Pharma Industry Archive

The WSJ’s deal blog notes that rumors are circulating — again — that Sanofi-Aventis is on the prowl for a major acquisition. Oddly, Sanofi’s stock is up on the news, suggesting that investors don’t believe the rumor. The usual suspect is mentioned — Bristol-Myers Squibb – a prospect BNET dealt with many moons ago, here and here. The other two candidates...

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House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel said he wants to end the tax deduction on prescription drug advertising and by doing so raise $37 billion to pay for healthcare reform. Bloomberg: “The whole thing is messy, but you can raise $37 billion,” Rangel said. “Which means you’re taxing somebody $37 billion, and they don’t like that.” Bloomberg has a headline that will...

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Johnson & Johnson was the biggest spender on free travel for Pentagon medical officials — junkets to conferences that have since been banned for some military staff. Drug and device companies spent $10 million sending Pentagon medical officials on free trips, according to a review of travel expense claims by the Center for Public Integrity. The trips were taken by Department of...

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The Myelin Repair Foundation has made a name for itself by applying biotech-style business savvy to the world of nonprofit research. Unfortunately, the charity has also run into some biotech-style problems, specifically, difficulty finding a partner or funding to back its clinical trials. MRF was launched in 2004 to study, as its name suggests, ways to repair myelin, the insulation surrounding...

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The FDA has ordered a ban on Zicam, a cold “remedy” that can permanently disable your sense of smell. The FDA moved after it received 130 reports of anosmia, long-lasting or permanent loss of smell. You’ll notice that Zicam was marketed as a cold cure without FDA approval — that’s because it’s an herbal supplement. As such it is not subject to FDA...

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Merck’s handling of the FDA’s order that it update warnings on its Singulair asthma drug has been less than perfect, according to commenters on CafePharma.com. The FDA has required Merck, among other asthma drugmakers, to add a message warning of suicidal thoughts on its labels. (BNET noted yesterday that’s not the only potential problem lurking in Singulair’s history.)...

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The FDA has demanded Merck add a new warning to its Gardasil HPV vaccine: That it may cause fainting. The news is already being hyped as yet more “proof” that the vaccine is a socialist plot to encourage American girls to have sex. The FDA said: Healthcare providers and consumers should be aware that syncope (fainting) may occur following vaccination with Gardasil, sometimes...

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The FDA’s new requirement for tighter warnings on a range of asthma drugs will not come as a surprise to Dr. Robert Davidson, a former asthma drug clinical trial researcher who has repeatedly alleged that asthma drugs tests at a facility he once worked at were riddled with patients who did not meet test criteria, unblinded results and unqualified staff. In the FDA’s new guidelines:...

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Here’s something that few noticed in Sepracor’s Q1 2009 earnings announcement: The company’s $155 million marketing deal for insomnia drug Lunesta/Lunivia with GlaxoSmithKline in Europe fell through. The collapse of the deal was predictable. I noted in July 2008 that GSK’s subsequent $3.3 billion deal with Actelion for its sleeping pill eclipsed the Sepracor deal, making...

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Things are moving quickly at Elan, the illogically managed Irish drug company whose top executives work in at least three different offices that are 5,000 miles apart. First, angry investor Jack Schuler of Crabtree Partners became one of three new board members. Schuler previously described Elan CEO Kelly Martin as guilty of “gross incompetence.” Second, Schuler’s anti-Elan...

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