus into a 26-acre, $200 million research complex that would bridge IU’s School of Medicine with the city’s life sciences firms, including those at the nascent 16 Tech business park. The plans call for classrooms, offices, labs and business-incubation space. The university is trying to lure the newly created Indiana Biosciences Research Institute to the facility. And the School of Medicine wants to set up a drug discovery center, which would house 12 of its faculty. IU’s public health and dentistry schools have eyed the complex as a possible home base, said Jay Hess, dean of the IU med school. The former Wishard will also become the new home of the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp, which tries to commercialize the intellectual property created at IU. The IURTC announced in April that it will sell its Innovation Center on West 10th Street.
A highly touted partnership between St. Vincent Health, Community Health Network and the Suburban Health Organization is coming to an end—just 18 months after it began. The Accountable Care Consortium was envisioned as a vehicle through which the hospitals would eventually funnel all of their roughly $2.5 billion in annual contracts with health insurers and employers. Those contracts would have been based on the ability of St. Vincent, Community and the suburban hospitals to keep patients healthy and in need of less care, especially expensive hospitalizations and surgeries. The concept is known in health care circles as “population health management.” The consortium signed up 12 employers as customers—half of which were among the hospitals that formed the consortium. Those hospitals included the 22 operated by St. Vincent, eight operated by Community and six that are part of the Suburban Health Organization. But the hospitals found that changes in the marketplace were happening at a faster pace than they anticipated—making it difficult to coordinate responses fast enough.
Endocyte Inc. stock plunged more than 60 percent Friday after the drug it’s developing with Merck & Co. backing failed to help patients in an ovarian cancer trial. The news could be particularly bad for the West Lafayette-based company, which has no other marketed products. According to Bloomberg News, the Phase 3 study was stopped after an analysis showed that vintafolide didn’t demonstrate efficiency when treating patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, the companies said in a statement Friday. Just over a month ago, Endocyte was being mentioned as a possible premium takeover target after it reported that vintafolide slowed progression of lung cancer and won European backing to treat ovarian cancer. Endocyte said it will continue to test vintafolide for lung cancer, with late-stage data possible toward the end of the year. Endocyte has 70 employees in West Lafayette and 25 in Indianapolis. An Endocyte spokeswoman declined to say whether Endocyte expects to trim its work force as a result of the setback with vintafolide.
Health information technology firm hc1.com promised to nearly triple its Indiana work force over the next five years, adding 175 jobs by 2019. Hc1.com currently employs 93 people, mostly in Indiana. The company makes software that helps medical labs, radiologists and other medical offices manage patient records, bills and other data critical to managing their operations. Hc1.com will invest $2.5 million to lease and renovate 9,466 square feet to expand its existing 16,626-square-foot headquarters in Northwest Technology Park at 96th Street and Zionsville Road. The firm has quietly raised more than $14 million from investors. CEO Brad Bostic told IBJ last year that hc1.com was on track to double its $10 million in annual sales. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered hc1.com Inc. up to $3 million in tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on the company’s job-creation plans. The credits are performance-based, meaning the company only receives them once Hoosiers are hired. Boone County is contributing $50,000.
A group of prominent corporate executives has created a new organization to find ways to reduce obesity among central Indiana children. Jump IN for Healthy Kids has a budget of $1.5 million and hired Indianapolis attorney Ron Gifford to spearhead the effort. Jump IN was founded by 17 local executives, including Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter, Roche Diagnostics Corp. CEO Jack Phillips, Anthem Indiana President Rob Hillman, Indiana Pacers President Jim Morris, IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz, Indianapolis Star Publisher Karen Crotchfelt, Lilly Endowment CEO Clay Robbins, United Way of Central Indiana CEO Ann Murtlow, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis CEO Eric Ellsworth, and the CEOs of the major hospital systems in Indianapolis. The group hopes to identify successful efforts to improve diet, activity and healthy choices among children and their families—both around Indianapolis and around the country—and then work to replicate or adapt those efforts to reach more people in the metro area. Jump IN hopes to work with schools, churches, employers, medical providers, grocery stores, neighborhood associations and individual families.
WellPoint Inc.’s first-quarter medical enrollment rose 1.3 million from the prior three-month period as WellPoint benefited from new customers through the Obamacare exchanges. According to Bloomberg News, WellPoint has the highest share of enrollments of insurers through Obamacare, with 400,000 on government exchanges through Feb. 14. Those customers also are younger than anticipated, making the company’s prediction of “double-digit” rate increases next year less likely. WellPoint said it now expects 600,000 enrollments through the public exchanges this year. WellPoint's profit swooned in the first quarter, but less than analysts expected. It earned $701 million, down 21 percent from a year earlier. Excluding investment gains and one-time charges, those profits translated into earnings per share of $2.30, down from $2.94 a year ago. But Wall Street analysts expected profit to dip as low as $2.13 per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. For all of 2014, WellPoint now expects to earn more than $8.40 per share, up from a forecast of more than $8.20 it issued in March, and a forecast of $8 it issued in January.
Election key step in town’s change into city
An Indianapolis suburb will begin the transition from the town to city this Tuesday, as voters in Fishers vote in its first municipal primary election.
A silver lining for Endocyte
The news this morning couldn’t have been worse for Endocyte Inc. But if it had to come, the timing couldn’t have been better–because it allowed Endocyte to raise a pile of cash to spend on the other drugs in its pipeline.
Interactive claims top MIRA Award for second straight year
The top honor at the Mira Awards on Saturday night went to software firm Interactive Intelligence, while academia made waves in other categories at the annual technology-sector event.
Endocyte shares plunge 60 percent after drug trial is stopped
Endocyte Inc.’s stock fell more than 60 percent in early trading Friday after the drug it’s developing with Merck & Co.’s backing failed to help patients in a trial for ovarian cancer.
Health IT firm hc1.com to add up to 175 Boone County jobs
The company said it will invest $2.5 million to lease and renovate an additional 9,466 square feet to expand its current 16,626-square-foot headquarters at Northwest Technology Park.
LEE: A path toward better health care
Lost in all the rhetoric about the Affordable Care Act—website glitches, recriminations and cries for “repeal and replace”—it’s easy to forget the near-universal agreement that today’s health care environment is fragmented and inefficient.