Oct. 21 Quick Takes: Express Scripts to prefer biosimilar insulin

Diabetes patients covered by Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ESRX) can look forward to cheaper insulin after the PBM said it would prefer the interchangeable biosimilar Semglee insulin-glargine-ygfn from Biocon Ltd. (NSE:BIOCON; BSE:532523) on its National Preferred Formulary effective Jan. 1, 2022. Express’s National Preferred Formulary is one of the largest in the U.S., covering more than 28 million lives. Goldman Sachs invested $150 million in Biocon’s biosimilars unit last year. Semglee was FDA-approved in July. 

Autoimmune and inflammatory disease company Ventyx Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:VTYX) gained 31% to $21.02 Thursday after pricing an upsized, $151.5 million IPO that valued the biotech at $782.9 million. The gains lifted its market cap above $1 billion. Ventyx priced at the $16 midpoint of its proposed range; it sold 9.5 million shares, more than the 7.8 million it had anticipated last week. Ventyx is advancing two clinical candidates: selective TYK2 inhibitor VTX958 and S1PR1 modulator VTX002. Its largest shareholders include New Science Ventures, with 45.2% prior to the offering, and venBio, with 12%. Underwriters are Jefferies, Evercore ISI, Piper Sandler and LifeSci Capital...