1409 ET - Halozyme Therapeutics slides 24% following a downgrade to underperform from market perform at Leerink Partners, which says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued draft guidance that could be interpreted to mean Halozyme's Enhanze drug delivery product based on recombinant human hyaluronidase may not represent a new drug but rather just an extension of the old drug. Benchmark's Robert Wasserman says it could mean "these drugs could be under consideration for price negotiations much sooner than previously thought." Before any of that can happen though, Wasserman says CMS would have to identify hyaluronidase under its costly drug category, but the manufacturer could appeal that decision. These processes have historically moved slowly, he adds.(katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 13, 2025 14:10 ET (18:10 GMT)

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