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Purdue faces public nuisance claims in opioid case; healthcare job growth slows

Top news

* U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland refused to dismiss claims that Purdue Pharma LP and other opioid manufacturers' activities caused a public nuisance, Reuters reported. The ruling, which was made six weeks ahead of the first scheduled hearing over the U.S. opioid epidemic, comes after the defendants tried to reach settlements over their alleged role in the crisis.

The Sackler family, which owns Purdue, agreed to give up the company's "entire value" and to pay about $4.5 billion as part of their settlement, according to an email sent to National Public Radio. The maker of opioid painkiller Oxycontin is still negotiating to reach a settlement, refuting claims by state attorneys general that talks have broken down.

* Healthcare job growth slowed for the second straight month, with the sector adding about 23,900 jobs in August, down from the 29,400 and 32,600 jobs added in July and June, respectively, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. The healthcare industry has added about 392,000 jobs in the last 12 months and about 252,000 jobs in 2019.

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* Mallinckrodt PLC agreed to sell its unit BioVectra Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization, to private equity firm H.I.G. Capital for about $250 million. BioVectra will continue to supply an active pharmaceutical ingredient supporting Mallinckrodt's specialty brands business under a long-term arrangement.

* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were only seven confirmed cases of measles recorded in the week ended Sept. 5, the lowest weekly figure in 2019. This brings the total number of confirmed cases this year to 1,241 in 31 states in the worst measles outbreak since 1992.

* Britain's health department warned that more individuals are being prescribed opioid pain medicines often for longer periods, increasing the risk of addiction. Public Health England also said prescribing these medicines — which include benzodiazepines and z-drugs, gabapentin and pregabalin — costs the National Health Service "a lot of money" since they do not work for everyone all the time.

On the policy front

* A document believed to be the drug pricing plan from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was circulated in Washington on Sept. 9, but a Democratic aide told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the "document is an out-of-date draft." Some of the details in the now-outdated document had already been discussed openly by Pelosi, such as letting the Department of Health and Human Services directly negotiate the prices on 250 drugs.

The document also outlined a proposal to set a maximum price for any negotiated drug with an international price index — an idea similar to a plan outlined by the Trump administration in October 2018.

* The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will use stricter penalties and regulation to help curb fraud and abuse by providers that participate in health insurance programs operated by the federal government. CMS will now be able to revoke healthcare providers' participation in government programs like Medicare and Medicaid for working with other entities that have previously been barred from participating in those programs, according to a Sept. 5 finalized rule.

M&A and capital markets

* Germany's BioNTech SE, which develops personalized therapies for cancer and other diseases, filed for an IPO of up to $100 million of American depositary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Drug and product pipeline

* Neurotrope Inc. said its medicine Bryostatin-1 failed to best placebo in improving cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease. No statistically significant difference was observed between Bryostatin-1 and placebo on multiple secondary goals either.

* Translate Bio Inc. will discontinue the development of its experimental genetic disorder drug MRT5201 and prioritize its lung disease programs. The biotechnology company was developing MRT5201 to treat ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, a genetic disorder that allows ammonia to accumulate in the blood.

Operational activity

* Mesoblast Ltd. and Grünenthal GmbH are teaming up to develop a cell therapy candidate for treating patients with back pain that can be commercialized in Europe and Latin America. Mesoblast will receive up to US$150 million in up-front and milestone payments prior to the product's launch, and the company is also eligible for further commercialization milestone payments.

* Flexion Therapeutics Inc. agreed to acquire the global rights to develop and commercialize Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s experimental postoperative pain management drug XEN402 for an up-front payment of $3 million. Xenon is eligible to receive up to $9 million through the initiation of a phase 2 proof-of-concept study, up to $40.8 million in clinical development and regulatory milestone payments and up to $75 million in commercialization milestone payments.

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng rose 0.01% to 26,683.68, and the Nikkei 225 gained 0.35% to 21,392.10.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.26% to 7,217.27, and the Euronext 100 was down 0.64% to 1,073.50.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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