Pharma News this week (and last)

Roche‘s MabThera can help extend CLL patients’ lives. Meanwhile, surprisingly good results for AZ‘s lung cancer drug Iressa. But, disappointment for an experimental lung cancer drug being developed by Amgen and Takeda. And, Novartis‘ promising kidney cancer drug Afinitor gets the FDA delay treatment (fuller Novartis pipeline update here).

Glaxo gets U.S. approval for platelet drug Promacta.

Biotech bankruptcies looming?

AstraZeneca – cutting, selling, stopping.

More positive info for Takeda‘s experimental gout drug.

Can Pharma learn from the Detroit automaker situation? Some good thoughts here.

Generic coming? Let’s hike the price! – Cephalon has already taken heat for off-label promotion of its narcolepsy drug Provigil. Now, facing the prospect of generic competition to Provigil in 2012, the company is dramatically hiking Provigil’s price…more

Javelin tosses 15% – Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading developer of novel products for pain management, today announced that it will reduce its workforce by approximately 15 percent. The reduction is intended to reduce Javelin’s cost structure…more

Cancer drugs for diabetes? The mice say maybe… – Two popular leukemia drugs, Gleevec and Sutent, kept lab mice from developing type 1 diabetes and put 80 percent of diabetic mice in remission, an international team said on Monday…more

J&J patch leads to costly settlement.

Merck’s Gardasil promising in boys – Scientists are reporting at a scientific meeting in Nice, France, today that 90% fewer men ages 16 to 26 years developed genital warts and other lesions after receiving Gardasil…more

Pfizer: big bucks toward stem cells – Over the next five years, the drugmaker will create dual facilities in the UK and Massachusetts to use stem cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, cancer and vision loss common among the elderly. In doing so, Pfizer is touting that it becomes the first big pharma to have such a dedicated effort, which will include hiring 70 scientists to staff the labs…more

Beauty fillers, ugly side effects? – An ugly side of the beauty business emerged today, as an FDA briefing listed 930 reports of side effects for injectable wrinkle fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm…more

King’s new pain pill might make the grade – An FDA advisory committee determined that Remoxy is less susceptible to abuse than the notorious OxyContin, suggesting the pill will win FDA approval, Bloomberg News reports, although the committee did not take a formal vote…more

FDA to require meta-analyses of diabetes drugs.

More questions about Effient? – Researchers have overestimated the ability to the experimental drug without causing dangerous bleeding, according to a prominent cardiologist, Reuters writes. Prasugrel, you may recall, has twice been delayed by the FDA, which is reportedly set to hold an advisory meeting early next year…more

Major Amylin layoffs – The 25 percent staff reduction, which follows sluggish sales of its flagship Byetta diabetes med, is designed to save more than $100 million next year. After the dust clears, Amylin will have 1,800 employees…more

All right, what’s the big deal with the Crestor/Jupiter/cholesterol study? Some questions answered.

Did you know that the FDA gives drug review vouchers? Neither did I – Two months ago, a new program got under way in the US to promote the development of drugs for so-called neglected diseases that continue to plague the poorest nations. Here is the outline: a drugmaker that seeks approval of a drug to treat one of these infectious diseases gets a voucher, which awards an expedited FDA review of a new drug application for any other med…more

Amgen doing an “Obama” to market new drug? – Taking a leaf out of the marketing playbook of President-elect Barack Obama, biotechnology company Amgen Inc plans to make use of the Internet and social networking sites to market its drugs to consumers…more, plus another take here.

Merck: we still have heart – Merck wants the world to know that when it comes to developing new drugs for cardiovascular disease, the company is in the fight for the long haul…more

The cost of rep sales calls. Have a calculator handy. From John Mack’s Pharma Marketing blog.

I have some real problems with this. Brand-name drug manufacturers liable for generic injuries – A ruling on Friday by a California appeals court is likely to spark a good many lawsuits against big pharma. The upshot – brand-name drugmakers were put on notice that they can be held liable not only for harm caused by their own meds, but also for injuries caused by a generic drugmaker selling a copycat version…more

More doctors quitting.

This is really funny. From the Colbert Report, via PharmaGossip.