GSK's China Crisis spreads
By Malcolm Moore in Beijing, and Denise Roland
9:47AM BST 22 Jul 2013
15 Comments
While the move comes amid a criminal investigation into GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca said it does not believe it has yet been caught up in the maelstrom surrounding its rival.
Officers from the Public Security Bureau arrived at Astrazeneca's sales office in Citic Square, Shanghai, on Friday afternoon and were said to have detained one employee.
"We believe that this investigation relates to an individual case and while we have not yet received an update from the Public Security Bureau, we have no reason to believe it ...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 22, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey
Britain’s biggest drug maker did not know it was under criminal investigation in China until police stormed its Shanghai offices in late June. When news filtered back to London, executives were non-plussed and scrambled to try to get details of what was going on.Now there is little doubt GlaxoSmithKline is embroiled in one of the biggest criminal inquiries into bribery ever conducted in China and its executives in the UK capital are poring over the details.Like any approaching tidal wave, it started with just a few ripples. The first came in February, when Chinese authorities called around the world’s drug giants deman...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
AllTrials contd. Which patient groups are in Big Pharma's pocket?
The pharmaceutical industry has "mobilised" an army of patient groups to lobby against plans to force companies to publish secret documents on drugs trials.
Drugs companies publish only a fraction of their results and keep much of the information to themselves, but regulators want to ban the practice. If companies published all of their clinical trials data, independent scientists could reanalyse their results and check companies' claims about the safety and efficacy of drugs.
Under proposals being thrashed out in Europe, drugs companies would be compelled to release all of their data, including results that sh...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
AZPurpleZone: A Nexium Branded YouTube Channel. "Unusual" for Pharma? Yes. "Engaging Social Media?" No!
"AstraZeneca believes that it is important to share information with patients by engaging with them online," says Ken Graham, Commercial Business Leader, GI, AstraZeneca, in a post to AZ Health Connections Blog (here). "To that end, AstraZeneca recently launched a NEXIUM YouTube channel." It's called "AZPurpleZone."According to AZ's own "white paper" on social media (see attachment to this post), social media is the "catch-all term for internet activities that engage or encourage engagement through online discussions or interactions. While static websites are often the first 'online step' for many companies (e.g., homepage...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - July 17, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: YouTube AstraZeneca social media Nexium Source Type: blogs
MedChemica: When One Compound Collection Isn't Enough
According to SciBx, here's another crack at computational solutions for drug discovery: MedChemica, a venture started by several ex-AstraZeneca scientists. They're going to be working with data from both AZ and Roche, using what sounds like a "matched molecular pair" approach:
Although other algorithms try to relate structure to biological function, most of the analyses look at modifications across a wide array of diverse structures. MedChemica's approach is to look at modifications in a set of similar structures and see how minor differences affect the compounds' biological activity.
Al Dossetter, managing director of Me...
Source: In the Pipeline - July 17, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: In Silico Source Type: blogs
Four Drugmakers Face China Probes as Glaxo Woes Widen
China is investigating at least four multinational drugmakers as it widens its probe of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), according to a lawyer in Hong Kong whose firm advises companies on cross-border anti-corruption.The investigations point to an increased targeting of the pharmaceutical industry in corruption probes as the world’s most populous country faces rising health-care costs and seeks to lower drug prices. While the drugmakers are being examined by local regulators, the results may draw added questions from officials in Beijing and scrutiny by the U.S. government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.Enlarge i...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 16, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another working week. And this looks to be a hot one. Nonetheless, we hope to keep the Pharmalot corporate campus relatively cool by resoting to iced glasses of stimulation. After all, our neurons are not fussy about such things, which is helpful, since there is much to do. We trust you relate. So time to dig in and get going. Here are some tidbits to help you along. Have a grand day and do stay in touch...
AstraZeneca CFO Simon Lowth To Join BG Group (Dow Jones)
Aveo SEC Subpoena Raises Scrutiny Of Co-Founder (Houston Business Journal)
Discrimination Suit Filed By Former Glaxo Employee Gets...
Source: Pharmalot - July 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
AZ - Exit the gas man
SIMON LOWTH, chief financial officer of AstraZeneca is to leave the drug maker in order to join oil and gas company BG Group in the same role.
Lowth is set to leave the pharmaceutical company for BG when it reports its third quarter results at the end of October, having joined the company in November 2007.
Though Lowth's departure from AstraZeneca was not planned, analysts had expected him to look elsewhere after he was passed over as chief executive last year, according to the Financial Times.
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2282298/astrazeneca-cfo-to-join-bg-group? (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - July 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Roche Scuttles Diabetes Drug After Clinical Trial Flops
In a setback to Roche, the drugmaker has ended a Phase III trial of a high-profile diabetes compound after a data and safety monitoring board determined there were safety issues and a lack of efficacy (read the statement). The drug, known as aleglitazar, was being tested in patients with a recent acute coronary syndrome event and Type 2 diabetes. A Roche spokesman writes us that adverse events included fractures, renal impairment and heart failure.
The decisions marks the second time in the past year that Roche has scuttled development of a medicine that the drugmaker hoped would expand its portfolio well beyond its oncolo...
Source: Pharmalot - July 10, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Rise and shine. Another steamy day is on the way. A beautiful mid-summer's morning is enveloping the Pharmalot corporate campus, where short people are snoozing and all manner of wildlife are roaming the grounds. As for us, we are doing the usual - hoisting a cup of delicious stimulation and digging in for another busy round of conversations and R&D. We trust you relate. To get you started, here is the menu of tidbits. Best of luck as you try to conquer the world and, of course, do stay in touch...
Lilly Upset With CMS Coverage Decision On Its Alzheimer's Test (Reuters)
AstraZeneca Signs Cancer Pact With University of ...
Source: Pharmalot - July 9, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
DOJ Probing International Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Earlier this year, we noted that a new enforcement focus for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will be increased oversight to ensure compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) regulations. Specifically, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for DOJ's Consumer Protection Branch (CPB), noted her division has long worked closely with FDA to promote the safety of pharmaceutical products.
Several months later, it appears that DOJ is acting on this promise in two recent cases. As reported by the Washington Post, Reuters, and ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 5, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Where The Jobs Are... Which Big Drugmakers Are Still Hiring
For all the talk of consolidation and the incessant drumbeat of stories about ensuing layoffs, the pharmaceutical industry does hire from time to time. After all, priorities change as projects come and go, which means drugmakers big and small are looking for qualified folks. But who is doing the most hiring these days?
Well, Genetic Engineering & Biology News perused the websites of 10 large drugmakers and found thousands of jobs that need to be filled in various countries in mid-June. The magazine found the total number of job openings worldwide, total number of jobs in the country with the biggest number of opening a...
Source: Pharmalot - July 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Vivus Shareholder Proposes Former AstraZeneca Exec As CEO
Some more spice has been added to the drama surrounding Vivus, one of two fledgling drugmakers scrambling to sell the latest crop of prescription diet pills. Its largest shareholder, which is waging a proxy fight over allegations that mismanagement has torpedoed what should have been a promising product launch, plans to hire a former AstraZeneca exec as ceo if its nominees are elected to the board.
First Manhattan, which holds 9.9 percent of Vivus stock, says Tony Zook, who had been executive vp for global commercial activities at AstraZeneca, is set to run Vivus after the July 15 annual meeting. Zook, you may recall, left...
Source: Pharmalot - July 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Novo's Moses: 'We Are Open To Sharing' Data With The ADA
Two weeks ago, the NIH ran a workshop to examine the safety of several widely used diabetes drugs called GLP-1 inhibitors and whether a definitive link can be established to acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, which were the subject of recent studies that generated considerable controversy. The outcome was inconclusive, but the FDA may want further studies. Meanwhile, the American Diabetes Association called for drugmakers that sell these meds to release patient-level data that can be used for an independent review (back stories here, here and here). To what extent the drugmakers - Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZ...
Source: Pharmalot - June 27, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Roche's Santarelli: The AstraZeneca Collaboration Offers 'Know How'
In the latest sign that drugmakers are trying to save costs by working together, Roche and AstraZeneca (AZN) signed a deal to share data on early-stage drug design in hopes of speeding development. As part of the collaboration, the drugmakers will actually contribute their data to MedChemica, which specializes in scrutinizing chemical compounds for structures that can cause problems with safety or effectiveness. We spoke with Luca Santarelli, senior vice president, head of small molecule research and neuroscience at Roche, about the reasons for the deal and the potential opportunities. This is an edited version...
Pharmalo...
Source: Pharmalot - June 26, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
