Look back at pharma news to Feb 3

As the US President Donald Trump rally fades away, such anxiety weighs heavy on investors’ minds. But underperforming drug company Pfizer may yet profit from the President’s contradictions, wrote Financial Times Lex writer Christopher Thompson. On the one hand, Trump has accused big pharma of “getting away with murder” by ripping off the ill and poor. On the other, he intimated he could offer them tax cuts and a speedier drug approvals process. With much of the sector facing a so-called “patent cliff,” this could spur M&A as companies use their offshore cash piles to snap up innovative rivals and replenish their drug pipelines.

Teva’s Copaxone patent luck looks like running out

Israeli generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ efforts to extend the lifecycle of its multiple sclerosis therapy Copaxone finally run out of steam. Monday’s  US district court ruling means that a generic version of the 40mg formulation could be on the market as soon as February, several months earlier than expected, says EP Vantage, the editorial arm of the Evaluate group.