Astellas Pharma Inc.

A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet suggests that the Trump administration's efforts to cut U.S. drug spending could give pharmaceutical companies an incentive to raise prices or reduce sales of medicines in other countries around the world to offset lost revenue in the U.S. market. The Trump administration wants prices for drugs under the federal Medicare health program to align with levels in other wealthy countries, but researchers found that for about three in four of the medicines studied, if companies had to cut the prices they charge Medicare to match those of cheaper reference countries, the revenue lost in the U.S. would exceed the drug's entire sales in the reference country. The study analyzed 195 patented drugs, accounting for a total of 87.9 billion dollars in Medicare spending in 2024, comparing them with drug prices in 19 reference countries. It found that aligning the prices Medicare pays with those of the reference countries would save the two pilot programs the U.S. government uses to test the measure about 11.6 billion dollars. But if the 17 drugmakers that struck separate pricing agreements with the White House were exempted, the savings would fall to just 3.3 billion dollars. The effects are already emerging: Astellas Pharma said it was able to negotiate a higher price for a new eye disease treatment in Japan this year, while Chris Viehbacher, chief executive of Biogen, said the company would launch Zurzuvae, a treatment for postpartum depression, in only a few European countries, and Roche Holding said it may not launch a new oral breast cancer drug, which has not yet been approved in Switzerland, the company's home country.

President Donald Trump has secured new drug pricing agreements with nine pharmaceutical companies, bringing the total to 26 and covering 90% of the domestic pharmaceutical market. The companies include Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB, which will offer discounts on outpatient drugs across all state Medicaid programs. These deals, announced Monday, aim to align U.S. drug prices with international levels and cover treatments for chronic and rare conditions such as hemophilia, liver disease, skin disorders, and certain cancers. The companies have also committed to investing at least $19.6 billion in U.S. manufacturing, with Astellas, Sun Pharma, Teva, and UCB donating active pharmaceutical ingredients to the federal strategic reserve. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described his conversations with Trump as "very, very emotional," while White House economists estimate the deals could save $529 billion over the next decade, including $64.3 billion in Medicaid savings.

President Trump announced on Monday that his administration has signed separate drug-pricing agreements with nine mid-sized pharmaceutical companies, expanding his Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) pricing push beyond Big Pharma. The companies include Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio Pharma, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB, which have agreed to reduce prescription drug prices to match those in comparable developed countries. In return, they receive a reprieve from import tariffs on pharmaceutical ingredients, contingent on expanding domestic manufacturing, with a collective commitment of at least $19.6 billion in U.S. manufacturing. Some companies also agreed to contribute active pharmaceutical ingredients to a government stockpile reserve, such as Teva supplying 45 metric tons of metronidazole and UCB providing 163 tons of levetiracetam. With these additions, the total number of drugmakers with MFN agreements has risen to 26, covering 89% of the branded drug market, and the administration has called on Congress to codify the policy through the Great Healthcare Plan.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Tuesday, setting Wall Street up for a lower start to September as investors monitored renewed tensions in the Middle East. The Nasdaq rose 3.9% in August after falling 3.2% in July and 2.8% in June, with strong technology earnings helping drive the recovery despite late-month volatility tied to higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions. Anthropic has reportedly agreed to a $35B computing deal with Lambda, a cloud provider backed by Nvidia, as the AI company moves to rapidly expand computing capacity; Hut 8 is developing the Texas data center tied to the project. President Donald Trump announced new drug-pricing agreements with Astellas, BeOne Medicines, CSL, BridgeBio, Sun Pharmaceutical, and UCB, which agreed to offer medicines to state Medicaid programs at most-favored-nation prices. South Korea proposed a record 820.9T won ($597B) budget for 2027, up 12.8% from this year's plan, with AI and semiconductors among key priorities, and AI spending set to nearly double to 21.3T won. Chinese memory-chip maker CXMT has started producing small quantities of HBM3E, an advanced memory used in AI chips, and plans to expand production in 2027, while Alibaba's T-Head and Cambricon Technologies are testing the memory for potential use in products as early as next year.

President Donald Trump introduced a new set of drug-pricing deals with global pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotechs on Monday, advancing efforts to cut healthcare costs for American consumers. Deals were signed with Astellas, BeOne Medicines, CSL, BridgeBio, Sun Pharmaceutical, and UCB SA, Trump said in an Oval Office event with executives, according to Reuters. These companies have offered drugs to state Medicaid programs at most-favored-nation prices, which Trump described as a tremendous discount that should bring down medical costs. Israel's Teva, which also attended, said it is still in discussions with the administration on a potential agreement. The number of drugs covered and the discounts remain unclear, as the White House did not release details and some companies described terms as private. The deals follow earlier agreements with 17 of the world's largest drugmakers, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk, which agreed to cut prices for federal health programs and sell some medicines directly to patients through a Trump-branded website in return for tariff relief.

Zacks Investment Research added Coinbase Global, Astellas Pharma, and McEwen to its Rank 5 Strong Sell list on August 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Coinbase's current-year earnings has been revised 81.6% downward over the last 60 days. Astellas Pharma's current-year earnings estimate has been revised nearly 6% downward over the same period. McEwen's current-year earnings estimate has been revised 4.7% downward over the last 60 days.

Lupin Limited has received tentative approval from the U.S. FDA for its generic Enzalutamide Tablets. The approval covers 40 mg, 80 mg, 120 mg, and 160 mg strengths under an Abbreviated New Drug Application. The 40 mg and 80 mg strengths are bioequivalent to Astellas' Xtandi, the reference listed drug for prostate cancer treatment. Lupin's additional 120 mg and 160 mg options aim to provide more dosing flexibility for healthcare providers. Lupin closed Friday's trading at INR 2,346.00, down 0.92%.