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Amy Grogg, PharmD, senior vice president of Strategy and Commercialization at AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group, discusses the projected ramifications from the launch of biosimilars in the United States.

Mylan NV said it plans to start its $27.1 billion takeover of Perrigo Co. on Sept. 14, asking shareholders of …drug maker to accept a proposal that the company’s executives have refused… Perrigo makes prescription and over-the-counter drugs that Mylan is seeking to add to its lineup…"We are confident that Perrigo shareholders see that our offer provides superior immediate value, as well as long-term, sustainable value creation,"...

Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan criticized Britain's health system…after two of the company's cancer drugs were dropped from use, calling it a "stupid" way to control costs that could jeopardize research in the country… Schwan said there would be also knock-on effects for research in Britain, since if drugs like Avastin were not available as standard then Roche would not be able to do certain clinical trials in the country…Eventually, this will hurt us on the research side in the UK…

…I appreciate your prediction of the approval for the DMD drugs but I think you're too optimistic about Sarepta Therapeutics. I believe FDA approves Biomarin but tells Sarepta that another trial must be run…why Biomarin over Sarepta? Because what Biomarin is seeking to do -- make a convincing argument for drisapersen's approval based on messy clinical data…It's something that the FDA has done before with drugs for rare diseases… Sarepta's eteplirsen, by contrast, requires the FDA to set a regulatory precedent which the agency might regret later.

…it’s time to dole out some grades to drug companies. …I give each company a letter grade, just like the ones you got in school. An A+ requires changing the face of medicine and making a ton of money. An F means a drug safety crisis and a financial failure – or a severe ethical breach. Everything else is in-between. I do not believe in grade inflation.

Top of the Class

1. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ..... A-
2. Valeant Pharmaceuticals ..... B+
3. Gilead Sciences, Inc ..... B+
4. Novo Nordisk ..... B
5. Eli Lilly and Company ..... B
6. Allergan plc ..... B
7. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated ..... B
8. Illumina ..... B
9. Novartis ..... B
10. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ..... B-
11. Sanofi ..... B-
12. Celgene Corporation ..... B-
13. Pfizer Inc. ..... B-
14. Bristol-Myers Squibb ..... B-
15. Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ..... B-
16. Merck & Co., Inc. ..... B-
17. Shire PLC Sponsored ADR ..... C+
18. Roche Holding ..... C+
19. Amgen Inc. ..... C+
20. AbbVie, Inc. ..... C+
21. Johnson & Johnson ..... C+
22. GlaxoSmithKline ..... C
23. Astrazeneca PLC Sponsored ADR ..... C
24. Biogen Inc. ..... C

UK cancer care is in the spotlight again following publication of two reports this week highlighting underfunded and overstretched diagnostic services, leaving patients waiting longer for their diagnosis and thus delaying treatment…It recently emerged that the ’62-day wait’ target…has been breached for six consecutive quarters, indicating that services are buckling under growing pressure… the reports… conclude that insufficient funding, workforces shortages and a lack of imaging equipment, with much of that in use out of date, is weighing heavily on diagnostic services throughout the country.

Food and Drug Administration…have expressed concerns over likely errors in administering Purdue Pharma's fast-acting oxycodone…(Avridi) that could result in inadequate relief…The drug is designed to be taken every 4-6 hours on an empty stomach…absorption…can be substantially delayed in the presence of food,.. "food effect" may reduce the effectiveness and safety of the drug,.. Inadequate pain control caused by presence of food could lead to overdosing…

…the world’s largest cancer epidemic, China has been one of the most rapidly expanding markets for oncologic drugs for years. Now, an alternative approach is growing about twice as fast: traditional Chinese medicines… Sales of traditional cancer treatments…surged 35 percent to almost 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) last year…Chinese medicine serves more often as an adjuvant therapy…drugmakers are seeking ways to integrate traditional Chinese medicines with conventional therapies.

In 2011-2012, the estimated prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults was 12% to 14% and the prevalence of prediabetes was 37% to 38%, indicating that about half of the U.S. adult population has either diabetes or prediabetes, according to a study in the Sept. 8 issue of JAMA. Though data from recent years suggests that the increasing prevalence of diabetes may be leveling off… Diabetes is a major cause of illness and death in the United States, costing an estimated $245 billion in 2012 due to increased use of health resources and lost productivity.

Pharmaceutical companies, currently enjoying a bumper wave of new drug launches, are struggling to get recently introduced products adopted in key European markets as governments bear down on costs…. Europe remains a much tougher market than the United States, prompting many companies to offer significant price discounts… European healthcare providers are also pushing hard for the use of cheap alternatives, where available, including...biosimilars.