U.S. crude oil falls below $70 a barrel, closing at the lowest level since June

U.S. crude oil falls below  a barrel, closing at the lowest level since June

Gas prices at a Shell gas station in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. crude declined 4% on Wednesday, closing at the lowest level since late June with retail gasoline prices hitting the lowest point since January just ahead of the holiday shopping and travel … Read more

Health sector themes to watch in 2024

Health sector themes to watch in 2024

An employee works on the production line of pharmaceutical company Zentiva in Prague, Czech Republic, May 6, 2021. David W. Cerny | Reuters The health-care sector has wiped out much of its losses for the year during the December market rally. Beaten-down biotech and medical device makers have seen the biggest rebound this month, and … Read more

Bristol Myers Squibb to buy Karuna Therapeutics

Bristol Myers Squibb to buy Karuna Therapeutics

Bristol Myers Squibb on Friday announced it agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion in cash, or $330 per share. Karuna’s stock popped more than 47% on the news Friday morning, hitting around $317 a share. Bristol Myers Squibb shares rose more than 2%. The deal will help expand Bristol Myers’ drug … Read more

Patients on Eli Lilly drug regain weight after stopping it

Patients on Eli Lilly drug regain weight after stopping it

Eli Lilly’s drug tirzepatide was approved for weight loss by the FDA. Courtesy of Eli Lilly Patients who took Eli Lilly‘s weight loss drug Zepbound regained around half the weight they shed after stopping the newly approved treatment for a year, according to data released Monday.  The data, which represents the full results from an … Read more

Occidental Petroleum to buy Permian producer CrownRock for $12 billion, raise dividend

Occidental Petroleum to buy Permian producer CrownRock for  billion, raise dividend

Occidental Petroleum on Monday agreed to buy CrownRock, a major privately held energy producer that operates in the Permian Basin, for $12 billion. The deal is latest in a spate of consolidation in the U.S .energy sector, particularly in the Permian, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S. The transaction is expected to close in … Read more

Cigna shares jump on abandoned Humana buyout, buyback plans

Cigna shares jump on abandoned Humana buyout, buyback plans

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Shares of Cigna jumped Monday following reports that the health-care giant has scrapped its plans to buy rival Humana due to disagreements on price, putting an early end to what would have been one of the largest deals of the decade. Cigna late Sunday also announced plans to … Read more

Pharma had a year full of firsts

Pharma had a year full of firsts

Soumyabrata Roy | Nurphoto | Getty Images Drugmakers are closing out a year when they achieved several historic firsts that will shape the pharmaceutical industry in 2024 and beyond.  The weight loss drug market transformed into the pharmaceutical industry’s newest gold rush this year, as demand for costly but highly effective treatments from Novo Nordisk … Read more

Buffett’s Berkshire buys more Occidental in endorsement of Permian Basin-related purchase

Buffett’s Berkshire buys more Occidental in endorsement of Permian Basin-related purchase

The Occidental Petroleum Headquarters is seen on December 11, 2023 in The Woodlands, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images Berkshire Hathaway has purchased more than 10 million shares of Occidental Petroleum this week worth $588 million, signaling confidence in the oil producer’s pending acquisition of CrownRock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire now owns … Read more

Vertex nonopioid painkiller posts positive midstage trial results

Vertex nonopioid painkiller posts positive midstage trial results

A sign hangs in front of the world headquarters of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston on Oct. 23, 2019. Brian Snyder | Reuters Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals jumped Wednesday after the company’s painkiller, which is being tested as an alternative to opioids, significantly decreased pain in a midstage trial. Those positive results for diabetes patients suffering … Read more

New data on Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug shows its outlook is bright

New data on Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug shows its outlook is bright

The launch of Eli Lilly ‘s weight-loss drug Zepbound — a key pillar of our investment thesis in the pharmaceuticals giant — is going swimmingly in the U.S., Jefferies said Friday. Weekly Zepbound prescriptions totaled 7,700 in the week ended Dec. 8, its fourth on the U.S. market, according to Jefferies, which cited data compiled … Read more