Express Scripts Shakes Up the Hep C Market

This will probably be a slow week for trading since the market closes early on Wednesday and is shut all day on Thursday. But we get the big GDP revision tomorrow which I’m looking forward to. This morning’s report on existing home sales came in very light. So far, the market is basically flat.

Shares of Oracle ($ORCL) are down slightly after the company announced that it’s buying Datalogix which is an advertising analytics company. Terms weren’t disclosed but we believe it involved a great deal of money.

Express Scripts ($ESRX) shook up the market today. The company is making AbbVie’s ($ABBV) hep C treatment its exclusive option for patients, instead of Gilead’s ($GILD). The WSJ says:

The decision will quickly change the calculus for one of the most closely watched markets in the pharmaceutical industry, since other payers will now look for similar deals. Some Wall Street analysts expect worldwide sales of hepatitis C treatments, led by a pair of medications sold by Gilead Sciences, to reach as much as $20 billion in revenue next year thanks to pent-up demand for new treatments.

Gilead is currently down 13% today.

Posted by on December 22nd, 2014 at 11:17 am


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