On the Oncology front…
Bayer‘s Nexavar shows encouraging results: Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals said they were stopping a late clinical liver cancer trial with Nexavar in the Asia-Pacific region so patients can get the drug sooner after encouraging results…more
Vaccinating against other cancers? Should boys get the vaccine that prevents cervical cancer in women? Maybe, a new analysis suggests, because the same virus that causes cervical cancer may also cause cancers of the tongue and tonsils….more
Cancer drug stalls, while Alzheimer’s drug advances: Matuzumab failed in a mid-stage trial of colon cancer patients who had already failed other therapies. The drug, developed by Merck KGaA and Takeda, will continue to be studied for non-small cell lung cancer…more
Meanwhile, in the bloodstream…
Amgen gets a small victory in the ongoing patent battle with Roche on anemia treatments: A federal judge has ruled that Mircera, a Roche anemia drug that would compete with Amgen’s Epogen and Aranesp, violates an Amgen patent…more
New treatment to stem bleeding during surgery approved: U.S. regulators approved on Tuesday a blood-clotting protein to stem bleeding during surgery, made by Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc and to be distributed by Johnson & Johnson…more
MGI grabs rights to an experimental blood disorder drug: MGI Pharma Inc. has obtained the rights from a small New Jersey company to commercialize a drug for treating a blood disorder that affects millions of people. AKR-501 was developed to treat thrombocytopenia, an abnormal drop in blood cells (or platelets) involved in forming blood clots…more
And, in other news…
Schering-Plough/Merck combo drug for allergies now under FDA review (Claritin/Singulair): Schering-Plough/Merck Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration accepted its new drug application for a combination of allergy drugs Claritin and Singulair….more
Merck‘s proposed cholesterol drug (niacin plus anti-flushing) may show up mid-2008: Merck & Co on Wednesday said U.S. regulators accepted its marketing application for the company’s cholesterol fighter Cordaptive, and a decision on the potential blockbuster product is likely in the second quarter of 2008…more (and by the way, who came up with the awful name Cordaptive???)
Sanofi, like Novartis, now under the legal gun for discrimination: Four women sales workers in the United States have sued drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis for $300 million, contending they were denied promotions and paid less than their male counterparts…more
Leave a Reply