Behold the patent cliff: U.S. drug market shrinks for first time
U.S. drug spending dropped last year. While that may be welcome news for healthcare budgets, it's not so good for branded drugmakers. It may not be so good for patients, either.
Biogen's HQ plans change, thanks to early Tecfidera success
What happens when a new drug comes charging out of the launch gate? For Biogen Idec, it means a rethink of its real estate plans.
Unhappy with price caps at home, Indian drugmakers eye more U.S. growth
It's no big secret that international drugmakers are miffed at India. Revoking a few drug patents and overriding others will do that. But India's own pharma companies have their own beef with government policy--namely government pricing policies.
Teva CEO plans to court Chinese market with generics, respiratory meds
Teva CEO Jeremy Levin thinks his company and China are a match made in heaven. The Israeli generics giant is, after all, adept at making and selling cheap drugs, which the fast-growing Chinese market needs. And Teva has a strong portfolio of respiratory treatments--perfect for a country beset by air pollution.
Victoza weight-loss nod could rescue Novo from Tresiba delay, CEO says
Novo Nordisk and its profit-growth plans hit a roadblock earlier this year when the FDA refused to approve its new diabetes drug, Tresiba, without a new safety study. But CEO Lars Sorensen thinks he has an alternate route through a new weight-loss indication for the already top-selling Victoza.
U.S. Judge lashes out at FDA over its Plan B maneuver
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' hot potato contraceptive drug Plan B One Step is getting tossed around some more, as a U.S. federal judge labeled the U.S government's position on it "intellectually dishonest."
The pharma spinoffs have just begun, bankers figure
Want to see more divestment action in Big Pharma? Just wait. That's what investment bankers are predicting, now that Pfizer and AbbVie have led the way.
GSK taps 'independent' experts to control trial-data access
GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) has set up a new online system that researchers can use to ask for the data on its approved therapies.
Merck shows signs of life in consumer health with new promo campaign
Merck & Co. hasn't spent huge amounts of time and resources pushing its consumer health business. While other Big Pharmas like Sanofi ($SNY) and GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) went around the world snapping up smaller businesses in the space, Merck ($MRK) at first weighed the idea of selling off the consumer unit it acquired in its 2009 merger with Schering-Plough.
Don't confuse Kadcyla with Herceptin, FDA says
The FDA is picky about drug names. It's been known to reject brand monikers because they're too similar to others already out there in the market, worried that harried physicians and pharmacists might accidentally give patients the wrong one.
DEA finally acts on Belviq, clearing Arena for diet drug's launch
The DEA has made its decision on Belviq, the weight-loss drug that's been sitting on Arena's launching pad since its FDA approval last June. Belviq is now officially a Schedule IV controlled substance, and Arena can fire up its engines for a launch next month.
Lilly CEO set for surgery on dilated aorta; CFO steps up temporarily
Eli Lilly Chairman and CEO John Lechleiter is scheduled for surgery for a dilated aorta on Monday and will hand the CEO reins over to CFO Derica Rice as he recovers. If all goes well, he'll be back on the job later this summer, the company said.
UPDATED: Lilly tells 1,624 their sales jobs are gone or changed
Salesforce cuts are coming down at Eli Lilly, and 40% of its U.S. sales force will be out. According to the company, the drugmaker sent a state Warn Notice to 1,624 sales positions, of which about 1,000 will be let go.
J&J's propofol administration device finally wins FDA nod
Johnson & Johnson won FDA approval for its Sedasys device to administer the sedative propofol.
Indian watchdogs pull J&J plant's license on baby-powder sterilization issue
South Korean regulators have forced Johnson & Johnson to halt production at an over-the-counter drug plant, and Indian watchdogs are doing the same at a consumer healthcare facility in their country.
Minority Schering shareholders extract another €46 per share from Bayer
A group of minority Schering AG shareholders held out to the bitter end against what Bayer wanted to pay them for their shares, and they will now get the sweet deal they said they deserved.
Covidien predicts up to 11% sales growth at soon-to-be independent Mallinckrodt unit
Covidien unveiled its forecast for Mallinckrodt, the drug unit it plans to set free later this year. Percentage-wise, the expectations are strong: For the fiscal year ending on September 27, Covidien predicts sales growth of 7% to 11% compared with 2012.
Merck wins FDA nod for new Zetia-Lipitor combo, despite lack of outcomes benefit
Merck will soon launch a new cholesterol combo that melds its Zetia drug with generic Lipitor. The Zetia-plus-statin approach isn't new, of course; Merck already sells Vytorin, a combination of Zetia and its own off-patent statin Zocor, known generically as Simvastatin.
Pfizer combats online fakes with direct-to-patient Viagra sales
Pfizer ($PFE) is testing the online-sales waters with a new program to sell Viagra directly to consumers. It's a natural choice: Makers of erectile dysfunction drugs have been working on packaging and formulation changes to make it easier--and more discreet--for men to use them.
J&J issue in South Korea reminiscent of OTC problems here
Drugmakers hope to export their success to emerging markets so they can reap big rewards, but Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit appears to have taken a backward approach in South Korea, where it is in hot water over a recall of Children's Tylenol products.
