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Lipitor Benefit Changes: Pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts will move brand-name Lipitor to the third tier of its national drug formulary from the second tier as of Feb. 1, increasing co-pays for some patients and emphasizing Pfizer’s challenge of holding on to sales of the drug, the WSJ reports. The generic versions of Lipitor are already on the first — and preferred — tier. Mail-order customers won’t see higher co-pays, the WSJ says.

By Sten Stovall

Investment prospects for Europe’s big drug makers look set to improve dramatically from mid-2012, despite the gloomy backdrop facing the sector as the year begins.

In 2012, the $50 billion-plus “global wave” of lost revenues from patent expirations on major blockbuster medicines finally hits the entire pharmaceuticals sector. Tightened government health-care budgets and downward pressure on drug prices will also keep hurting.

The British government has pledged about $31 million to help eradicate guinea worm disease, a donation that public-health experts say will bring them close to finishing the job.

A quarter century ago, the crippling parasitic infection afflicted 3.5 million people a year in more than 20 countries. This year, there are expected to be just over 1,000 cases in four African countries. More than 98% of those cases are in South Sudan, with a few dozen in Ethiopia, Mali, and Chad.

When a Pfizer sales representative came to his hospital last year pitching the pain drug Lyrica, Dr. Hiroshi Nishino pressed for details — he wanted to know just how the drug works on a molecular level.

“I’d want to try a new drug with a different mechanism of action because” that might give it an edge over existing treatments and provide a reason for trying something new, says Dr. Nishino, a general practitioner 60 miles from Tokyo.

PBM Deal: Express Scripts announced it will buy rival pharmacy-benefit manager Medco Health Solutions for $29.1 billion in cash and stock, or $71.36 per share — a 28% premium to yesterday’s closing price –the WSJ reports. Express Scripts CEO George Paz will lead the combined company, which will be based in St. Louis, the paper says.

How does U.S. life expectancy stack up against that of other countries?

If you’re a woman living in Collier County, Fla., you’re doing pretty well, statistically speaking. According to a new study from researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and Imperial College London, girls born in 2007 can expect to live to about 86 — better than in France, Spain and Switzerland, among other countries.

We now know that the strain of E. coli implicated in a European outbreak that has sickened more than 1,600 people, many severely, is both rare and very virulent. (That’s the genetic code of the rare strain of the bacteria at right.)

But we still don’t know the source of contamination. As the WSJ reports, fresh produce is still the chief culprit, so authorities in Europe are warning against eating raw lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Gout Drug on Track: According to Novartis, late-stage data shows that the company’s experimental drug for gout, Ilaris, better reduces pain and the incidence of new attacks compared to an injectable steroid, the WSJ reports. Novartis has filed for regulatory approval in the U.S., European Union and elsewhere, and analysts say if approved the drug’s use could be expanded to other forms of arthritis as well as other diseases, the paper says.

Johnson & Johnson will acquire medical-device maker Synthes for $21.3 billion, giving the U.S. health-products giant a commanding lead in the global market for surgical devices used to treat fractures and traumatic injuries. George Stahl discusses.

Original post: Markets Hub: J&J to Buy Synthes for $21.3 Billion/a>

Even though measles has been officially wiped out in the U.S., every year a handful of Americans head overseas and come back with the virus as a not-so-pleasant souvenir. And some of those travelers are young kids — particularly scary, since they’re at greater risk for a severe bout with the disease or serious complications.