meg terrell has more. >> reporter: it's the battle that's been brewing for a year. a price war among drugs to treat hepatitis c. when gilead's sole vady was approved last year cured more with fewer side effects. it brought a price that raised eyebrows, $84,000 for 12 weeks of treatment or about a thousand dollars a day. the medicine has been a blockbuster, drawing more than $8 billion in revenue for gilead this year as well as the scrutiny of health insurer, patient advocacy groups and congress. on friday a competing drug abbvie's viekira pack. >> a significant discount big enough to allow us recommending treating all patients with hepatitis c. >> reporter: more than 3 million americans have the viral infection. about three-quarters have the known known as type one. the virus can persist silently for decades before showing symptoms but in later stages can cause liver cancer and liver failure. some caution that doctors and patients may prefer gilead's version over abbvie's. >> a little bit higher pill burden, a little more side effe effects. >> r the news today e sha

in san francisco for "nightly business report" i'm meg terrell. >>> still the sector that could benefit when consumers have a little more money in their >>> the u.s. is selling deutsche bank over an alleged scheme to avoid federal income taxes. the government hopes to recover more than $190 million in taxes, penalties and interest. also named as a defendant wells fargo, which acted as a trustee for deutsche bank in the matter. in a statement, deutsche says that it's fully addressed the government's concerns. >>> a top federal reserve official says he expects the central bank to stay on track to begin raising interest rates in the latter half of next year. atlanta fed president dennis lockhart says the weak global economy and low inflation remain a risk to the u.s. economy and he's worried that inflation hasn't picked up yet despite labor market improvement. but he still expects the economy to grow at about 3% in 2015, now lockhart isn't a current voting member on the fed's policy committee, but he will have a vote next year. >>> the wild and crazy members of the national association for

. >>> to meg terrell. >> big day for bio techs. after a rough start to the week. how about juneau therapeutics up more than 10% today. gained 80% since friday and has a market cap of more than $3 billion. >>> thank you. since the shopping season began three months ago here is how five big names have faired in that time. target up more than 18%. wal-mart and nordstrum up more than 13% a piece. macy's up 7%. we have seen a 3% decline for kohl's. dominic chu is live at the mall in jersey city the day after christmas. >> reporter: my wife did not get me the sweater for christmas but sometime over the last year. if you talk about the retailers you are seeing a lot of traffic here pick up at the new port center mall here in jersey city. a lot of that has to do with people returning items and maybe spending gift cards. but remember for a lot of retailers it is going to come down to whether or not this last push can get them into the green as opposed to having a blue christmas. according to the national retail federation this could be a green christmas for the retailers b

meg terrell was ahead of the story on friday telling us a deal was in the works. she is in san francisco at one of the biggest cancer meetings of the year and scored a live interview with merck's ceo. >> thank you so much. let's bring in ken frazier, the ceo of merck. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, meg, for having me. always good to be on cnbc. >> well, so this is a big deal in a space that has been a tough area, antibiotics and a huge public health need. tell us why this makes sense for merck. >> every year in this country about 2 million people have a form of infection that is resistant to conventional antibiotics. about 23,000 of those people die. so these kinds of infections are critically important in our society. so this is a great opportunity for us because merck has been committed to the field of antibiotic research for 70 years. and cubist has also been a leader in this area bringing forward novel antibiotics that can be useful in the context of growing global resistance. >> this is an area that policymakers are focusing on a lot more now. does y

let's get down to business with cnbc's meg terrell. >>> the dow looks to march even higher today after it closed above 2000. the economy showed grew more than expected. the dow went from 17,000 to 18,000 in less than six months. a short day of trading today. the markets clothes at 1:00 p.m. fedex and ups are reportedly capping express holiday delivers after packages allowed some retailers to go over their limits. 2 million packages didn't make it on time because of late online orders and bad weather. facebook has inked a deal with the nfl to run short video clips in users news feeds, including game highlights, news and other content followed by adds for verizon wireless. >>> still ahead, we are keeping an eye on santa's location this morning. plus, what a homeless man in california does after receiving $100 from a stranger. the cutest stocking stuffer ever. look at these quadruplets. they are adorable. born premature back in september. thanks to staff at university of colorado hospital. they are doing just fine this holiday season. >>> 13 minutes past the hour. gay men can now donate b

new this year an app for smart >>> let's get down to business with cnbc's meg terrell. >> good morning. the dow looks to open higher after closing above 18,000 for the first time. the economy grew even more than expected this summer. the dow went from 17,000 to 18,000 in less than six months. it's a short day of trading the day. the markets close at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. fedex and ups are reportedly having express holiday deliveries after a surge caused some to go over their agreed-upon limit. last year two million packages didn't make it on time because of late orders and bad weather. >>> reports say nfl clips including highlights, news and other contents followed by ads for verizon wireless. >>> meg, thank so much. just ahead, this year's heisman winner adds another honor to his spectacular season. plus nfl players do a little carolling for a cause. >>> a spoof on a holiday classic you won't want to miss. sports is up next. about my sensitive teeth, he told me there's a whole new way to treat sensitivity. he suggested i try new crest sensi-stop strips. [ male announcer ] just apply

joining with the two stocks you need to know ahead of the event is meg terrell. always good to see you. >> this conference is the hematology conference. we usually look at asko as the big cancer coverage. but this will be a lot of small biotechs moving out of the conference. one big name to watch, not a lot of big movers, but sellgene has been the name to watch. so big in cancer. this year it partnered with a lot of smaller biotechs presenting data at the conference. we might see a lot of those move. one way to trade into this conference is it to buy sellgene or not buy sellgene. that's one name to really watch. both on its drugs, and also on its partners. and then one of the smaller names we should be watching is agios. they had an incredible run this year already. >> up 345% this year. >> absolutely. people still seem to be optimistic about its prospects. it is working in this interesting new area of cellular metabolism for cancer. they're in phase one right now. it is a new technology that really aims at these mutations that affect the way cells mature. what t

meg terrell is here with more. some encouragement. >> biogen surprised a lot of investors when it said experimental drug for alzheimer's showed signs of efficacy. it reduced buildup in plaques in the brain associated with alzheimer's. the drug showed a benefit on cognition compared to placebo meaning it could potentially stem declines. a drug aiming to do the same thing from pfizer and johnson & johnson although in a slightly different way. bigensays it plans to move aggressively into final trades of clinical trials. the company said it will continue exploring additional doses. there is cautious optimism and potentially good news for more than 5 million americans with alzheimer's. a big market means a big business opportunity. deutsche bank estimates success in alzheimer's could mean up to $5 billion in annual revenue for bio gen. >> thank you so much. the stock up about 6%. >>> the count down to christmas, only 22 days, 10 hours, 51 minutes and 36 seconds, dominic chu, for you to get my gift. >> i know what i'm ge

meg terrell is here with more on that. it is not even the new year and already we are seeing several people have died. >> the flu is here and activity is high in about half the country according to the the centers for disease control and prevention. that is expected to continue in the coming weeks with more flu expected in states that haven't been as hard hit. the number of deaths from pneumonia and influenza hit the threshold. the agency says there have been 15 deaths among kids so far this flu season. the hardest hit group is those 65 and older. the cdc recommends getting vaccinated. it recommends treating with antivireles if recommended by your doctor including tami if lu. prevention is key. stay home if you are sick and remember to wash your hands. >> absolutely. and please stay home if you are sick. otherwise the whole office gets it. >>> on a different note a major development in the fight to contain the ebola epidemic. that is such positive news because it is such a dreadful disease. >> and it's a clue right now. th

cnbc's meg terrell is breaking down the move for us. g, there's a vacuum of information because analysts have come out saying they don't have any idea what kind of discount is being given in order to secure this volume. >> it's just a lot of fear right now that this could be bigger but what folks are saying is if you know the industry well, this isn't new at all. but to recap what happened yesterday is that express scripts is saying it's going to cover the newly approved hepatitis-c drug on its largest formulary and exclude drugs from gilead and johnson & johnson. that hit gilead stock really hard yesterday. the nasdaq, the biotech inwas down a little bit. we're seeing it down a lot more today. we're hearing a couple things are at play. someone that there's fear other payers like cbs care mark could pile on and do the same thing, excluding gilead so people are worried it could get worse for fill with yad. there's also fear it will spread into other therapeutic areas, so not just hepatitis-c but other areas which are multiple drugs in the

. >> meg terrell joins us with that company's ceo. it is a cnbc exclusive. meg, take it away. >> hey, scott. thank you so much. doctor, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me on your show. >> absolutely. so, you know, they mentioned in the intro your stock is coming under pressure today and some analysts citing competition of your main drug. do you think the market's understanding the competitive landscape? would you say they're overreacting? >> very we're excited and we have approval for patients about three years ago for patients with relapsed hodgkins lymphoma and there was never a drug for them and our goal has been to treat those patients but -- and those are third line patients and had to have failed two prior regimens and then front line and second line and we have done work and presented that the conference. in fact, this morning we presented data second line showing an 84% complete remission rate and front line a 96% complete remission rate with no deaths at three years and very excited to go and treat the earlier stage patients. we're al

meg terrell joins us live. she is joined exclusively by the ceo, robert gould. thank you so much. dr. gould, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, meg. it is my pleasure. >> a new technology called epigenetics. it is so new. there is a question of whether investors are getting the story. >> within the nucleus of your cell is dna. dna contains the genetic code which is what makes us humans. within each nucleus of your cell, there is just about 6 feet of dna, finger tip to finger tip. that dna is wound around proteins called hystones. that winding allows the dna to get into the nucleus of your cell. ep genetics is a mechanism of controlling gene expression, the reading of those genes into other proteins via control mechanisms. that's what ep genetics is, a control of gene expression on the dna. >> we are seeing these genetic defined cancers personalized. here at the conference, you have presented someday ta. the stock has not responded positively. what do you think is going on there? >> i think the story is complex. what we've been excited about. we have two clin

let's bring in meg terrell.p from phase one to phase three because of the promise that the drug is showing. >> that is why the stock is up so much. people are surprised to see this data. it was a small study. alzheimer's associated with buildups of plaque in the brain. what they saw in the trial is the drug helped reduce the plaques. for the first time the drug showed a reduction in cognitive decline. it benefitted cognitive decline. this is the first time according to eric schmidt that any trial has shown this associated with memory loss, the ability to think clearly. they are moving forward into a phase three steaudy. >> they have seen side effects. they are associated with the actual removal of the plaque from the brain. those are things they are looking at. they are testing additional doses but feel they have a safe window to go forward with. >> are you surprised with overall strength? >> it has been incredible to see the run they have had especially after the strong year in 2013. we saw a record number and

meg terrell will have more on that later. when you look at gilead this stock hit an all-time high back on october 31. it is down nearly 20% from there almost in bear market territory. a lot of analysts say they will recover from this and will not lose all business on the hep c franchise. certainly this is something that has investors taking pause. overall bio techs have been the best performers this year up about 30%. some of the big winners are in rare diseases, also in genetic sequencing, testing. that is where it is. come back out live. small caps which were the big leaders hit an all-time high in july are now finally positive again for the year. it has been very volatile in those sectors. bio techs and small caps. small caps have a ways to go to catch up. back to you. >> thank you very much. do appreciate it. >>> it is not just technology. even the dow has been rocking lately. it is up 4% in just one trading week. so should you take this end of year rally to sell or dip in a little bit deeper? charlie from arial investors

i'm joined by meg terrell.that, it hurt my neck looking up all the time. >> b riley as a buy. >> this is a content delivery network. says the online availability of "the interview" should be beneficial as x box live is a customer. they say it is not possible to estimate the potential benefit but should contribute to their fourth quarter on top of larger trends in online video. >> next up something i am more familiar with. g gilead sciences. >> we threw this in as a gift to you. >> the analyst note after pullback the company should repurchase shares and thinks it would make sense. perhaps launch a new $5 billion to $10 billion buyback. anything to add at the moment? >> they are rebounding after the express scripts. >> so report from the korea times says a unit of goldman sachs is considering a stake. it is an e-commerce provider. group on is mulling a sale of at least 20% and up to more than half of a steak. >> to gold let's take a look at baric gold. >> most of the gold stocks are in the green today as the gold

our own meg terrell is back at h.q. looking at ways to make money in biotech. it away. >> a huge year for biotech in 2014. most expect that to continue. eric schmidt told us he expects biotech to outperform the broader market for the sixth straight year. here is what to watch. if you wanted growth in 2014, you almost had to be in biotech and phrma. stocks in the sector continued their run returning more than double the s&p 500. here are three predictions for 2015. first, drug price wars. it may be the biggest threat to biopharma evaluation. pressure on escalating drug prices, mostly from health insurers, doctors and patient advocacy group. we could see price wars among dreg drugmakers themselves. they will face new competition. second, inmu know therapy. it was a hot topic through 2014. new cancer drugs that harness the immune system. 2014 will be the year immu know therapy becomes investable in whole new ways. two new companies race to bring another kind of immuneotherapy. drug deals. 2014 was a banner year mostly driven by tax considerations fell through. as c

. >> let's head over to meg terrell. >> good day for gold stocks moving significantly higher.s metal rallying almost 2% in thin post christmas trading. back to you. >> gold is up. dollar down a bit against the euro. holiday season kicking into high gear. how will the cruise industry fare? the president of crystal cruises joins us next. lly has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. here's a question for you: if every u.s. household with a computer used sleep mode when they weren't using it how much could we save on electricity each year? up to $1 billion? $3 billion? $4.5 billion? the answer is... up to $4.5 billion. using your computer's built-in energy-saving features can generate real household savings. take the energy quiz -- round 2. energy lives here. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7 it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your

meg terrell was talking about biogen today. >> yesterday biogen is telling people to buy it.tive ms drug from novartis did not show up good versus biogen's ms. even more important, biogen says they may have an alzheimer's situation. historically been very difficult to develop something that stops the plaque of alzheimer's. they have early stage reading that indicates they are not the only one. there is a deal by japanese company for avnr that has a blockbuster potential for alzheimer's. biogen is a fabulous stock. anybody who had them on, knows them. loves these guys. meg is close to biogen because of the ice bucket challenge. >> is this a highly specific story or the gileads and celgenes going to get chased? >> regeneron is going to $450 in the cholesterol formation. and asthma formation. celgene is a very inexpensive stock. they put together a franchise that is the idol of all big pharma, small farmer and janet yellen who famously said to sell. i am kidding, but that was the bottom in the group. janet yellen, never talk about stocks again. >> you will never let her live tha

meg terrell has the story. >> just a month ago she thought she had just weeks to live.a had returned three years after she bet it the first time. >> probably was one of the worst weeks of her life. >> reporter: she and her boyfriend didn't want to waste the time they had left. the couple pulled together a wedding in two days. they started a fundraising campaign to support research on liza's cancer. there is no play book for synovial sarcoma. because they are so rare it is often some of the last cancers for which new medicines are tested. >> normally speaking the funding for sarcoma is sometimes as rare as the tumor itself. the generosity that she has shown will really serve as an incredible start and continuation of some of the research that has been going on at hopkins in sarcoma and allow us to make more strides. >> reporter: liza thought they might raise a few thousand dollars. with help from a moving video made by her sisters and friends donations have sky rocketed to $350,000 in less than a week. fundraising site go fund me said the love for liza campaign is among

they discounted, we don't know exactly how much, but express scripts, when meg terrell asked a discount the next thing the gauntlet, something my friend is writing about in street.com, gauntlet, express scripts said, you know what? this is the beginning of the pushback. we are not going to let these drug companies continue to charge outrageous prices. this happens to be one of the few examples, it's a me, too, product so they can -- >> they can but it's four times a day, a few pills in the morning, another one as the next one from gilead is once a day. >> right. >> once a day for 12 weeks, you cure the disease. it's $84,000, we've talked a good deal about that. making it $10 billion drug for gilead. enormously important. but this is an important marker here. no doubt about it. the stock down 12 bucks. >> you'll hear people say, you know, drug companies can no longer afford to spend that money to develop. there was a sense this was a windfall profit for gilead and now there's a real competitor. are there other drugs that are -- can you -- celgene's down big. >> j&j out there for hep c. >

meg terrell is here to tell us why pharma .biotech investors are paying close attention.ore you do, how interested were you in this piece on super survivors, all about what you have brought us many times, and that is this new crest of drugs that ramps up someone's immune system. it's a fascinating piece on the front page continued on a-10 about people that were goners. they tried this experimental stuff and some of them have been alive ten years. i'm sure immunotherapy will be part of tomorrow's conference. >> this year, a.s.h. is shaping up to be a big deal. a lot of the same themes like immunotherapy. they're working pb-1 inhibiters which harness the system to fight cancer. another approach is ramping up t-cells to better i've and fight cancer and giving the blood back. this has been some amazing results. it's early, but companies like novartis are working in this space and there are a lot of smaller companies working in this space, as well. there's targeted therapies like pharmaceuticals and cyclicals. we're seeing those getting new data. gene therapy is an interesting

meg terrell is going to join us with that story next half hour. >>> and ocwen's executive chairman is going to step down. the firm is accused of hurting hundreds of thousands of borrowers by sending back-dated letters about foreclosures. >>> and ceasars palace is trying to buy their affiliate of wsj. it would file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by mid-january to cut the mounting debt. joe, i don't know if you follow this, but paul singer at elliott manager was hoping to file by last week friday. he had all the cvs protection to pay off in a big way. i think they'll make a small portion of that back. >>> all right. usually they only have it for a little while and then, you know, then they get a better name. it sounds like it's native american or something. it is just spelled backwords. how about jeritol spelled backwards? it means nothing. a number of headlines on oil this morning, which is opec's secretary general hoping to see a recovery in the price of crude by the second half of next year. saudi arabia's minister of oil says he calls the lack of non-opec producers cooperating

meg terrell has the story. what is the size of the alzheimer's market? >> i don't think they know.ase one trial. >> right. it's phase 1-3 th o1-b. it's the say the of this drug. it showed potential efficacy here. this is an interim look. they stopped and looked at the data. they had been planning to do this. they saw a reduction of that amyloid plaque in the brain. they did show reduction of that plaque. they showed surprisingly an effect on cognition at 54 weeks in this study. they were looking at safety and did see signals. they think they have a window they can take it forward, now they say aggressively, into the latest stages of trial. >> that would be the effect of diminishing alzheimer's. >> not just stopping it, reversing it? >> not necessarily. but helping people think more clearly. we don't have a lot of details here. they were taking a quick look. >> what you said was interesting, we won't get into the details, but safety is important in alzheimer's. removing the plaques can have a negative effect -- they are gumming up the brain. if you remove them you can have a mini st