Pfizer is cutting 556 sales reps in Italy and about 800 researchers across its R&D divisions worldwide. The moves were expected, as Pfizer braces for a round of cuts at the end of January as part of CEO Jeff Kindler’s plan to ax $2 billion from its cost structure. (Read BNET’s back-story on Pfizer’s layoff plans here.) The layoffs made one group of people happy: bankers at...
Pharma Industry Archive
January 2009
The FDA has “finalized” guidelines allowing drug companies to promote drugs for unapproved (”off-label”) uses. The guidelines will allow companies to distribute peer-reviewed scientific literature discussing off-label uses. Drug companies and their right-wing stalking horse, the Washington Legal Foundation, have been pushing for this move for years. They regard drug...
Roche exec addresses Genentech “fears” — In an address to investors, Roche CFO Erich Hunziker acknowledged fears that Roche’s purchase of Genentech will decimate the acquired company, ominously adding that “the cuts we will do at the Roche side are much tougher that what we will do at the Genentech side.” The big news from today’s announcement was...
Despite attempts by eBay to prevent sellers from offering illegal Botox kits, the botulin toxin can still be found on the auction site, according to RealSelf.com. The online beauty mag found this: A seller from Texas offers auction shoppers 100 units of Allergan’s Botox Cosmetic. The seller markets their item by explaining that self-injecting Botox is easy and a money saver. “When...
UPDATE: The doctor at the center of the report says his roll was misrepresented, and that there was no overlap between his time at Pfizer and the anti-smoking project he later led. See comments section below for full statement. The medical director of a state-funded anti-smoking project in Wisconsin was on Pfizer’s payroll as a speaker for Chantix, the controversial anti-smoking drug,...
Elan ended a rally in its stock last week when CEO Kelly Martin said the company was NOT negotiating to sell itself to Pfizer. Oddly, most coverage of the event — the rumor-fueled stock runup and the bursting of Elan’s bubble — didn’t mention the reason why Kelly was so quick to say he wasn’t in deal talks. As the Irish Independent reported Sunday, it’s...
UPDATE: Roche CFO Erich Hunziker confirmed that the Genentech bid was “on track” and said this about jobs at Genentech: “the cuts we intend to do at Roche are much tougher” than any planned for Genentech, he said, according to Bloomberg. Roche won’t “kill the hens that laid the golden eggs,” Hunziker said. Genentech stock rose from around $84 to around $86 on news...
Cephalon’s winning business model — Time and time again, Cephalon buys a drug for cheap and then gives it the resources to become a success, earning big money in the process — 2009 revenue for the company should top $2 billion. Combined with “superior drug scouting” and “hyperaggressive marketing,” it’s added up to success, as analyzed in an...
Two companies who made early runs at corporate blogging — GlaxoSmithKline and Centocor – appear to have let their blogs die. The deaths were noted first by Pharma Marketing blogger John Mack. GSK’s blog was for its weight-loss drug, Alli, and was called AlliConnect. The last post on that blog was on Sept. 3, 2008. BNET has previously noted management and tactic changes in the...
Duramed, the unit of Teva/Barr that markets the Plan B morning-after contraceptive, is advertising on MTV.com, and some parents don’t like it, according to Ad Age. Denise O’Donoghue and her husband, Patrick, who have a 14-year old daughter, said: For MTV to run this ad is irresponsible. There are some kids — girls and boys — who aren’t quite ready to understand all...
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