home

Can GSK's volume strategy offset generic attack on blockbuster Avodart?

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-13 00:00 Read   239

GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) has one less tool for propping up its top line. The company's prostate drug Avodart now faces a generic version from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA), with more copycats expected next month.

Hong Kong's cheaper prices for Sovaldi, Herceptin and other drugs draw throngs

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-13 00:00 Read   951

Gilead Sciences' ($GILD) hep C drug Sovaldi is not yet available on mainland China, at least not legitimately. But it is in Hong Kong, and buyers who ask quietly at small pharmacies along Nathan Road can expect to get it, and many other top-tier drugs, without a prescription.

Backlash rages on over Purdue's pediatric OxyContin approval

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-12 00:00 Read   237

Back in August, the FDA approved Purdue's powerful painkiller, OxyContin, for children ages 11 to 16. But nearly two months later, the public backlash hasn't died down.

Sun kills lawsuit Ranbaxy filed against FDA for pulling its Nexium generic

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-12 00:00 Read   268

When the FDA last year yanked away its initial approval of Ranbaxy's generics of two blockbusters including the heartburn med Nexium, the Indian drugmaker fired back with a lawsuit against the FDA.

Advera Health Analytics: Novartis, Allergan Alzheimer's meds linked to abnormal behavior, blood pressure side effects

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-12 00:00 Read   477

Alzheimer's drug development is a difficult venture, as pharma knows all too well. The meds' troubling side effects and potential safety issues make marketing a risky game, with few companies grabbing a seat at the table.

Roche CEO: Big Data needs Big Pharma, and vice versa

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-10 00:00 Read   290

Count Roche CEO Severin Schwan among those who see digital partnerships as the way Big Pharma can finally take advantage of Big Data. And to his mind, tech companies really need to take advantage of pharma's expertise if they want to get ahead in healthcare.

Roche looks to shake up the MS market with some promising Phase III data

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-09 00:00 Read   258

Roche's much-hyped multiple sclerosis treatment ocrelizumab kept up its momentum with the release of detailed late-stage data, burnishing hopes the injected drug is a blockbuster in the making.

The most hated man in biotech is still confident of a comeback

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-09 00:00 Read   191

He's been described as the most hated man in America. He's been kicked out of BIO, condemned by every biotech executive who's been queried by the media, lampooned on Saturday Night Live and subjected to the taunts of an online mob.

Biogen, Sanofi, Novartis tout long-term benefits at ECTRIMS as new competition advances

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-09 00:00 Read   210

Biogen, Sanofi and Novartis are all trumpeting new data showing long-term benefits for their respective meds at this year's European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS meeting)--and with tough new competition on the way, they may need it.

Experts push for trials to evaluate Roche, GSK flu drugs' pandemic potential

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-09 00:00 Read   253

Critics have long questioned the effectiveness of Roche and GlaxoSmithKline's flu drugs, asking whether their benefits justify the estimated $2 billion spent to stockpile them for potential epidemics. Now, heading into flu season, scientists are pushing for randomized clinical trials to find out once and for all.

The FDA is lukewarm on those hyper-valuable vouchers for fast drug reviews

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-08 00:00 Read   227

Big Pharma has been willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a shortcut to FDA approval, buying up priority review vouchers created to incentivize new drugs for neglected diseases. But the agency seems less than enthusiastic about honoring its end of the bargain, with one top official expressing concerns about how the voucher program might harm the FDA's core mission.

Merck KGaA and Pfizer get their fifth-place immunotherapy on the FDA fast track

CommentsPharmacodia.com2015-10-08 00:00 Read   297

Merck KGaA and Pfizer, playing catch-up among drug companies using the immune system to fight cancer, picked up the FDA's fast-track designation for their in-development therapy, designed to expedite its eventual review.