Low T' and the peril of medicating grumpy old men
Could you have low testosterone?That's the question Abbott Laboratories (now AbbVie) has been urging men to consider with its "Is It Low T?" awareness campaign, a highly effective effort to change how doctors and the public think about managing aging in men.Since 2008, this massive marketing endeavor has targeted middle-aged men who have put on some weight, sometimes feel grumpy or get sleepy after meals, encouraging them to have their testosterone levels tested and to consider treatment if levels are low. It has helped persuade legions of men to take a drug that may not help and may actually do harm for a condit...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 15, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Research!
(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 13, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Clot Wars contd. - More than 2,000 Lawsuits Over Pradaxa Bleeding Risks, Boehringer Confirms
Boehringer Ingelheim, manufacturer of the blood-thinner Pradaxa (dabigatran), has confirmed that it faces more 2,000 lawsuits in the United States alleging that the drug causes severe and fatal bleeding.The company’s confirmation came after the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported the number. Boehringer said that the company has to weigh the risk of known side effects against the drug’s life saving potential, according to Reuters. “We are certain that we can show in the legal cases that we have worked very carefully and responsibly in research, development and marketing of Pradaxa,” the German drug maker said in ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 13, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
FDA gets on Onglyza's case
The Food and Drug Administration has requested clinical trial data from AstraZeneca on saxagliptin, which is marketed on its own as Onglyza or in combination with an oral hyperglycemic drug as Kombilgyze XR, for type-2 diabetes.The FDA request resulted from a large study called the SAVOR trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine last September. The study reported an increased rate of hospitalization for heart failure with use of saxagliptin, compared with a placebo group. The figures were 3.5% for the saxagliptin group compared with 2.8% in the placebo group, in a total of 16,492 patients.Read more: http://www...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 11, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
DOJ Subpoenas Teva in Marketing Probe
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. TEVA.TV +1.85% said it received a subpoena from the Justice Department seeking information related to the sales and marketing of its Copaxone multiple sclerosis drug and its Azilect Parkinson's disease treatment.Teva said the government is looking into possible violations of the federal False Claims Act and is seeking information dating back to the beginning of 2006. The company also said it is in the process of complying with the subpoena but didn't give further details in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Copaxone is Teva's top-selling drug and is expect...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 10, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Merck to Dole Out $100 Million in NuvaRing Settlement
Merck & Co. agreed Friday to pay $100 million in product liability lawsuits that claimed its birth control product NuvaRing caused blood clots that led in some instances to fatal heart attacks, Reuters reports.NuvaRing, a vaginal ring that acts as a hormonal contraceptive and contains estrogen and progestin as commonly found in birth control pills, has been associated with an increased risk of developing blood clots that can cause heart attack, stroke, or sudden death.Merck, which is the second-largest drug manufacturer in the U.S., denied any fault under the agreement. But 3,000 people are eligible to participate in t...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 8, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Big pharma in the dock over patent law plot in South Africa
Attempts to reform South Africa's patents laws have been marred with controversy over an alleged campaign by big pharma to derail the process. Adele Baleta reports from Cape Town.A heated row between the South African Government and the country's umbrella organisation for drug companies over a proposed publicity campaign to fight draft patent reforms has gained momentum with Danish company Novo Nordisk quitting the group in protest.The company is one of 26 research-based pharmaceutical companies who are members of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa (IPASA), which recently sent an email to members see...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Big Pharma presses US to quash cheap drug production in India
Reuters / Srdjan ZivulovicPowerful global pharmaceutical firms are leaning on the United States government to discourage India from allowing the production and sale of affordable generic drugs still on-patent, according to inside sources close to the matter.According to two senior officials, an Indian government committee is reviewing patented drugs from foreign companies for opportunities to spin certain medications into low-cost, generic versions. The drugs up for analysis are used to treat cancer, diabetes, hepatitis, and HIV, the sources told Reuters. They would not expand on the review process or on the timeline for a...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
AstraZeneca suffers more job cuts amid competition from cheaper rivals
AstraZeneca is cutting another 550 roles around the world on top of more than 5,000 previous cuts as it looks to ramp up annual savings to £675million.It said the extra jobs cull, which it has already revealed to staff, would affect UK workers in IT teams at two sites in the Northwest.The company is trying to save cash as patents on many of its best-selling older drugs expire, opening the way for rivals to sell cheaper versions.The trend drove a six per cent drop in sales last year to £15.8bill ion and more than halved operating profi ts to £2.3billion.The group also expects a fall in the low to...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Biopharma blog Pharmalot shuttered
By Bradley J FikesNot the best way to open the new year for those seeking information about the biotech and drug industries: Pharmalot, the highly regarded industry blog of veteran journalist Ed Silverman, has been closed without explanation.The website displays this message:"UBM Canon has ceased the production of the following brands: Med Ad News, PharmaLive.com, Pharmalot, eKnowledgeBase and R&D Directions."Thank you for your loyalty and support that has played such an important part over the last thirty years."We invite you to visit MedTech World or UBM Canon for additional industry news and media resources."Visitor...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 3, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Drug firms accused of holding back complete information on clinical
trials
A review of 20 existing studies into Tamiflu by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded it 'did not reduce influenza-related lower respiratory tract complications'. Photograph: Clive Gee/PAClinical trial results are being routinely withheld from doctors, undermining their ability to make informed decisions about how to treat patients, an influential parliamentary committee has claimed.MPs have expressed "extreme concern" that drug manufacturers appear to only publish around 50% of completed trial results and warned that the practice has "ramifications for the whole of medicine".Their conclusions have emerged in a public accou...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 3, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Happy endings?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/medicare-rules-create-a-booming-business-in-hospice-care-for-people-who-arent-dying/2013/12/26/4ff75bbe-68c9-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - January 2, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
PharmaLive dies
http://www.pharmalive.com/pharmalotBut Ed Silverman lives on! Ed Silverman can still be reached by writing to pharmalot@gmail.com (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - January 1, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
American Addict The Movie - Trailer
(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - January 1, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Abbott Labs settles with U.S. over kickback claims
(Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay the United States $5.48 million to resolve allegations that it paid improper kickbacks to induce doctors to use some of its products, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday.The settlement resolves allegations that Abbott paid well-known doctors for teaching assignments, speaking engagements and conferences, expecting that they would arrange for the hospitals with which they were affiliated to buy Abbott's carotid, biliary and peripheral vascular products.This activity violated the federal Anti-Kickback Act and led to the submission of false Medicare claims, the gover...
Source: PharmaGossip - December 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
