More ominous news on the jobs and layoffs front at Sanofi-Aventis as new details emerge about CEO Chris Viehbacher’s “restructuring.” The WSJ reports Sanofi is cutting R&D, trimming ahead of the $8.6 billion loss of Plavix in 2011, and preparing a big push into generics. (Well, duh, it bought Zentiva in 2008.) All of those maneuvers would seem to indicate that Sanofi will...
Pharma Industry Archive
June 2009
Matrixx Initiatives claims the FDA’s ban of Zicam cold remedy nasal swabs is political and the company is the victim — not the 130 people who lost their sense of smell. Meanwhile, the SEC has joined the FDA in investigating the company, according to the WSJ, following news that the company had been sitting on 800 consumer complaints about Zicam, according to Bloomberg. The recall...
Everyone who is anyone agrees that Monday’s no-details press release from the Mayo Clinic about two three men whose prostate cancer disappeared during a trial Medarex’s ipilimumab is just plain crazy. UPDATE: A third patient has seen a benefit, Dow Jones Newswires adds. But for some reason, the market thinks the magic is real. Medarex’s stock remained in the $8 range...
Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC, argued in a speech that eliminating patent settlements between brand-name and generic drug companies would save consumers $35 billion annually. More successful patent challenges would lead to more cheap generics on the market, he said. As drug companies are currently winning the pay-for-delay battle in the courts — the U.S. Supreme Court just handed...
The FDA has warned Takeda’s Millenium Pharma unit that utilizing a double entendre in a reminder ad is a violation of drug marketing law. The warning letter will be carefully noted by drug marketers, their copywriting agencies and compliance departments as another restriction on their creativity. It also comes as yet another indication that the FDA wants reminder ads to be used a strictly...
Merck KGaA’s decision to start a Phase III trial in breast cancer with the therapeutic cancer vaccine Stimuvax begs the question: Has the German big pharma gone nuts? First, Stimuvax hasn’t been studied in breast cancer patients. Jumping into a 900-patient Phase III trial without testing the waters a bit in Phase II is risky, to say the least. Second — and this is the bigger...
Tension is building at Sanofi-Aventis as the FDA’s approval letter for its new heart drug Multaq remains conspicuous by its absence and the company has a “restructuring ” announcement set for the week of June 29. UPDATE: Sanofi “Restructuring” Looks Increasingly Like Layoffs Reuters reported back in May that Sanofi expected the FDA’s approval letter in Q2 2009...
Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin contraceptives appear to be recession- and scandal-resistant superbrands, if recent reports are to be believed. Bayer hit back at a German newspaper that reported the company was cutting back on pill production due to decreased demand. The original report, per Reuters, said: … Bayer Schering Pharma, plans to cut production by a quarter this year to 180 million...
The fallout from the FDA’s probe of Ranbaxy continues to spread, this time to Walmart. BNET noted in March that Ranbaxy, currently the most dysfunctional drug company on the planet, was caught faking data but the FDA was continuing to approve it drugs. Now the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is drawing attention to Walmart’s supply of generic drugs from the...
Mary Holloway, the Pfizer regional manager who was sentenced last week for her role in a rogue operation that promoted Bextra for off-label uses such as post-operative pain, had the support of her superiors, she told Massachusetts federal district court. In fact, Pfizer’s off-label Bextra promotion was widespread within the company, approved of by the company, and generally “part of...
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