Pharmaceutical Companies
The Lead
Lilly to Take Over Development of Diabetes Drug
June 17, 2013 9:16 am | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
Eli Lilly and Co. will pay Canadian drug developer Transition Therapeutics Inc. $7 million and take over the development of a potential diabetes treatment heading into mid-stage clinical testing. Transition said Monday it also could receive up to $240 million in additional payments, plus...
Lilly to Take Over Development of Diabetes Drug
June 17, 2013 9:16 am | by The Associated Press | News | Comments
Eli Lilly and Co. will pay Canadian drug developer Transition Therapeutics Inc. $7 million and...
Elan Holders OK Buyback, Vote Down Three Deals
June 17, 2013 8:43 am | News | Comments
Shareholders of Irish drugmaker Elan Corp. PLC have potentially ended a...
Elan Holders OK Buyback, Vote Down Three Deals
June 17, 2013 8:43 am | News | Comments
Shareholders of Irish drugmaker Elan Corp. PLC have potentially ended a...
FREE Daily Email Newsletter
J&J to Buy Aragon For at Least $650M
June 17, 2013 10:08 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsJohnson & Johnson said Monday that it has agreed to buy Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. for at least $650 million in cash, boosting its position in prostate drug development. The privately-held San Diego, company is focused on the development of drugs to treat hormonally-driven cancers. Under...
FDA Approves New Silicone Breast Implant from J&J
June 14, 2013 4:53 pm | by MATTHEW PERRONE - AP Health Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration said Friday it approved a next-generation silicone breast implant from Johnson & Johnson unit Mentor. The company's MemoryShape breast implant uses a cross-linking gel design that the FDA says is firmer than previous implants. FDA regulators approved the new...
Abbott Labs Plans to Buy Back up to $3B of Stock
June 14, 2013 1:02 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsAbbott Laboratories said Friday that it plans to buy back up to $3 billion of its common stock, replacing a finished $5 billion program that began before the health care company separated from its drug business. Abbott makes generic drugs, medical implants and nutritional formula. It spun off its...
FDA Backs New for Amgen Drug for Rare Bone Tumors
June 14, 2013 8:29 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsAmgen Inc. said yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new use for its bone drug Xgeva. The company, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., said it now can market Xgeva for treating a rare condition, giant cell tumor of bone, when surgery isn't practical.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Simcere Enter Partnership to Co-Develop and Co-Commercialize Orencia(R) SC (abatacept) in China
June 14, 2013 8:25 am | News | CommentsBristol-Myers Squibb Company and Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company in China, today announced that the companies have expanded their strategic relationship formed in 2010. The companies have agreed to collaborate in China on the development and commercialization of the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of Bristol-Myers Squibb's biologic medicine, Orencia, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Lilly Stops Mid-Stage Alzheimer's Drug Study
June 13, 2013 6:09 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsEli Lilly and Co. said Thursday that it stopped a mid-stage clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's disease drug because of potential side effects on patients' livers. The company stopped testing LY2886721 because of abnormal results in liver biochemical tests. Lilly says the results were...
Astellas Introduces Option for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer
June 13, 2013 9:39 am | News | CommentsOn May 30, 2013, Health Canada approved Xtandi for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC, who have received prior docetaxel therapy (chemotherapy medication). The announcement was made today by Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma, Inc.
GlaxoSmithKline Says No China Bribery Found
June 13, 2013 2:58 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsDrug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline said Thursday it has investigated an accusation that its salespeople in China bribed doctors and found no evidence of wrongdoing. The company said it conducted a four-month investigation after receiving complaints from an anonymous source.
Pfizer Settles Protonix Patent Case for $2.15B
June 12, 2013 9:30 am | News | CommentsPfizer says it has reached a $2.15 billion settlement with a couple of generic drugmakers over sales of their versions of the heartburn drug Protonix. The world's second-largest drugmaker says Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will pay $1.6 billion to Pfizer and Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical.
Teva to Pay Pfizer and Nycomed $1.6B
June 12, 2013 9:27 am | News | CommentsTeva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Wyeth/Pfizer and Altana/Nycomed to resolve all claims relating to Teva’s sales, commencing in December 2007, of its 20 mg and 40 mg generic Protonix ® (pantoprazole sodium) tablets.
Glaxo Fires Worker Over Misrepresented Study Data
June 11, 2013 5:22 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsBritish drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it dismissed one employee and a second has resigned in the wake of a scandal over misrepresented data in a research paper published in 2010. The company says its investigation of recent allegations of questionable data has established that some...
Questcor Will Pay at Least $135M for Novartis Drug
June 11, 2013 10:45 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsQuestcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday it will pay at least $135 million to buy an autoimmune and inflammatory disease drug made by Novartis AG, sending its shares surging in morning trading. Questcor said it will pay $60 million upfront for Synacthen and Synacthen Depot.
Questcor Names Former Shire CEO to Board
June 11, 2013 8:26 am | News | CommentsBiopharmaceutical company Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that the recently retired CEO of Shire PLC, Angus C. Russell, has been added to its board. Russell was CEO of Shire, also a biopharmaceutical company, for five years. Before that, he was an executive at pharma companies ICI, Zeneca and AstraZeneca.
Forest Laboratories Appoints New Independent Director
June 11, 2013 8:10 am | News | CommentsForest Laboratories, Inc. today announced that, pursuant to an agreement with Carl C. Icahn and affiliated entities, its Board has appointed Vincent J. Intrieri as a new independent member of its Board of Directors. As part of the agreement, Mr. Icahn has agreed to vote the shares that he controls in support of Forest’s 11 director nominees and not run a proxy contest at the Company’s 2013 annual meeting.
Ex-Bristol-Myers Exec Admits Insider Trading in NJ
June 10, 2013 4:43 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsFederal prosecutors in New Jersey say a former executive for biopharmaceuticals company Bristol-Myers Squibb has admitted using his high-level position and access to nonpublic information to make about $310,000 from insider trades. Robert Ramnarine pleaded guilty Monday to securities fraud. The...
AstraZeneca to Acquire Pearl Therapeutics to Strengthen Respiratory Portfolio
June 10, 2013 8:07 am | News | CommentsAstraZeneca announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pearl Therapeutics, a privately held company based in Redwood City, California, focused on the development of inhaled small-molecule therapeutics for respiratory disease.
Weight Loss Drug Belviq Gets Overdue US Launch
June 7, 2013 11:39 am | by MATTHEW PERRONE - AP Health Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsArena Pharmaceuticals says its weight loss drug Belviq will be available to U.S. patients beginning next week, nearly a year after the drug was officially approved by federal regulators. The Food and Drug Administration approved Belviq last June for adults who are obese or who are overweight and...
Patients Seek to Reopen KC Drug Settlement Case
June 6, 2013 11:42 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPlaintiffs who sued pharmaceutical companies soon after the 2001 arrest of a Kansas City pharmacist who diluted patients' drugs to enrich himself received much larger settlement payouts than those who waited, a new court filing shows. Attorneys for nearly two dozen of Robert Courtney's victims or...
Actavis Confirms Generic Safyral Patent Challenge
June 6, 2013 8:07 am | News | CommentsActavis, Inc. today confirmed that it has filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the FDA seeking approval to market Drospirenone/Ethinyl Estradiol/Levomefolate Calcium Tablets And Levomefolate Calcium Tablets. Actavis' ANDA product is a generic version of Bayer's Safyral, which is approved to prevent pregnancy in women who elect to use an oral contraceptive, and to provide a daily dose of folate supplementation.
Rigel Slumps as AstraZeneca Ends Fostamatinib Deal
June 5, 2013 8:05 am | News | CommentsShares of Rigel Therapeutics Inc. fell to an all-time low Tuesday after its partner AstraZeneca decided not to file for marketing approval of fostamatinib, a rheumatoid arthritis drug Rigel developed. AstraZeneca said earlier studies of fostamatinib were promising, but the company reported results from late-stage studies Tuesday and said they did not measure up.
Judge Halts Royalty Pharma's Bid for Elan Stock
June 5, 2013 7:59 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsElan Corp.'s fight against a takeover bid by Royalty Pharma has spilled into U.S. federal court, where a judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing Royalty from completing its offer to buy the Irish drugmaker. Royalty is a privately held New York company that buys royalty interests in drugs and late-stage drug candidates. It made an offer to buy Elan last month for $12.50 per share, or about $7.5 billion.
Bayer Completes Offer for Conceptus Shares
June 5, 2013 7:54 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsBayer AG has acquired a majority stake in birth control maker Conceptus Inc. and expects its $1.1 billion purchase of the California company to be completed soon. Bayer said Wednesday that more than 96 percent of the company's outstanding shares were validly tendered and not withdrawn during an offer period that expired Tuesday.
J&J Recalls 32M Contraceptive Packages Outside US
June 4, 2013 1:28 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsJohnson & Johnson is conducting a voluntary recall of millions of oral contraceptive packages in 43 countries outside the U.S., but says there's a "very low" risk that the flawed tablets could cause unplanned pregnancies. The birth control pills are being recalled — but only from pharmacies...
FDA Weighs Lifting Safety Restrictions on Avandia
June 4, 2013 8:03 am | by MATTHEW PERRONE,AP Health Writer | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a new interpretation of the key study of Avandia's heart attack risks, which suggests the drug is as safe as older diabetes drugs. At a highly unusual meeting this week, the FDA will ask a panel of experts to vote on a range of options for the drug, including lifting restrictions on its use.
Shares of Merck, Bristol Jump on Cancer Drug News
June 3, 2013 12:48 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsShares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. and Merck & Co. are up about 5 percent each after the drugmakers announced encouraging results on experimental cancer medicines over the weekend. Both companies' drugs for advanced cases of melanoma are in a new class that helps the patient's immune system...
