MEwens
Serial Killers: Genetically engineering certain immune-system cells to identify and then destroy a certain protein found on leukemia cells can put patients into sustained remission from their cancer, the WSJ reports. Research on three people published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine shows that the treatment has harsh […]
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MEwens
Reversal of Course: The federal government won’t try to force the resignation of Forest Laboratories CEO Howard Solomon after the company last year plead guilty to drug-marketing misdemeanors, the WSJ reports. Solomon wasn’t named in the criminal action but the government had sought to exclude him from doing business with the government under […]
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MEwens
Developing new drugs is a tricky business.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Active Biotech got a tough reminder of that today; shares in the companies fell after they said their experimental multiple-sclerosis drug, laquinimod, missed the main goal of a major study.
The drug — one of a clutch of new oral treatments being developed for […]
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MEwens
Drug Vote: An FDA advisory panel voted not to recommend approval of Novartis’s Ilaris for gout pain, though it did say the drug is effective, the WSJ reports. Safety concerns, specifically the risk of serious infections, gave committee members pause, but several said it might be possible for the drug to be approved […]
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MEwens
Looking For Savings: Pfizer is looking to cut costs by an additional $500 million this year and $1 billion in 2012, mostly from administrative functions, the WSJ reports. That’s on top of CEO Ian Read’s plans to cut the drug maker’s R&D budget to as little as $6.5 billion in 2012 from the […]
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MEwens
Controlling MS: Drugs taken orally to control multiple sclerosis are beginning to hit the market, starting with Novartis’s Gilenya, but while they’re attractive to patients, the price is high and the extent of side effects unknown, the WSJ reports. Gilenya costs about $48,000 a year, compared to about $40,000 for currently available injectable […]
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MEwens
Avastin Announcement: Roche says its drug Avastin, which the FDA has recommended stripping of its breast-cancer indication, has been backed for that purpose in Europe, the WSJ reports. The drug is used in combination with chemotherapy in breast-cancer patients, but the FDA has said its safety and efficacy aren’t sufficient to warrant its […]
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MEwens
Also: safety problems persist; NICE nixes Novartis’s Afinitor; secondhand smoke stats.
Read more this great post here
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WSJ Staff
The future of the drug in MS treatment has become a key component of Genzyme’s rejection of an $18.5 billion hostile takeover offer from Sanofi-Aventis as too low.
Read more this great post here
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Katherine Hobson
Also: psych hospitals in Mass. turn away kids; Biogen earnings; caffeinated alcoholic drinks under fire.
Read more this great post here
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