tak

Justin Langer vows to 'never, ever' take cricket for granted again amid coronavirus shutdown

As cricket's coronavirus shutdown continues, Australian coach Justin Langer suggests resuming games in empty stadiums when possible, saying he will never take for granted how lucky he and the team are again.




tak

Why are millionaire EPL football players not taking a pay cut?

English Premier League players are coming under fire for not taking a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic, but the players association argues cutting player salaries could do more harm than good.




tak

Virtual sport takes off as athletes move online to get their competitive fix

A Test cricketer driving a Formula 1 car, virtual horse racing at Aintree and a husband tripping over computer cords while his wife is in second place in an online triathlon — here's how athletes are coping online during the coronavirus.




tak

NRL players agree to new pay deal as May 28 restart takes shape

The NRL ticks another box ahead of its planned restart later this month, as the players officially sign off on a new pay agreement ahead of a return to training this week.




tak

'Unfortunate mistake': Ratepayers to fork out for $70,000 soccer pitch measurement blunder

Residents in the Adelaide Hills will cover the cost of an "unfortunate" planning error involving state soccer authorities which has led to construction of smaller pitches than intended in original plans.




tak

Adelaide Crows avoid police sanction over social distancing 'mistake'

The Adelaide Crows will be dealt with in an "educative way rather than a punitive way", police say, after players broke coronavirus quarantine guidelines during a training session.




tak

Top NBCUniversal executives take 20% pay cut amid coronavirus fallout

Rank-and-file employees will take 3% cuts. The company follows Walt Disney Co., Fox and others that have trimmed the pay of senior executives.




tak

Our critics take another look at 'The Avengers' in the #UltimateSummerMovie Showdown

Times critics Justin Chang and Glenn Whipp discuss Marvel's "The Avengers," winner of the #UltimateSummerMovie Showdown, Week 1.




tak

Disney theme parks take a $1-billion hit amid coronavirus closures

Walt Disney Co. reported earnings for the first time since its U.S. parks closed amid the coronavirus crisis.




tak

Coronavirus: What shape will a recession and recovery take?

Monica Miller explains the alphabet soup of possible recession shapes for the coronavirus-hit global economy.




tak

Virgin Media and O2 join forces to take on BT

A tie-up is agreed that will create one of the UK's largest mobile, broadband and media firms.




tak

Serkis: ‘Hobbit reading will take you on an adventure’

Gollum actor Andy Serkis is doing a continuous live reading of The Hobbit for charity.




tak

Daymond John Says COVID Worst Than '08 Crash, Recovery Will Take Years

Daymond John hates to be the bearer of bad news, but he thinks all signs point to our economic recovery being kinda like watching paint dry -- slow and painful. The "Shark Tank" star was on "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about the unique economic…




tak

Mother's Little Mini-Mes -- Take Two!

It might be all about moms this weekend, but it seems like we need to make some room for the next generation to shine too! These mamas have been sharing some sweet snaps of their matching moments with their babes ... and these cuties might just be…




tak

DCGI grants approval to PGIMS, Rohtak to start clinical trials on BCG vaccine for treatment of COVID─19




tak

DCGI directs state DCs to take stock of issues in procurement & prices of HCQ, azithromycin and paracetamol APIs




tak

Christi Shaw taken on by Gilead as Kite Pharma's new CEO

Lilly veteran Christi Shaw has joined Kite Pharma as the company’s new CEO.

Shaw comes to Gilead’s cancer immunotherapy firm, Kite Pharma, from rival US firm Eli Lilly, where she acted as a senior vice president and also as president of Lilly’s immunology, pain and neuroscience unit, Lilly Bio Medicines.

read more




tak

How To Really Take Medical Conflicts Of Interest Seriously

If we’re going to have a central database of conflict of interest disclosures in medicine – and there is one, created by law – it’s high time that people start using it.




tak

Express Scripts + Prime Therapeutics: Our Four Takeaways From This Market Changing Deal (rerun)

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for this Friday’s video webinar: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers.

I suspect this deal will remain profitable for the participating companies even as COVID-19 alters the US. prescription payer mix. Click here to see the original post and comments from January 2020. National market shares for the largest PBMs in 2019 appears as Exhibit 88 of our 2020 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

P.S. Sorry that today's meme is one day too late for Star Wars day.



Just before the holidays, Cigna’s Express Scripts business announced a market-changing deal with Prime Therapeutics. Click here to read the press release.

There's been very little written about this transaction, though it has potentially major implications. Below, I share my thoughts on the following topics arising from the deal:
  • Implications for manufacturers and pharmacies
  • The role of the secretive Ascent Health Services
  • What this all means for Walgreens
  • Why the Federal Trade Commission won’t challenge the deal
A few weeks ago, I explained why integrated insurer / PBM / specialty pharmacy / provider organizations are poised to restructure U.S. drug channels. The Express Scripts / Prime deal signals that the channel will continue its amazing pace of reinvention.

The scale, scope, and interconnectedness of today’s market participants make the system increasingly resistant to massive disruption from either external players like Amazon or a government takeover. Like it or not, the channel will continue to gain power and extract profit. Read on and see if you agree.
Read more »
        




tak

The world needs a coronavirus vaccine. But it will take time | Patrick Vallance

Any vaccine has to work, but it also has to be safe. Making it happen is one of the government’s biggest priorities

• Patrick Vallance is the UK government chief scientific adviser

Covid-19 has made fundamental and long-lasting changes to the way we live our lives, not just in the UK, but across the world.

As we continue with social-distancing measures and deal with the most immediate issue of reducing the number of cases to protect the NHS and save lives, and keeping R, which is the average infection rate per person, below one, we also need to progress ways to tackle the disease in the longer term.

The vaccines taskforce will be working in lockstep with the public and private sector

Related: New UK taskforce to help develop and roll out coronavirus vaccine

Continue reading...




tak

AstraZeneca success should prompt review of takeover rules | Nils Pratley

Firm’s recent success could have been very different had it been bought out by Pfizer in 2014

It’s perhaps not surprising that the worth of healthcare companies should emerge during a global pandemic, but we should offer thanks for the UK’s big pharma twins – AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

The former, with its share price at all-time high, is now jostling with Shell and Unilever for the title of biggest company in the FTSE 100 index. Successful research bets, especially on cancer drugs, have transformed Astra.

Continue reading...




tak

FTC clears AbbVie’s $63bn Allergan takeover

US regulator satisfied that antitrust concerns are remediated




tak

US-Swiss partnership takes aim at rare heart condition

A new collaboration targeting rare heart diseases has been formed between California’s BioMarin Pharmaceutical…



  • BioMarin Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Cardio-vascular/Deals/DiNA-001/DiNAQOR/Licensing/Rare diseases/Research/Switzerland/USA

tak

Portola agrees to takeover bid from Alexion

Following a couple of active M&A years, USA-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals has now reached a definitive…



  • Alexion Pharmaceuticals/AndexXa/Anticoagulants/Biotechnology/Cardio-vascular/Companies
  • mergers and acquisitions/Hematology/Ondexxya/Portola Pharmaceuticals/USA

tak

Singapore reports 753 new coronavirus cases, taking total to 22,460

Singapore registered 753 new coronavirus infections, its health ministry said on Saturday, taking the city-state's total to 22,460 cases.




tak

Fraudulent Telemarketers Who Claimed U.S. Victims Won Large Sweepstakes Sentenced to Prison for Roles in Scheme

The owner of a Costa Rica-based telemarketing call center and two employees of another Costa Rica call center were sentenced for their roles in schemes that targeted and defrauded thousands of American victims of more than $10 million.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Madhatta Haipe Extradited to U.S. for 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens

Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines, has been extradited from the Philippines to face trial in the District of Columbia for various crimes relating to the hostage taking of U.S. and Philippine citizens in 1995.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Fraudulent Telemarketer Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison, Co-Conspirators Also Sentenced for Roles in Fake Sweepstakes Scheme

Four owners of Costa Rica-based telemarketing call centers, an employee and a Texas-based list broker have been sentenced for their roles in defrauding thousands of U.S. victims of more than $20 million through a phony sweepstakes scheme.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

More Than 300 Alleged La Familia Cartel Members and Associates Arrested in Two-Day Nationwide Takedown

Today Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of nearly 1,200 individuals on narcotics-related charges and the seizure of more than 11.7 tons of narcotics as part of a 44-month multi-agency law enforcement investigation known as “Project Coronado.”



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Medicare Fraud Fugitive Taken into Custody at Miami International Airport and Ordered Held in Pre-trial Detention Pending Trial

Jose Garcia, 55, who has been a fugitive since 2008, was taken into federal custody yesterday at Miami International Airport.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Former Chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Indicted for His Role in a More Than $1.9 Billion Fraud Scheme That Contributed to the Failure of Colonial Bank

Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was arrested last night in Ocala, Fla., and charged in a 16-count indictment for his alleged role in a more than $1.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 50 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Founding Member of Abu Sayyaf Group Pleads Guilty to 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens

Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines and founding member of Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyyah, also known as the Abu Sayyaf Group, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the District of Columbia to four counts of hostage taking in connection with the 1995 abduction of 16 people, including four U.S. citizens, in the Philippines.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

United States Takes Action to Reduce Hazards from Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant in Florida

CF Industries Inc. has agreed to spend approximately $12 million to implement facility-wide operational changes to reduce and properly manage hazardous wastes generated at its Plant City, Fla., phosphoric acid and ammoniated fertilizer manufacturing facility.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

DEA Heads First-ever Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-back Day

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and government, community, public health and law enforcement partners today announced a nationwide prescription drug “Take-Back” initiative that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Dutch Woman and 17 Other Members of FARC Terrorist Organization Indicted on Hostage-taking and Weapons Charges

Tanja Anamary Nijmeijer, a Dutch national who moved to Colombia and joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2002, and 17 other members of the FARC designated foreign terrorist organization were indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., today on seven counts of terrorism and weapons charges arising out of their participation in the hostage-taking of three American citizens in the Republic of Colombia.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Founding Member of Abu Sayyaf Group Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens

Madhatta Asagal Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines and founding member of Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyyah, also known as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), was sentenced today to 23 years in prison after earlier pleading guilty to four counts of hostage taking in the 1995 abduction of 16 people, including four U.S. citizens, in the Philippines.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division Speaks at Armenian Power Takedown Press Conference

"I am pleased to be here today with my friend, U.S. Attorney Birotte, and our law enforcement partners to announce these indictments, and the arrest of more than 80 members and associates of transnational organized crime groups, including a particularly powerful one based here in California."




tak

Former Treasurer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Pleads Guilty to $1.9 Billion Fraud Scheme That Contributed to the Failure of Colonial Bank

Desiree Brown, the former treasurer of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit bank, wire and securities fraud for her role in a more than $1.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and TBW



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Department of Justice Takes Action to Disable International Botnet

Today the Department of Justice and FBI announced the filing of a civil complaint, the execution of criminal seizure warrants, and the issuance of a temporary restraining order as part of the most complete and comprehensive enforcement action ever taken by U.S authorities to disable an international botnet.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Former Chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Convicted for $2.9 Billion Fraud Scheme That Contributed to the Failure of Colonial Bank

Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was convicted today for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 25 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division Speaks at the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Takedown Press Conference

"Today, a 50-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging 13 leaders, members and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family with crimes that spanned more than a decade."




tak

Former Treasurer and President of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Each Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Scheme

The former treasurer and the former president of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) were sentenced today to 72 months in prison and 30 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Former Chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison and Ordered to Forfeit $38.5 Million

The former chairman and owner of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and ordered to forfeit approximately $38.5 million for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failure of TBW and Colonial Bank.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Health Care Fraud Takedown Press Conference

"We are pleased to announce the results of a nationwide takedown, by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in eight cities, that has resulted in charges against 91 defendants for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving nearly $300 million in false billings," said Attorney General Holder.




tak

Assistant Attorney General Breuer Speaks at the Health Care Fraud Takedown Press Conference

"The indictments announced today serve as a powerful reminder that Medicare fraud is a nationwide problem," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.




tak

Massachusetts Takes Steps to Require Sheltered English Immersion Training in Response to Justice Department’s Letter

Today, in response to a letter from the Justice Department, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to grant the Commissioner of Education authority to draft state regulations that will require training of all Sheltered English Immersion teachers who instruct English Language Learner students.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Lucchese Organized Crime Family Member and Associate Among 13 Arrested, Charged for Racketeering and Other Offenses, Including Illegal Takeover of Publicly Traded Company

Thirteen individuals, including an alleged member and an associate of the Lucchese organized crime family, are charged with racketeering and related offenses in an indictment unsealed this morning in conjunction with arrests in the case.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Accused Member of Foreign Terrorist Organization Extradited to United States on Hostage Taking Charges

Alexander Beltran Herrera, 35, aka Jhon Alexander Beltrain Herrera, aka Rodrigo Pirinolo, an accused member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has been extradited from Colombia to face hostage taking and terrorism charges in the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Former Chief Financial Officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme

Delton de Armas, a former chief financial officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW), pleaded guilty today to making false statements and conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank.



  • OPA Press Releases

tak

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Health Care Fraud Takedown Press Conference

"As of today, as part of a coordinated, nationwide takedown, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force – a joint initiative led by the Departments of Justice and HHS that’s comprised of federal, state, and local investigators and law enforcement officials from across the country – has charged 107 defendants in seven different cities for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $452 million in false billings. This is the highest amount of alleged false Medicare billings involved in a single takedown in the Strike Force’s 5-year history," said Attorney General Holder.