Teva to buy U.S. drug developer Auspex Pharma for $3.5 billion

(GNN) - Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said it would buy U.S. neurology drug company Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc for an equity value of $3.5 billion to boost its portfolio of treatments for the central nervous system.

Teva, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, will offer $101 per share in cash, representing a premium of 42.4 percent to Auspex's Friday closing price, the companies said on Monday.

In February Teva - Israel's biggest company by market value and revenue - said it was ready to return to making acquisitions after a year focused on cutting costs under its new chief executive, Erez Vigodman.

This is the first major deal for Vigodman, a turnaround specialist brought in last year to reduce costs and improve profit that had been squeezed by rising competition.

Teva's biggest selling drug, multiple sclerosis injectable treatment Copaxone, faces competition from oral treatments and cheaper generics in coming years.

Shares in Auspex were up 41.7 percent to $100.51 in morning trade, while Teva shares were up 3 percent at $63.86.

Bernstein analyst Aaron Gal said the acquisition was a good strategic fit for Teva as the company looks to boost growth, and also leaves financial room for a bigger deal in future.

"To the extent Teva would like to make a transformative deal in the generic space, this deal is small enough not to impact that potential," Gal said.


Auspex's main product, SD-809, is being developed for the treatment of chorea, abnormal involuntary movement associated with Huntington's disease, tardive dyskinesia and Tourette syndrome. SD-809 for Huntington's is expected to win regulatory approval and be launched commercially in 2016, Teva said.

An estimated 30,000 people in the United States suffer from Huntington's, 350,000 from tardive dyskinesia and 150,000 from Tourette, for which the drug is in early stage trials. Auspex has another drug being developed for Parkinson's disease.

SALES

Teva said it expected the Auspex deal, which will be financed with cash on hand, to add to revenue from 2016 and to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) beginning in 2017. It will be "meaningfully accretive" thereafter, the company added.

It estimated sales of $2 billion from Auspex products in 2020. It expects minimal dilution to adjusted EPS in the second half of 2015 and 2016.

Cowen analyst Ken Cacciatore said the acquisition would fit well with Teva's own neurology commercial and development infrastructure.

"The bottom line is that options remain and Teva is now finally on the offence," he said, adding he hoped even more aggressive deals would be considered.

Michael Hayden, Teva's chief scientific officer, said Auspex's technology could represent "a significant breakthrough for patients who often have no sustainable symptom relief from their disease".

The transaction has been approved by the boards of Teva and Auspex and key shareholders of California-based Auspex have entered into agreements indicating support for the deal. Teva expects it will close in mid-2015.

Goldman Sachs is acting as exclusive financial adviser to Teva and J.P. Morgan Securities is the exclusive financial adviser to Auspex.

(Reuters)(Additional reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char and Mark Potter)

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Monsanto weed killer can 'probably' cause cancer: World Health Organization

(GNN) - The world's most widely-used weed killer can "probably" cause cancer, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The WHO's cancer arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), said glyphosate, the active ingredient in the Monsanto Co herbicide Roundup, was "classified as probably carcinogenic to humans".

It also said there was "limited evidence" that glyphosate was carcinogenic in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, said scientific data do not support the conclusions and called on the WHO to hold an urgent meeting to explain the findings.

"We don't know how IARC could reach a conclusion that is such a dramatic departure from the conclusion reached by all regulatory agencies around the globe," Philip Miller, Monsanto's vice-president of global regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

Concerns about glyphosate on food have been a hot topic of debate in the United States recently, and contributed to the passage in Vermont last year of the country's first mandatory labeling law for foods that are genetically modified.

The U.S. government says the herbicide is considered safe. In 2013, Monsanto requested and received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for increased tolerance levels for glyphosate.

Glyphosate is mainly used on crops such as corn and soybeans that are genetically modified to survive it.

The weed killer has been detected in food, water and in the air after it has been sprayed, according to the report from the WHO agency. However, glyphosate use is generally low in and near homes where the general public would face the greatest risk of exposure, the report said.

The evidence for the WHO's conclusion was from studies of exposure, mostly agricultural, in the United States, Canada, and Sweden that were published since 2001.

Carcinogens are substances that can lead to cancer under certain levels of exposure.

Monsanto's stock price rose 0.3 percent on Friday to $115.75 after setting a four-month low on Thursday.

(Reuters)(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Ken Wills)

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New York charges Narco Freedom executives in alleged Medicaid fraud scheme

(GNN) - Leaders of a Bronx nonprofit that provides drug and alcohol treatment to tens of thousands of New Yorkers have been indicted over an alleged scheme to plunder the charity and defraud Medicaid of more than $27 million, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

The indictment announced Wednesday expands Schneiderman's criminal case announced last October against Narco Freedom Inc, its founder Alan Brand and his son Jason Brand.

It also adds new criminal charges against the nonprofit's chief executive, Gerald Bethea, Controller Richard Gross, Alan Brand's son Jonathan Brand and employee John Cornachio.

Schneiderman said Narco Freedom cheated Medicaid by submitting claims for excessive services, operating unregulated treatment programs and coercing patients who live in its Freedom Houses to remain in treatment.

The Brands and Cornachio have also been accused of misusing funds to support lavish spending habits, including vehicles such as a Tesla, a Porsche 911 Carrera, a Range Rover and a vintage Corvette.

"Criminal enterprises that use non-profits to steal millions in public funds poison New York's charitable sector," Schneiderman said in a statement.

The defendants face from one to 25 criminal counts each, including enterprise corruption, grand larceny and insurance fraud, Schneiderman said. Narco Freedom faces 18 counts.

Michael Bachner, a lawyer for Alan Brand, said his client "continues to vigorously deny any wrongdoing in connection with these charges, and will be vindicated after trial."

Narco Freedom and a lawyer for the nonprofit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Bethea could not immediately be identified. Lawyers for the remaining defendants were not immediately available for comment.

Founded in 1971, Narco Freedom provides substance abuse, medical, mental health and social services to more than 36,500 people, including patients and family members, according to its website.

Schneiderman said the charity receives nearly $40 million annually in Medicaid reimbursements.

In October, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan filed civil charges accusing Narco Freedom of cheating Medicaid through kickbacks.

(Reuters)(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)

New global disaster plan sets targets to curb risk, losses

SENDAI, Japan (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Governments set targets to substantially reduce deaths and economic losses from disasters at a U.N. conference in Japan on Wednesday, but critics were disappointed by the lack of a firm goal to ramp up financial support for poor countries.

The non-binding agreement adopted after a marathon negotiating session, includes seven targets to measure progress on protecting people and assets that experts described as a leap forward.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year plan, replaces the current 10-year blueprint.

In the decade covered by the expiring Hyogo Framework for Action, more than 700,000 people lost their lives, and over 1.5 billion people were affected by disasters. Total economic losses topped $1.3 trillion.

"This new framework... opens a major new chapter in sustainable development as it outlines clear targets and priorities for action which will lead to a substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health," said Margareta Wahlström, head of the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Implementing the plan "will be vital to the achievement of future agreements on sustainable development goals and climate later this year", she added.

Some were disappointed that earlier proposals for percentage goals were rejected.

Instead the draft text includes aims to lower the global mortality rate from disasters between 2020 and 2030, compared to 2005 to 2015, and reduce the proportion of people affected.

Another target is to reduce economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030.

The new agreement also includes targets to reduce damage to infrastructure and disruption to basic services, including health and education facilities, and to widen access to early warning systems and disaster risk information for the public.

But some disaster experts said a lack of a clear goal in the agreement to increase international aid for risk reduction would undermine developing countries' efforts to make progress on the goals.

Only Japan put money on the table in Sendai, promising to provide $4 billion in support over the next four years.

"Rich nations have pushed making financial commitments to reduce disaster risk to a separate round of financing negotiations later in the year," said Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, referring to a conference in Ethiopia in July.

Without larger pledges, "the results for vulnerable communities in poor countries will be catastrophic," he added.

Wahlström told reporters disaster risk reduction had received very little international funding so far, but she was convinced donors would make it a policy priority in coming decades for their development assistance.

Japan's Minister of State for Disaster Management Eriko Yamatani said that for her government, it was "not really a cost but an investment for the future".

HELP FOR MOST VULNERABLE

The devastation caused by Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu at the start of the conference last week highlighted the need for greater efforts to protect those most at risk from extreme weather and other hazards.

"Disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change and (are) increasing in frequency and intensity, significantly impede progress toward sustainable development," the Sendai framework said.

"It is urgent and critical to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk in order to more effectively protect persons, communities and countries... and thus strengthen their resilience," it added.

Maggie Ibrahim of World Vision UK said the Sendai conference had put issues affecting the disabled, women and children in disasters under the spotlight.

But the agreement would not equip them and other vulnerable people with the resources and tools to build skills so they can better prepare for disasters and avert crises, she said.

(Reporting by Megan Rowling; Editing by Katie Nguyen)

Filipino nurse from Saudi Arabia tests positive for MERS virus

(GNN) - A Filipino nurse, who arrived last week from Saudi Arabia, has tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the first case of the deadly virus in the Philippines, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization is worried about the spread of MERS, a respiratory disease known to have infected at least 965 people, of whom some 357 have died, overwhelmingly in Saudi Arabia.

Lyndon Lee Suy, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said the female nurse was undergoing treatment at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

"The nurse had bouts of fever, body pain, cough and difficulty in breathing - symptoms similar to a patient with MERS-CoV," he told a news conference.

"Testing was done which yielded positive results. The patient is in stable condition."

Lee Suy said health authorities were conducting a contact tracing for 225 other passengers on board Saudi Airlines Flight 860. Her husband, who also arrived on the same flight on Feb. 1, tested negative.

First reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, about 30 percent of people confirmed to have caught the viral respiratory illness MERS-CoV have died.

Nine countries in the Middle East have had confirmed cases while 13 other states, now including the Philippines, have had travel-associated cases, or cases that they have diagnosed but which originated overseas.

(Reuters) (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Taiwan culls 6,000 more geese to curb bird flu outbreak

(ATimes) TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday slaughtered nearly 6,000 geese after 14 more farms were confirmed to have been infected in the latest outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the culling of more than 140,000 birds.
The confirmation brought to 21 the total number of farms infected by the outbreak since last week — all in the south — according to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.

The slaughter of the 5,830 geese at three farms in Chiayi county began late Monday night and was completed early Tuesday.

Further culls are expected as authorities adopt stringent measures to eliminate a new variant of the H5N2 and H5N8 strains, both discovered for the first time on the island.

“In order to swiftly wipe out the new disease, as long as the samples collected from any farm are confirmed as the H5 virus and the death rates there are high, all the poultry in the farm will be destroyed immediately,” agriculture minister Chen Bao-ji told reporters.

“I can say for sure that within the next month the number of infected farms will keep growing.”

More than 140,000 birds have been slaughtered since the first outbreak was confirmed at a chicken farm in Pingtung County, where 122,000 chickens were destroyed last week.

Taiwan has reported several outbreaks of H5N2 but has no recorded cases of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain, although authorities said pet birds smuggled from China tested positive for the strain in 2005 and 2012.

Source: AFP

Plague in Madagascar has killed 40 people out of 119 cases -WHO

GNN Health & Fitness News - An outbreak of the plague has killed 40 people out of 119 confirmed cases in Madagascar since late August and there is a risk of the disease spreading rapidly in the capital, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

So far two cases and one death have been recorded in the capital Antananarivo but those figures could climb quickly due to "the city's high population density and the weakness of the healthcare system", the WHO warned.

"The situation is further complicated by the high level of resistance to deltamethrin (an insecticide used to control fleas) that has been observed in the country," it added.


Plague, a bacterial disease, is mainly spread from one rodent to another by fleas. Humans bitten by an infected flea usually develop a bubonic form of plague, which swells the lymph node and can be treated with antibiotics, the WHO said.

If the bacteria reach the lungs, the patient develops pneumonia (pneumonic plague), which is transmissible from person to person through infected droplets spread by coughing. It is "one of the most deadly infectious diseases" and can kill people within 24 hours. Two percent of the cases reported in Madagascar so far have been pneumonic, it added.

The first known case of the plague was a man from Soamahatamana village in the district of Tsiroanomandidy, identified on Aug. 31. He died on Sept. 3 and authorities notified the WHO of the outbreak on Nov. 4, the agency said.

The WHO said it did not recommend any trade or travel restrictions based on the information available about the outbreak.

The last previously known outbreak of the plague was in Peru in August 2010, according to the WHO.

(GNN, Reuters, Aip)(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Hugh Lawson)