(This story has been posted on The Wall Street Journal Online's
Health Blog at http://blogs.wsj.com/health.)
By Katherine Hobson
Hepatitis C Deal: Bristol-Myers Squibb is buying Inhibitex,
which has a hepatitis C drug in development, for $26 per share in
cash, or about $2.5 billion, the WSJ reports. Like Bristol-Myers,
Inhibitex is developing a drug belonging to the so-called
nucleotides class. A Bristol executive tells the WSJ Inhibitex's
drug could combine with Bristol's drugs to become "a very powerful
regimen" for use against hepatitis C, the paper reports.
OTC Recall: Novartis said yesterday it is taking a $120 million
charge in association with a voluntary U.S. recall of certain
over-the-counter Excedrin, No-Doz, Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention
products, Reuters reports. Novartis says it's recalling the
products following an internal review and complaints over things
such as broken gelcaps, but that no adverse events have been
reported, Reuters says. The charge also covers improvements at a
Lincoln, Neb. facility.
Prepping for the Supreme Court: On Friday the U.S. Justice
Department submitted a 63-page brief that laid out the arguments it
will use to defend the health-care overhaul law when the Supreme
Court hears the case in March, the WSJ reports. The Obama
administration argues that the requirement that most people obtain
health-insurance coverage or face a penalty is a "classic economic
regulation" to address the problem of providers going uncompensated
for services provided to the uninsured. Opponents of the law also
filed briefs on Friday, the paper says.
Breast-Implant Confusion: The U.K. government says about 3,000
women who received Poly Implants Prostheses breast implants made of
questionable-quality silicone through the National Health Service
may have them removed and replaced for free, but the announcement
has confused the many more British women who received the implants
through private clinics, the New York Times reports. Health
secretary Andrew Lansley urged the private clinics to adopt the
same policy as the NHS, but didn't say the government would require
the clinics to follow the government's lead and offer free removal
and replacement, the NYT says.
Image: iStockphoto
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