This Pharmalittle column (Ed Silverman, Sept. 10, 2026) compiles brief items of interest across the pharmaceutical and policy landscape. The free portion of the piece highlights investor pressure at Novartis after recent clinical setbacks, federal officials pursuing additional drug-pricing arrangements, and a federal appeals-court development related to access to mifepristone. The longer STAT+ analysis is paywalled; the publicly available items are drawn from Reuters and Bloomberg reporting cited in the column.
A major shareholder has publicly urged Novartis to reorganize its board to strengthen corporate governance following a sharp decline in the company’s share price. The shareholder attributed the decline to recent, consecutive clinical and development setbacks and criticized successive chairmen for shortcomings in acquisition oversight and deal supervision. Reporting on the shareholder action was credited to Reuters in the column.
David Samra — identified in the source as managing director at Artisan Partners and founding partner of International Value Group — was named as the investor raising concerns about Novartis’ strategic oversight. The action reflects investor frustration after the company disclosed recent negative clinical news that materially affected investor sentiment.
The column notes two specific sources of investor concern at Novartis. First, a drug for a muscle-wasting disorder that Novartis acquired through its approximately $12 billion purchase of Avidity failed a late-stage study, undermining the value of that acquisition. Second, results for the cardiovascular candidate pelacarsen disappointed investors. Those two disclosures occurred in close succession and were cited as the proximate causes of the record share-price fall that prompted the shareholder call for governance changes.
The column presents these failures as the immediate context for calls to change how Novartis oversees mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic deals. No additional clinical or numerical details about the trials beyond the failure reports were provided in the free portion of the source.
According to Bloomberg reporting cited in the column, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz stated that the Trump administration is pursuing additional voluntary drug-pricing agreements with pharmaceutical companies. The source indicates that officials have already announced more than two dozen such arrangements.
Per the reporting summarized here, the voluntary deals are bespoke in structure, but commonly involve manufacturers agreeing to lower the prices they charge public programs and to introduce new drugs at price points closer to those in other developed countries. In exchange, companies may receive relief from tariffs or similar concessions. The column does not provide a comprehensive list of participating companies or terms of individual agreements; those details were not included in the free excerpt.
The column also highlights a legal item: a U.S. appeals court panel reportedly appeared skeptical of Louisiana’s bid to curtail access to mifepristone. The piece frames this as part of ongoing litigation and regulatory attention surrounding access to the medication. The free summary does not include further legal analysis or the panel’s specific commentary beyond noting the court’s apparent skepticism.
This Pharmalittle installment is presented in the column-style format typical of the newsletter and is authored by Ed Silverman. The free portion of the article draws on reporting from Reuters and Bloomberg for the items described. The source indicates a longer STAT+ exclusive story and additional analysis are available to subscribers; the paywalled content was not reproduced in the public excerpt.
The piece functions as a concise industry roundup: industry investor activism following trial failures, federal policy movement on drug pricing, and a notable federal-court moment tied to access to a commonly used medication. No additional trial data, company responses, or detailed terms of the CMS-related agreements were provided in the publicly accessible portion of the source.