App That Makes Drug Savings Recommendations Adopted By Influential Employer Group

Bloomberg: Big Employers Will Use Online Startup To Save On Medicine Costs 
A group of large employers plans to use a new online prescription-savings tool as they confront high drug costs and try to steer patients to the most cost-effective medicines. The Health Transformation Alliance, a coalition of more than 40 big companies that includes IBM Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and American Express Co., has agreed to use a new online tool from startup Rx Savings Solutions to help the millions of people who work for the group’s members get better deals on their medications. (Langreth, 11/1)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Is Weighing Sale Of $2 Billion-Women's Health Portfolio
Pfizer Inc. is reviewing options including a sale of its women’s health portfolio as the U.S. pharmaceutical giant seeks to focus on developing treatments with higher growth potential, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The drugmaker is working with financial advisers to gauge the interest of potential buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. A sale of the division, which has annual sales of roughly $1.2 billion, could fetch about $2 billion and draw bids from both private equity firms and rival pharmaceutical companies, they said. (Baigorri, 11/1)

Stat: Merck Cuts Back On Vaccine Commitment To West Africa As China Shipments Ramp Up
In a controversial move, Merck is rolling back its commitment to provide a life-saving rotavirus vaccine to parts of West Africa at the same time the drug maker is ramping up supplies to China, where the product would reportedly be sold for a much higher price. The company supplies its RotaTeq vaccine through an arrangement with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership that helps provide medicines and vaccines to low-income countries. However, Merck is reducing shipments by one-third this year and next, according to GAVI. After that, supplies are not expected. About 4.7 million doses will be delivered this year and 4 million next year. (Silverman, 11/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Longtime McKesson CEO To Step Down
McKesson Corp. said its longtime Chairman and Chief Executive John H. Hammergren will retire next year, capping a 17-year reign in which he helped build one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical wholesalers despite weathering shareholder criticism over his compensation and handling of the opioid crisis. (Walker, 11/1)

Reuters: Cigna Boosts 2018 Forecast After Third Quarter Earnings Beat
U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp, which is in the process of acquiring Express Scripts Holding Co, significantly bumped up its 2018 adjusted profit forecast, and its shares rose more than 3 percent on Thursday. ... “The guidance raise in excess of the magnitude of the earnings beat this quarter signals Cigna’s confidence in its industry-leading medical cost performance,” Leerink analyst Ana Gupte said. (Mishra and Mathias, 11/1)

In other marketplace news —

Stat: Drug Companies Try To Catch The Rising Wave Of RNAi Medicines 
Less than two months after the FDA approved the first-ever drug that uses a Nobel-winning technique to mute disease-causing genes, the pharmaceutical industry is already looking for a piece of the next one. Within the last month, Eli Lilly, Alexion and Janssen have all announced licensing and collaboration deals — each potentially worth billions — with companies developing treatments with the technique known as RNAi. (Sheridan, 11/2)

Kaiser Health News: New Heart Drug Spotlights Troubling Trends In Drug Marketing
At the end of September, Amarin Corp. teased some early findings for Vascepa, its preventive medicine for people at risk of heart disease. The claim was astounding: a 25 percent relative risk reduction for deaths related to heart attacks, strokes and other conditions. Headlines proclaimed a potential game changer in treating cardiovascular disease. And company shares quickly soared, from $3 a share to about $20. Vascepa is Amarin’s only product. The company wants to turn its pill made of purified fish oil into a cash cow, allowing it to staff up both in the United States and abroad so it can sell doctors and millions of consumers on its medical benefits. ... Except there is one problem. The particulars of the scientific study on which this claim was based remain a mystery. (Luthra, 11/2)