Cymbalta Goes Generic
On December 11th, the FDA approved the use of generic Cymbalta. The generic version, Duloxetine, delayed release, became available in the USA four days ago.Generics generally work just fine and they cost less. Now and again, some people have side effects or feel the generic is not as effective effective, and for those individuals, it makes sense to remain on the name brand medication. Generics cost less and the active ingredients are the same. Oh, but there was a little issue with the efficacy of one pharmaceutical company's preparation of Wellbutrin, XL, 300mg. See the In The Pipeline d...
Source: Shrink Rap - December 21, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Hello, everyone, and how are you today? Once again, a shiny sun is hovering over the freezing cold Pharmalot corporate campus, which we hope will soon warm up enough so we may effectively tackle our to-do list. To help us along - you guessed it - we are brewing another cup of steaming hot stimulation. Our flavor is Southern Pecan, if you care. In any event, time to get cracking. So here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well and be in touch...
Novartis CEO Envisions Tiered Pricing Plans For Africa (This Is Africa)
FDA Approves First Generic Of Cymbalta Antidepresssant (Associated Press)
Roche Signs Deal Worth Up To $600...
Source: Pharmalot - December 12, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Eli Lilly promises major cost cuts
U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly, which is trying to rebound from painful patent expirations on its medicines, said it would have to cut costs to achieve its financial goals through 2014, but would buy back $5 billion of its stock over time.
Lilly said that slowing growth in emerging markets and the devaluation of Japan's yen were hurting its results. These "headwinds" will make it challenging for the company to meet its minimum revenue goal of $20 billion in 2014, Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice said in a release.
Rice said Lilly was looking for appropriate ways to reach the revenue goal and would reduce costs to meet its obj...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 3, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Pain, Insomnia, and Diabetes
By David Spero
Studies show that sleep problems contribute to Type 2 diabetes. But diabetes seems to increase pain sensitivity, and pain makes it harder to sleep. What a vicious cycle! What is the pain/sleep/diabetes connection, and what can we do about it?
I've written several times about diabetes and sleep, and also diabetes and pain. But this week I read an article that links all three problems. In the drug information journal MPR (Monthly Prescribing Reference), Debra Hughes, MS, discusses these issues with Victor Rosenfeld, MD, Medical Director of the Sleep Center at the SouthCoast Medical Group, Savannah, Georgia.
...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 11, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
Cases: Anti-epileptic Medicines for Pain Management
Discussion: Tri-cyclic antidepressants (TCAs), serotonin-norepinephrine
reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are the mainstays
of adjuvant therapy for neuropathic pain.
This Case of the Month will focus on oral anti-epileptic neuropathic
pain analgesics. Due to lack of head-to-head data, evidence is presented as
numbers needed to treat (NNT) and numbers needed to harm (NNH). For instance,
an NNT of 5 for 50% pain reduction means for every 5 patients treated with a
drug, only 1 of them would achieve a 50% reduction in pain. Gabapentin (Neurontin)
and pregabalin (Lyrica) are considered firs...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - August 30, 2013 Category: Palliative Carer Workers Authors: Christian Sinclair Source Type: blogs
Over-Drugged Medicaid Children
As reported in the Wall Street Journal (here):"Federal health officials have launched a probe into the use of antipsychotic drugs on children in the Medicaid system, amid concern that the medications are being prescribed too often to treat behavioral problems in the very young. "The effort applies to a newer class of antipsychotic drugs known as "atypicals," which include Abilify, the nation's No. 1 prescription drug by sales. The drugs were originally developed to treat psychoses such as schizophrenia, but some now have Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of children with conditions such as bipo...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - August 13, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Cymbalta Seroquel medicaid anti-psychotics Children Abilify Source Type: blogs
Cambridge Consultants Helping to Teach Old Drugs New Tricks
As previously blockbuster drugs are scheduled to go off-patent over the next 5 years (e.g. Cymbalta, Crestor), devising innovative uses for such drugs is a priority in the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, the consulting group Cambridge Consultants has collaborated with Clinigen Group, a specialty global pharmaceutical products and services business headquartered in the UK, to create a new way of identifying fresh market applications for drugs nearing the end of their product life cycle.
As part of the six-month project, Cambridge Consultants built an acquisition database of 4,000 drugs, and screened and ranked them â...
Source: Medgadget - July 25, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Ravi Parikh Tags: in the news... Press Releases Source Type: blogs
Next Stop, Cymbalta
Earlier that day: Operations VP: Did you finish removing the souls from the new associates? HR Director: Almost. (Source: Dr. X's Free Associations)
Source: Dr. X's Free Associations - July 20, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: DrX Tags: Chicago Photos Front Page Local Photos Source Type: blogs
Lilly Freezes Pay Raises For Employees In Response To Generics
REPEATING FROM LAST NIGHT: Two months after disclosing plans to lay off more than 1,600 sales reps (back story), Eli Lilly is now planning to suspend base pay raises for most employees - including executives - next year and reduce employee bonuses that are paid in 2015 in a cost-cutting move that is designed to save some $400 million through 2016.Â
The move comes as the drugmaker faces significant competition from low-cost generics. The patent on the Cymbalta antidepressant, which generated $4 billion in global sales last year, expires in December and then next year, the patent on the Evista osteoperosis treatment, which ...
Source: Pharmalot - July 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Eli Lilly to Freeze Employee Base Pay Ahead of Generic Onslaught
NEW YORK — U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co, which expects to lose about 20 percent of its global revenue next year due to the expiration of key drug patents, is suspending base pay increases for most employees in 2014 to cut costs.
At the end of this year Lilly's current biggest product, the antidepressant Cymbalta, will lose patent protection while copycat forms of its $1 billion-a-year Evista osteoporosis drug are due to arrive in early 2014.
The company has also decided to reduce employee bonuses paid out in 2015 for their performance in 2014.
The news came just months after the drugmaker decided to layoff ab...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Kerching!
Drug companies look to profit from DSM-5June 5, 2013, 8:42 a.m. EDTBinge eating and hoarding diagnoses may lead to new salesBy Jen WiecznerThe changes to the DSM-5, the updated manual of psychiatric illnesses released earlier this month, include 15 new mental disorders. Psychiatrists and consumer advocates hope that the new range of diagnoses will help more people find treatment for their suffering. But drug companies could also see a benefit: It’s likely that the changes will expand the demand for prescription medications that could treat these conditions.The DSM-5’s changes widen the treatment potential for...
Source: PharmaGossip - June 6, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Organizing principles: Classifying pain for healthcare, research | Pain Research Forum
Where does it hurt? How bad does it hurt? Why does it hurt? The many inconsistent and inadequate ways of sorting chronic pain by anatomy, severity, and associated medical conditions are impeding the health and well-being of patients, optimal medical care, and treatment advances, say pain experts who are calling for a change. This spring, two major efforts are taking shape to fill a widely perceived need for standardized worldwide diagnostic criteria to classify all chronic pain conditions (Finnerup et al., 2013; IOM, 2011; Rief et al., 2012; Rief et al., 2010; von Hehn et al., 2012)....
Source: Psychology of Pain - May 17, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
ADHD or Just Plain Tired?
In Diagnosing the Wrong Deficit, Dr. Thatsal G. Thakkar talks about the concept that the incidence of Attention Deficit Disorder has coincided with people getting less sleep as their days have gotten busier and longer. He wonders if the symptoms that get attributed to ADD might be a result of too little sleep. And if not too little, then maybe the wrong kind of sleep. Dr. Thakkar goes on to talk about his own difficulties with focus and concentration and how he believes these symptoms were because his sleep architecture was disordered: too much dreaming, too little deep sleep -- a problem that was s...
Source: Shrink Rap - April 29, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
It always hurts – is there a drug to relieve the pain of neuropathy?
In this study, they did not seem to be a problem and in general Cymbalta does not seem to have many severe side effects – especially compared to the discomfort of the neuropathy. So this drug gives hope to patients with this all too common problem and is probably better than gin. (Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog)
Source: Dr.Kattlove's Cancer Blog - April 13, 2013 Category: Oncologists Source Type: blogs
Eli Lilly & Co. Laying Off 1,000 Sales Representatives in U.S. in Major
Restructuring -Source
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) plans to lay off about 1,000 sales representatives in the U.S., in a major restructuring that aims to cut the drug maker's costs in preparation for generic competition to two of its biggest-selling products, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The lay-offs will affect about 30% of Lilly's sales force across the U.S., and include a combination of full-time Lilly employees and contract workers, the person said.
The sales representatives pitch Lilly drugs treating a range of heart, neurological and other medical conditions. Sales of these drugs, bolstered by the sales calls of the represent...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 12, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
