Pfizer

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FDA orders more instruction on use of painkillers

The U.S. health regulator ordered painkiller makers to provide educational materials to help train physicians about the correct use of the drugs, as part of the Obama administration’s plan to tackle prescription drug abuse. Get the full story »

Investors overplaying threat to Abbott’s Humira?

Abbott Laboratories and its top selling rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira are strong enough to withstand looming competition from a new pill developed by Pfizer Inc., analysts say, despite investor fears that have hobbled Abbott’s shares. Get the full story »

Rival sues to open sales of generic Lipitor in June

Mylan Inc. has sued the Food and Drug Administration to get generic versions of Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor on the market in late June and block India’s Ranbaxy from receiving 180 days of marketing exclusivity for its version of the medicine.

Ranbaxy is expected to launch its generic Lipitor Nov. 30 under a settlement with Pfizer and remain free of multiple competitors for 180 days, as the first company to apply to sell a cheaper version of the world’s best selling prescription medicine. Get the full story »

Audit shows Medicare violated Viagra ban

Bloomberg News | A U.S. audit shows that Medicare spent some $3 million on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs in 2007 and 2008. The purchases violate a 2005 ban on covering some drugs for the elderly.

Pfizer arthritis drug does well in second trial

Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug met the main goals of a late-stage clinical trial, a welcome boost for the world’s largest drugmaker as it seeks new products to offset those  losing patent protection.

The drug, tofacitinib, is one of the most important in Pfizer’s pipeline. The company said the safety profile of the drug was consistent with that seen in the clinical program, and no new safety signals were seen. Get the full story »

Pfizer recalls more Lipitor bottles over odor

Pfizer is recalling a lot of 19,000 bottles of the blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, citing a consumer complaint about an “uncharacteristic” odor.

The latest announcement marks the fourth such recall since August over similar issues. Pfizer says the bottles were supplied by an outside manufacturer, though it did not identify the party. It also says health consequences appear to be minimal. Get the full story »

Wyeth purchase lifts, slams Pfizer 3Q results

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.’s mega-acquisition of Wyeth boosted its third-quarter revenue 39 percent, but hefty charges and a higher tax rate, both related to that $68 billion purchase, dragged its profit down 70 percent, the company said Tuesday.

The New York-based maker of cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor and impotence pill Viagra posted net income of $866 million, or 11 cents per share. That’s down from $2.88 billion, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier. Get the full story »

Pfizer recalls 2 more lots of ’smelly’ Lipitor

Pfizer Inc. is recalling two more lots of its widely-used Lipitor cholesterol drug after chemicals from wooden pallets contaminated some bottles with an “uncharacteristic odor.” Get the full story »

Pfizer to buy King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6B

Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenue, said Tuesday it will buy pain drug maker King Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $3.6 billion in cash.

Pfizer recalls musty-smelling Lipitor

Pfizer Inc. said it recalled 191,000 bottles of its top-selling Lipitor cholesterol fighter after reports of a musty odor coming from some bottles of the medicine made by a third-party supplier.

The world’s largest drugmaker said the recall, which took place in mid-August, involved seven lots of 40-milligram Lipitor, as well as three other lots of the medicine supplied to a Canadian generic drugmaker. Five of the seven recalled lots of the branded medicine were in the U.S., with two from Canada, Pfizer said. Get the full story »

IBM to help small businesses compete for contracts

Tech giant IBM said Tuesday it will set up a website at supplier-connection.net early next year with a single, standard application for small companies to bid on contracts at AT&T Inc., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Pfizer Inc. and UPS Inc. That means small businesses won’t have to invest the time and money in preparing multiple bids.

Pfizer’s Sutent falls short in lung-cancer trial

Pfizer Inc.  said its cancer treatment Sutent failed to meet its endpoint of improving overall survival for late-stage lung cancer in a late-stage trial, though it did improve progression-free survival.

Sutent, also known as sunitinib, has been one of Pfizer’s more successful drugs to launch in recent years. Approved for kidney cancer and certain gastrointestinal tumors, Sutent had $964 million in sales last year, but studies of the drug for other indications haven’t been home runs. Get the full story »

Use of Viagra form for kids’ lung disease weighed

From Bloomberg News | Only devising a test protocol stands in the way of a version of Pfizer’s Viagra being used to treat a rare lung disorder in children. A Food and Drug Administration panel will meet Thursday to discuss it.

Pfizer to pull leukemia treatment

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. is pulling a decade-old leukemia medicine off the U.S. market after a study found a higher death rate and no benefit for patients.

Mylotarg won approval under an abbreviated process to help bring treatments for serious diseases to patients more quickly. Medicines cleared in that way must pass follow-up tests to confirm they work. Get the full story »