TOP NEWS
* Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline PLC were selected by the U.S. government to supply 100 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed, an initiative aiming to accelerate the development of coronavirus vaccines and therapies.
* AbbVie Inc. reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.34, up 3.5% from $2.26 in the year-ago period.
* Merck & Co. Inc. reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.37, up 6% from $1.30 from the year-ago period.
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➤ Gilead expects post-COVID rally for bruised HCV sales; remdesivir supply grows
Gilead Sciences Inc.'s profit for the second quarter took a hit as research and development expenses related to COVID-19 treatment remdesivir rose and as its hepatitis C medications saw a slump in sales versus 2019, but the company expects a rebound in the HCV business once the pandemic recedes.
➤ Stryker's Q2 sales suffer from canceled elective procedures; rebound expected
Stryker Corp.'s sales decline moved from a 36% drop in April to a 10% decline in June as the medical device company saw a slight recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the second quarter of 2020.
➤ Vertex hopeful of approval for cystic fibrosis drug in Europe; sees revenue bump
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. expects European approval for its triple combination cystic fibrosis drug Kaftrio in the next few months, which could treat up to 10,000 new patients, Chief Commercial Officer Stuart Arbuckle said on a July 30 earnings call.
EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT
* Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s profit for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 rose year over year, and the company raised its guidance for the full year.
* Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.'s profit for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 fell 26.5% from a year ago, but the company affirmed its guidance for the full fiscal year.
* AstraZeneca PLC said geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. have not affected its business in the region, which has been a major driver of growth in recent years due to rising demand — and reimbursement — for AstraZeneca's cancer medicines.
* Meanwhile, most of the countries striking supply agreements with AstraZeneca granted it protection from future liability claims related to its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters reported, citing a senior executive at the company.
* Eli Lilly and Co. CEO David Ricks called President Donald Trump's executive order for establishing an international pricing index to reduce drug prices a "horrible policy" that would harm innovation in the U.S.
* The ongoing coronavirus pandemic cost Baxter International Inc. over $180 million in the second quarter, with losses across multiple business lines primarily due to the substantial decline in elective and nonemergent care. The Deerfield, Ill.-based company reported a second-quarter earnings drop of 24.5% year over year.
PHARMACEUTICALS
* Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. will abandon development of ALXN2040 in a type of rare kidney disease after the therapy did not show an adequate response in patients during a mid-stage study. The therapy was picked up by Boston-based Alexion through the $930 million acquisition of Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc., which closed in January.
* Novartis AG agreed to pay Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. $75 million up-front for the license to develop and commercialize three gene therapy targets for disorders of the brain and central nervous system.
* Eli Lilly started a mid-stage trial of its experimental drug LY-CoV555 to treat patients with COVID-19.
* Roche Holding AG unit Genentech Inc. received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval for a combination of its medicines — Tecentriq, Cotellic and Zelboraf — to be used to treat BRAF V600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma, a type of advanced skin cancer.
* The FDA accepted two applications from Merck & Co. for the blockbuster drug Keytruda to treat certain patients with breast cancer.
* Merck KGaA's Bavencio, in combination with Pfizer Inc.'s Inlyta, received the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's recommendation for treating a common type of kidney cancer.
* Eton Pharmaceuticals Inc. submitted an application for a liquid formulation of epilepsy therapy Zonisamide to the FDA.
* SIGA Technologies Inc. submitted an application seeking European approval of Tpoxx for treating certain infectious viral diseases, including smallpox.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
* Ascletis Pharma Inc.'s Asclevir and Ganovo received Chinese approval for treating the hepatitis C virus.
* Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to sell diarrhea therapy Xermelo to TerSera Therapeutics LLC as part of a restructuring.
* Moderna Inc., which is developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine, was targeted by hackers linked to the Chinese government in an attempt to steal data, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. security official.
* The President of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Elizabeth Nabel, is resigning from Moderna's board to avoid any potential conflict of interests during the company's late-stage trials of a COVID-19 vaccine, the company said in a July 30 news release.
* The effectiveness of Gilead's remdesivir in treating COVID-19 is uncertain due to limited clinical trials, Bloomberg News reported, citing a panel of international experts convened by the British Medical Journal, which added that the medicine is worth prescribing for patients with severe cases of the condition.
* Mexico will sign an agreement with the United Nations to buy cheaper therapies internationally in an attempt to break a monopoly of local medicine companies, Reuters reported, citing President Andres Obrador.
HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY
* Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. agreed to sell support and tools provider EPSi to Strata Decision Technology LLC for $365 million.
MARKETS
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