European regulators tag 100-plus drugs with 'black triangle'
The labeling logo is designed to encourage doctors and patients to report side effects, as part of a new effort to more closely monitor drug safety. The list of 100-plus products includes all new drugs and biologics approved since January 2011.
Japan's Eisai amps up in China with new manufacturing plant
The Japanese drugmaker will use the plant to tap growing demand in that country, as well as an export base for other emerging markets in Asia.
Analysts skeptical as AstraZeneca sales, earnings sink
AstraZeneca's first-quarter sales dropped by 12%. Core earnings fell by 21%. Neither number approached Bristol-Myers Squibb's scary declines. Both companies are suffering big-time hits to their top drugs, because of generic competition. AstraZeneca's earnings actually beat expectations. So why are AstraZeneca analysts less positive about the company's results? It's all about the future.
New Bristol-Myers drug growth cushions plummeting Plavix sales
Bristol-Myers Squibb's first-quarter earnings dropped 44%, on a 27% decline in sales. Fortunately, the $3.83 billion revenue line was only slightly worse than analysts expected, given generic competition for blockbuster heart drugs Avapro and Plavix.
U.S. feds launch probe into AstraZeneca plant in U.K.
U.S. federal investigators have taken an interest in manufacturing at an AstraZeneca plant in England, but the company is remaining mum about what precisely they want to know.
Bayer drug sales up 2.3%, as new products offset older drugs' suffering
Poor Bayer HealthCare. Its new drugs and modest sales growth couldn't make up for lagging sales and soaring costs at Bayer's plastics business. Announcing its first-quarter results, Bayer Group understandably leaned on its healthcare unit's strengths, but headlines focused on the German company's overall disappointments: profits up only 0.4%, sales up just 2.1%, both below analyst expectations.
Merck nabs 'breakthrough' label for anti-melanoma drug
The designation was based on Phase Ib data that showed significant early signs of antitumor activity in some patients with aggressive cases of the deadly skin cancer.
Is GlaxoSmithKline prepping older products for spinoff?
The U.K.-based drugmaker posted disappointing profits for the first quarter as sales took a backwards step, partly because of revenue lost in the sale of over-the-counter products.
Lilly cost-cutting and price hikes pay off with Q1 earnings beat
The moral of Eli Lilly's first-quarter performance is this: Raise prices and cut costs.
Feds nail key player in counterfeit Avastin probe
For more than a year, U.S. authorities have been tightening a noose around Internet pharmacy company Canada Drugs, which reportedly was the source of counterfeit Avastin shipped last year to doctors.
Busy Novartis announces layoffs, taps new CFO, and slashes chairman's pay
While the U.S. government was announcing its kickbacks lawsuit against Novartis, the Swiss drugmaker was putting the finishing touches on a few press releases of its own.
Feds sue 'repeat offender' Novartis in Myfortic kickback scheme
Federal prosecutors sued the Swiss drugmaker, accusing it of offering "disguised" kickbacks to pharmacies for switching patients to one of its drugs. And switch they did, the prosecutors say.
Roche to shed 170 jobs in diagnostics restructuring
Roche plans to cut 170 jobs in the U.S. and Germany.
South Africa follows India's lead with proposed drug-patent reforms
South Africa plans to revamp its intellectual-property laws to make it more difficult for pharma companies to win protection for new versions of older drugs. The move comes soon after India's top court backed strict requirements for drug patents.
State AGs amp up legal attacks on Big Pharma
Maverick states could cost Big Pharma big money. Though many drugmakers have wrapped up marketing settlements with the federal government--and states willing to go along--they're now facing claims from state attorneys general who are bold, stubborn, ambitious, or all of the above.
Thanks to Lexapro generics, Forest swings to loss on 32% drop in yearly sales
No one expected Forest Laboratories to post quarterly sales growth. How could it? The company's flagship drug, Lexapro, lost patent protection just as last year's fiscal fourth quarter drew to a close. So, this time around, Forest's sales were destined to drop.
Biogen MS pill soars onstage with impressive first-week script numbers
Biogen Idec's new multiple sclerosis pill made its debut to high expectations earlier this month. And so far, Tecfidera hasn't disappointed. As The Street reports, the drug has literally leapt onto the market. Its first week's worth of prescriptions surpassed 300, a rate that Novartis' first-to-market rival didn't hit until almost three months after launch.
Drugmakers, get ready for bigger, faster dealmaking, Moody's says
Deal junkies, rejoice. Moody's Investors Service figures pharma M&A will pick up in 2013, after a not-so-exciting 2012. But even if the pace picks up, deal size probably won't increase much; we're looking at another year of small- to medium-sized buyouts, rather than megamergers.
AstraZeneca inks cancer deals with Bind Therapeutics, Horizon Discovery
AstraZeneca forged two oncology development deals on either side of the Atlantic.
Ready to target GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi wins 6-in-1 vaccine nod in EU
Sanofi Pasteur is ready to aim its new 6-in-1 infant vaccine at rival GlaxoSmithKline. The vaccine maker won European approval for the immunization, putting Glaxo's Infanrix Hexa on notice for the first time since 2005.
