Trending News Today: Amgen, Novartis File Lawsuits Over Migraine Drug

Novartis and Amgen filed separate lawsuits stemming from a potentially lucrative deal to co-develop and market the migraine drug Aimovig, which some Wall Street analysts project could yield a multi-billion-dollar market, STAT reported. The dispute between the manufacturers was caused by a deal between Sandoz, Novartis’s generic arm, which agreed to contract manufacturing work with Alder BioPharmaceuticals, which is developing its own migraine treatment, according to the article.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday announced that Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC, Lundbeck LLC, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc have agreed to pay $122.6 million to settle allegations they paid drug copays for their own products through copay-assistance foundations, The Wall Street Journal reported. The DOJ alleged that the manufacturers violated the False Claims Act by illegally paying for copays required under 2 federal health programs for their own drugs via purportedly independent foundations used as conduits, according to the article. The claims in the settlement are only allegations and it is not a determination of liability, according to the report.

CVS and Walgreens are beginning to expand services for chronically ill patients as Amazon’s Alexa Skills Kit is now HIPAA-eligible, The Wall Street Journal reported. According to the article, CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc are remodeling hundreds of stores to include medical-service centers that address chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Both of the retail chain pharmacies are under growing pressure to reverse slowing revenue from the prescription drugs that drive the majority of their sales as Amazon begins to enter the market, the article noted.