Oct. 29, 2010 at 7:03 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Merck & Co. reported disappointing quarterly sales on Friday and took an almost $1 billion charge related to a previously disclosed U.S. government probe of its recalled Vioxx arthritis drug.
The drugmaker, which completed it $41 billion acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp in November 2009, said third quarter earnings fell 89 percent to $372 million, or 11 cents per share, reflecting charges related to the merger as well as the new $950 million Vioxx legal reserve. The company earned $3.46 billion, or $1.61 per share in the year earlier period. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Attorneys general in Illinois, Oregon and California said on Tuesday that Bayer AG agreed to a $3.3 million settlement over misleading claims that the drug maker’s vitamins reduced men’s risk of prostate cancer.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bayer cannot make claims that its One A Day Men’s multivitamins can prevent or cure prostate cancer or any other disease without scientific evidence, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.
“When manufacturers like Bayer make marketing claims with insufficient scientific proof behind them, they are misleading consumers,” she said. Get the full story »
Oct. 26, 2010 at 3:18 p.m.
Filed under:
Investing,
Policy,
Politics
By Los Angeles Times
George Soros, the multibillionaire investor, will donate $1 million to help pass Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure, which he endorsed Monday as “a major step forward.”
Oct. 26, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. posted a slight decline in third-quarter profit Tuesday as its restrained spending was offset by flat sales of its drugs, lower income from its partners and bigger discounts to government because of the health care overhaul.
By Bruce Japsen
Hospira Inc. chief executive officer Christopher Begley said this morning that the company’s board will be interviewing candidates to succeed him in the next two months from a newly-created “short list.”
Begley, the top executive of the Lake Forest-based generic drug and device maker, told Wall Street analysts on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that “several dozen” applicants for his job have been pared down to a “short list.” Get the full story »
Oct. 22, 2010 at 5:18 p.m.
Filed under:
International,
Investing,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Genzyme Corp. made its case for why it is worth more than Sanofi-Aventis’s $18.5 billion offer, forecasting 2011 profit above Wall Street estimates and sales of $3 billion for its experimental multiple sclerosis drug. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 5:09 p.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Management,
Pharmaceuticals
By Bruce Japsen
Baxter International Inc. Chief Executive Bob Parkinson shook up his management team, disclosing this afternoon the departure of two senior executives and a plan to combine the company’s renal and medication delivery businesses into a “single global unit.”
The move essentially turns Baxter into a company focused on two divisions: medical products and bioscience treatments. The medical products business will include medication delivery devices such as intravenous systems while the bioscience business will include drugs to treat immune system disorders and blood diseases such as its flagship drug Advate to treat people with hemophilia. Get the full story »
Oct. 8, 2010 at 3:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen and Andrew Zajac | Abbott Laboratories said Friday that it would withdraw the diet drug Meridia at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration less than a month after it failed to win over one of the federal agency’s safety advisory panels.
The FDA confirmed the North Chicago-based drug giant’s decision, saying Abbott withdrew the drug because of “clinical trial data indicating an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.” Get the full story »
Oct. 8, 2010 at 12:01 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Sanofi-Aventis SA, the world’s fourth-biggest drugmaker, said Friday it is eliminating 1,700 jobs in its U.S. pharmaceutical business in a restructuring triggered by growing generic competition and other factors. Get the full story »
Sep. 1, 2010 at 5:46 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals,
Policy
By Los Angeles Times
The prescription diet drug sibutramine, sold under the brand name Meridia, should be taken off the market because it raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes in some patients, the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine said Wednesday.
Those risks, published in January on a government clinical-trials website and now in full in the journal, outweigh the modest benefits of the medication, said Dr. Gregory D. Curfman, the journal’s executive editor and lead author of an editorial that accompanied the study. Get the full story »
Aug. 31, 2010 at 11:27 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals,
Regulations
By Associated Press
Federal health regulators have issued a warning letter to Baxter International Inc. for exaggerating the benefits of its lung drug in brochures to physicians.
The Food and Drug Administration letter cites the Deerfield, Ill.-based company for making “misleading efficacy claims” in promotional materials for its drug Aralast.
Aug. 25, 2010 at 11:49 p.m.
Filed under:
International,
Pharmaceuticals
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
India’s market leader in medicines will soon be based near Lake Michigan.
Abbott Laboratories will hold the biggest share of India’s pharmaceuticals market, about 7 percent, when the company closes as early as next month on a $3.7 billion takeover of the drugs business of Piramal Healthcare Ltd. After committing more than $10 billion since February on such deals, Abbott Chief Executive Miles White said he has assembled a business in fast-growing countries that the company will count on for a big part of its growth. Get the full story »
Aug. 23, 2010 at 2:51 p.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Drug and medical device maker Hospira Inc. said Japanese regulators have approved the use of its sedative Precedex in patients for more than 24 hours. The drug was originally approved there in 2004 to sedate intubated and mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care for up to 24 hours.
A Hospira spokesman said the Lake Forest, Ill., company has done trials of the sedative in the United States, where it also is seeking approval for the longer-term use.
July 2, 2010 at 11:32 a.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals
From Bloomberg | Sources familiar with the situation say that French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA is preparing a major acquisition in the U.S. Acquisitions allow big drugmakers to replenish their supply of newer drugs and cut costs by combining sales forces. One analyst believes that Sanofi may want to consider diversifying by buying Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., a maker of infant formula that was spun off from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. last year. Other acquisition targets might include Mylan Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of generic drugs, and Hospira Inc.
June 24, 2010 at 3:51 p.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals,
Regulations
By Associated Press
Drug and device maker Abbott Laboratories said Thursday it received U.S. regulatory approval for its Freestyle Lite blood sugar testing strips.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the products to test for levels of glucose, a type of blood sugar, in patients with type 2 diabetes. People with the disease have trouble breaking down carbohydrates because their bodies have become resistant to a protein used in metabolism. Get the full story »
