pharma companies
Chutes & Ladders: Wall Street insider named to FDA post
Wall Street reacted favorably to the appointment of Dr. Scott Gottlieb to the FDA's No. 2 job this week. Critics, however, are questioning Gottlieb's ties to investors and his stance on fast-track approval for new drugs. The Seattle Times, which recently ran a series exposing questionable business relationships between prominent medical researchers and Wall Street, writes that the appointment may "send exactly the wrong message." Gottlieb denies any potential conflict of …
... Read more...California AG to broaden price-gouging suit
The California attorney general is expected to announce that the state is significantly expanding a lawsuit against two pharma companies accused of unfairly setting prices for prescription drugs. As many as three dozen additional pharmaceutical companies could be named as defendants in the case, according to a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. California sued Abbott Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth in 2003, accusing the two companies of unfairly setting the prices they charge …
... Read more...Pfizer announces DTC changes
Pfizer said it will change the way it markets its prescription drugs in response to recent criticism of industry practices. The company announced that it would comply with new industry guidelines announced last week and add a few wrinkles of its own. Perhaps most significantly, Pfizer says it will wait six months after a drug is approved before launching any new ad campaigns. The company will use that time to educate doctors about the advantages -- and any possible risks -- involved with …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Rost bites Pfizer's feeding hand again; HCA selling rural hospitals; and much more...
> Pfizer's dissident executive Peter Rost will give evidence against pharma companies accused of conspiring to control prices in the US by keeping Canadian drugs out of the market. Story
> The California insurance commissioner may look into the United-Pacificare deal. …
... Read more...Calif. prescription drug ballot measures examined
Two rival ballot proposals which could lead to pressure on drug companies to lower prescription drug costs in California are the object of a heated political battle, according to media reports. Proposition 78, which is backed by unions and consumer groups, would require drug companies to provide discounts to people without insurance and incomes four times below the federal poverty level.
Proposition 79, which is sponsored by drug companies, would provide similar benefits on a …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Vioxx trial goes on; St Vincents declares bankruptcy; and much more...
> A Texas judge refused a request by Merck to delay the start of the first Vioxx trial, saying he believes the company can get a fair trial. Story (Wall Street Journal sub. req.)
> A study in the UK concludes that the Foundation hospitals offer no better care than other hospitals. …
... Read more...Kennedy thimerasol article provokes debate
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reignited the debate over the now largely discontinued use of thimerasol as a preservative in children's vaccine. An article by Kennedy, which appears in this month's Rolling Stone and is also published online at Salon.com, alleges a massive conspiracy involving major pharma companies, federal authorities and other powerful groups to cover up a link between autism and mercury content in vaccines.
The article's publication led to immediate calls from …
... Read more...Big pharma rethinking DTC strategy
American consumers may be seeing far fewer television ads sponsored by big pharma companies, if recent developments in the industry are any indication. One of the first clear signals that a change is underway, may have been Bristol Meyers Squibb's announcement last week that it is suspending DTC advertising for its new drugs for their first year on the market. Although some critics have portrayed BMS' motives for the decision as a noble one, the rationale for the decision may have …
... Read more...National Institutes of Health weighs funding clinical trials
The National Institutes of Health says it will fund clinical trials on drugs the pharma industry isn't interested in pursuing, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal this morning. The agency is considering funding early stage trials for new drugs designed to treat conditions for which there are few effective medicines available. The NIH program is already underway, with government money already having gone to help fund an early stage trial for a Schizophrenia drug …
... Read more...Drug companies can ignore patents during research
Drug companies have the freedom to ignore rivals' patents in the early stages of new product research under existing Food and Drug Administration guidelines, the US Supreme Court ruled this morning. The ruling will give pharma companies more flexibility in conducting research as long as they "cannot feasibly be marketed until after a competitor's patent expires." The case heard by the court involved a dispute between Princeton-based Integra and Merck over cancer research, in which Merck …
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