Subscribe to The Burrill Report | Don't forget to join us on Facebook or Twitter

Editor's Note:

A special offer for Burrill Weekly Brief subscribers: A limited number of seats remain for the inaugural Burrill & Buck Aging Meeting in Novato, California May 20-21. The meeting explores the consequences of the world’s aging population, how therapeutics in development seek to address chronic diseases related to aging, and how innovative approaches from regenerative medicine to digital health stand to change our notion of what it means to grow old. If you register with the discount code “Burrill” you can save $400 off the $795 registration cost. For more information or to register, go towww.burrillbuckaging.com

The Obama administration is seeking to bring transparency to the murky area of hospital pricing. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released data that shows staggering variation across the country and within communities in what hospitals charge for common inpatient services. We spoke to Ron Pollack, executive director of the consumer health organization Families USA, about the data, what it tells us, and why transparency is critical to addressing the high cost of healthcare. Read More Here

Healthcare Spending Projections May Be Overstated by $770B 
Health Affairs study suggests structural rather than cyclical changes cutting long-term growth in spending. 
Growth in healthcare spending has been slower than expected, in part because of the 2007 to 2009 recession, but a new study suggests the recession only explains part of the slowdown. It argues structural changes are a key contributor, and if the trend persists, government projections on rising costs may overstate the actual increase in expenditures for 2013 to 2020 by as much as $770 billion. Read More Here

Celgene Strikes A Deal with Concert 
Big Biotech’s $300 million tie up with Concert Pharmaceuticals is the fourth such deal in past two months. 
Concert Pharmaceuticals has entered into a strategic collaboration with Celgene to apply its deuterium-modifying technology to one Celgene target, with the potential to apply it to multiple targets in the future. Concert says its technology can reduce the time, risk, and expense needed to create important new medicines. Read More Here

U.S. Trade Representative Puts Focus on Indian IP Issues 
Following a challenging year for Big Pharma, U.S. urges India to protect innovators.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative is calling India to account in its latest “Special 301 Report,” an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement by U.S. trading partners. Read More Here

First Tracheal Implant Performed in the United States 
Advances in stem cells and tissue scaffolds bring bioengineered windpipe to the youngest patient ever. 
For the first time in the United States, the developer of a bioengineered windpipe has implanted a trachea into a patient who was born without one, and who would have eventually died without it. The patient, a two and one-half year old child, is the youngest in the world to receive a bioengineered organ. Read More Here

Already an Internet Favorite, Pfizer Takes Viagra Sales Online
Move intended to combat sites that peddle counterfeit versions of the drug.
Viagra, Pfizer’s little blue pill for erectile dysfunction, has long been sold over the Internet, or at least look-alike pills claiming to be Viagra. In a join-them-to-beat-them strategy, Pfizer is striking back at counterfeiters who sell over the web by launching Viagra.com to give men who prefer to buy the drug online a trusted source. Read More Here

Baxter Alzheimer’s Late-Stage Candidate Fails
Company will complete analysis of data, but won’t continue development.
Baxter International is quitting development of immunoglobulin, an Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate, after a late-stage trial of the experimental therapy showed that it failed to reduce cognitive decline and preserve functional abilities in patients with mild to moderate forms of the disease. Read More Here

Florida Eases the Way for Biosimilars
State-by-state, legislators are considering balance between ease of access and safety.
Florida legislators have voted to enact a law allowing prescriptions for biologic medicines to be automatically substituted with lower-cost biosimilars, joining other states in easing future market access for the new therapies. Read More Here

Lilly’s Late-Stage Lymphoma Drug Fails
The weekly round-up of failed trials, missed targets, and other business mishaps.
Eli Lilly said a late-stage trial for its experimental lymphoma drug enzastaurin failed to show a statistically significant increase in the prevention of relapse in patients with diffuse large B-cell-cell lymphoma patients compared to a placebo. There were no new safety findings, and the safety data were consistent with previously disclosed studies, the company said. Lilly said it will stop development of enzastaurin, which is expected to result in a second-quarter charge to R&D expense of approximately $30 million. Read More Here