By Dow Jones Newswires
The U.S. Justice Department plans to take the lead in lawsuits accusing Abbott Laboratories of illegally promoting anti-seizure drug Depakote for uses not approved by regulators, including dementia.
The Justice Department filed notices last week in federal court in western Virginia saying it would intervene in at least three lawsuits against Abbott that were previously confidential under laws designed to protect would-be whistleblowers who come forward with information about alleged health-care fraud. The lawsuits were made public as a result of the department’s intervention. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 1:16 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis could unveil an agreement to acquire U.S. biotech Genzyme before Wednesday, the day Sanofi is due to publish its 2010 results, sources close to the matter said.
A deal would bring to a close the long-running saga sparked by Genzyme’s rejection of Sanofi’s initial $18.5 billion offer, worth $69 a share, which the French group has extended to Feb. 15. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 8:30 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals,
Retail
By Ameet Sachdev
Walgreens said its same-store in January increased 6.1 percent, led by a 6.9 percent rise in same-store pharmacy sales. Pharmacy sales accounted for two-thirds of Walgreen’s total sales of $5.93 billion in January. Get the full story »
Feb. 2 at 11:56 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Shares of Hospira Inc. lost 7 percent of their value after the company said fourth-quarter profits fell nearly 40 percent, as the maker of drugs and devices works to improve product quality in the wake of regulatory issues.
Hospira had lower-than-anticipated fourth quarter sales because it has been unable to deliver products to customers fast enough due largely to “quality enhancement initiatives.” Get the full story »
Feb. 2 at 8:02 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Tribune staff report
Abbott’s Chicagoland operations, including its day care center, will be closed today due to weather conditions. Employees should not report to work unless otherwise directed by their supervisors. Get the full story »
Feb. 1 at 6:56 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. says U.S. health officials have declined to approve the experimental weight loss pill Contrave and want the company to conduct an additional study.
The Food and Drug Administration request suggests the agency may yet approve the drug, which analysts have viewed as the most promising of three new diet pills recently submitted to the agency. But the FDA has asked for an additional study to address potential heart safety issues. Get the full story »
Jan. 27 at 1:53 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals
By Bruce Japsen
Baxter International Inc.’s stock lost nearly 4 percent of its value today after the company said fourth-quarter profits fell 26 percent as the company works its way through a turnaround plan and escalating product quality issues.
The Deerfield-based medical product giant’s earnings were negatively impacted by $227 million in charges. The biggest cost was a $164 million charge for what it called a “business optimization” initiative, which included paying severances, shutting down certain product lines and executing an undisclosed number of job cuts. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 2:27 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Pharmaceuticals
By Tribune staff report
Lake County officials are bracing for the loss of more than 1,000 jobs at the Abbott Laboratories headquarters near North Chicago. Today, one county board member called the job losses “tragic,” and the chairman said he was “upset, disturbed and alarmed.”
The job cuts in Lake County are more than half of the company’s national cuts slated for the next two years. The blow could be particularly hard in Lake County because Abbott Inc. is its second largest employer — with about 15,700 workers, according to statistics compiled by Lake County Partners. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 9:51 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals
By Bruce Japsen
Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday that it would cut 1,900 jobs, or 6 percent, of its U.S. workforce in the wake of a series of disappointments in its drug development pipeline, triggering a restructuring of pharmaceutical commercial and manufacturing operations.
Of the cuts, about 1,000 would be in manufacturing operations in Illinois where the largest concentration of Abbott’s estimated 90,000 employees around the world are at its sprawling headquarters in the northern Lake County suburbs of Chicago. The company said about half of the job cuts would take place now with the remainder over the next several years. Get the full story »
Jan. 25 at 3:27 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals,
Recalls
By Associated Press
Johnson & Johnson’s revenue has slumped for a second straight year, prompting its chief executive to make an extraordinary pitch to soothe investors and defend the company’s handling of 17 costly recalls.
The health care giant, hammered by the weak global economy, growing pricing pressures and recalls that have kept many popular nonprescription medicines off store shelves, reported Tuesday a 12 percent profit decline and a 5.5 percent drop in sales for the fourth quarter. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 12:36 p.m.
Filed under:
IPOs,
Pharmaceuticals
By Becky Yerak
A Northbrook-based maker of an oral testosterone product is planning an initial public offering of 5 million of its shares at an expected price of $11 to $13 a share, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 8:10 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Abbott Laboratories’ RX Acculink carotid stent appears to work as well as surgery in opening clogged neck arteries in patients who are not at high risk for complications from the surgical procedure, U.S. health regulatory staff concluded.
The device is already approved for patients who need to have their neck arteries opened up, but would face greater risk of side effects if they underwent a procedure to scrape off built-up fatty deposits that can cause strokes. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 2:03 p.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Bruce Japsen
Scores of executions across the U.S. are expected to be delayed for what could be several months a Lake Forest drug company’s decision to stop making a key anesthetic used in putting inmates to death in 34 states.
Hospira Inc. – the sole producer of Pentothal – said Friday that it was unable to reach an agreement with European regulators on how to resume production and distribution of its brand version for the drug sodium thiopental, a key ingredient in a drug cocktail used in executions. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 7:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Pharmaceuticals
By Dow Jones Newswires
Vivus Inc. said Friday the Food and Drug Administration has asked the drug developer to assess the feasibility of a study on whether an ingredient in the weight-loss drug Qnexa causes birth defects.
The request represents another setback for the drug intended to treat obesity. Vivus and rival Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. had their diet drugs rejected by the agency in October, as competitor Orexigen Therapeutics Inc.’s weight-loss drug Contrave continued to move through the approval process. Get the full story »
Jan. 20 at 11:42 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
U.S. health officials are investigating an increase rise in reports of a type of seizure after vaccination with a Sanofi-Aventis SA flu vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. Get the full story »
