A Judge is Offended About False Claims Against Gilead. Good News from Regeneron

GILEAD SCIENCES

The people who cause the selloff of Gilead’s (GILD) stock because it missed 5 cents are the same who continue to complain about the high price of its HCV drug. This is intriguing because those who advocated selling the stock said that the reason for the miss is the huge discounts the firm is making on the drug price.

Gilead is the undisputed leader in the HIV and HCV markets. The firm’s drugs are the best in town and the number of the users of these drugs is in the millions. Even though the firm has announced it will meet and beat all expectations for the year 2016, the short-sellers are still causing unwarranted wrong bad feeling about the super hero biotech leader.

The previous selloff was instigated because of patent dispute with Merck based on ex-Merck scientist’s claim of right to Sovaldi and Harvoni HCV drugs. Merck was awarded $200 million in damages

A couple of days ago, though, a federal judge re-opened Merck & Co.’s patent case against Gilead Sciences Inc. regarding the ex-Merck scientist claim, stating that he lied to a jury that awarded the company the $200 million in damages.

The U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman said on Friday that she’s “outraged” about the  now-retired scientist who deceived the jurors with testimony that he was responsible for early breakthroughs on compounds that led to a cure for the liver disease.

Will the day come when the parasites stop sucking Gilead’s and its shareholders’ blood?

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS

Relieving Osteoarthritis Pain

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ (REGN) drug fasinumab demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in osteoarthritis pain in a mid-phase study.

At 16 weeks, patients treated with all four doses of fasinumab — an investigational Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) antibody, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in pain relief, the primary endpoint of the study, as well as improvements in the secondary measure evaluating physical function.

Overall incidence of adverse events was similar across the fasinumab groups and placebo. As expected with antibodies to NGF, there was an increase in certain neuro-musculoskeletal adverse events in the fasinumab treatment groups (17 percent combined fasinumab; 6 percent placebo) including arthralgia, paraesthesia, hypoaesthesia, and peripheral edema.

Because of prior concerns with other anti-NGF therapies regarding the possible risk of joint damage, the study incorporated extensive imaging and analyses at baseline and during the study, of index and non-index joints, with particular focus on subchondral insufficiency fractures (SIF), osteonecrosis (ON) and rapidly progressive osteoarthritis (RPOA).

Approximately 2 percent of screened subjects were excluded from participation based on findings of SIF or ON on baseline imaging exams.

During the study period there were no cases of ON, there was 1 case of SIF in placebo, 0, 2, 0 and 4 cases of SIF in the 1mg, 3mg, 6mg, and 9mg fasinumab dose groups respectively, and 1 case of RPOA in each of the 3mg, 6mg, and 9mg fasinumab dose groups.  A modest increase in the lab value for bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, a marker of osteoblast activity, was noted in fasinumab-treated patients; there was no increase in liver ALT and AST enzymes.

Prohost Observations

Nobody knows better than osteoarthritis hip and joint pain sufferers how great would be finding a drug that would relieve the pain without the toxicity and potential for abuse of the currently available opioid treatments. Patients with moderate and severe OA hip are longing for a drug such as Regeneron’s product fasinumab, which spares them the toxicity and addiction of opioid drugs.

The results are promising and the drug is in Phase 3 trials.

THERAVANCE BIOPHARMA

Theravance Biopharma (TBPH) intends to offer, subject to market conditions, 4,250,000 ordinary shares in an underwritten public offering.

Theravance Biopharma will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 637,500 additional shares. There can be no assurance as to whether the shares will be offered or whether or on what terms the offering may be completed, if at all.

To read the Press Release click HERE or follow this link:  http://investor.theravance.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=968140

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