Fall is upon us and so is the awards season. And I’m not talking about the Emmy’s (although kudos to Mad Men). Earlier this month the Lasker Foundation gave out its Basic Medical Research Award, its Lasker-deBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service (see the Lasker Foundation website for more information). Next week the Nobel Committee will announce its award winners.

But last night belonged to the Pharmaceutical Industry. Read more »

UnitedHealth Group, a Minneapolis-based healthcare company, recently announced that it would soon provide a price break to members who correctly use certain asthma and antidepressant drugs. The news was reported in a Wall Street Journal article by Peter Loftus of Dow Jones Newswires.  

To get the $20 copay discount, members must refill their prescriptions within about 30 days after their last prescription runs out. Eligible drugs include GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair, AstraZeneca’s Symbicort, Eli Lilly’s Cymbalta, Wyeth’s Effexor XR, and Wyeth’s Pristiq. The discount applies to members who have a normal copay of $50 on these drugs, meaning the new copay would be $30, according to Loftus’ article. Read more »

The US Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday it is requiring a black box warning for two drugs used to aid smoking cessation, Chantix (varenicline, Pfizer, New York) and Zyban (bupropion, GlaxoSmithKline, London). Read more »

The first-ever BRIC Economic Summit was held this week in Yekaterinburg, Russia, further signaling the importance of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, collectively known as the BRIC countries, in the current and future direction of the global economy. Some predict that the BRIC countries will surpass the leading economies by 2050, according to a recent New York Times article. The seeds of change already have been planted in the pharmaceutical industry, where pharmaceutical market growth in emerging economies is projected in the double-digits in 2009, compared with declining to anemic growth in established markets. Big Pharma is attuned to the shifting market dynamics. Many companies have clearly stated their strategic intent to enhance their positions in emerging markets. But what are the implications for pharmaceutical manufacturing? We may have gotten a glimpse into the future with some recent moves by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Read more »

“To the victor belongs the spoils,” goes the saying, but two emerging pharmaceutical companies, Epix Pharmaceuticals and Progenics Pharmaceuticals, show how difficult it is for smaller pharmaceutical companies to live up to that axiom during the financial downturn. Both companies earned a coveted prize in 2008, FDA approval of a new molecular entity (NME), and both have collaboration agreements with Big Pharma. But as is the case with many companies, restructuring and strategies for cash conservation are the order of the day. Read more »

In response to the swine-flu outbreak, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) last week authorized the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) capsules up to two years after the drug’s prescribed expiration dates. EMEA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) specifically extended the shelf-life of Tamiflu 75 mg, 45 mg, and 30 mg hard capsules from 5 to 7 years. Read more »

Mosquitos are on my mind today. Not only am I looking to find a good mosquito trap machine for my backyard before the summer season begins, but I learned that this Saturday, Apr. 25, is World Malaria Day. As most people know, malaria is a deadly mosquito-born disease. According to Roll Back Malaria (RBM), a United Nations initiative, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. The disease takes nearly 1 million lives every year and affects nearly 1 billion people in 109 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Read more »

Yesterday at INTERPHEX, attendees had the opportunity to meet representatives from the category winners of the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) at a reception. The awards program, now in its fifth year, recognizes companies that advance pharmaceutical manufacturing technology. Read more »

Last week’s post highlighted pharma deals that haven’t been working out due to rejected bids and stalled negotiations. On a more positive note, the past several months have also seen some successful acquisitions. This past week produced updates to some of Big Pharma’s pending pacts. Read more »

“The Physician Payments Sunshine Act” (see my previous post), introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), would require drug companies to disclose their payments to physicians. Besides showing how the pharmaceutical industry can influence the way doctors practice medicine, the act would also illustrate how industry payments might influence university research about drugs. Read more »