Here are some highlights from current pharma and clinical business news, views and data-
Glaxo CEO Plans To Announce Two "Small" Acquisitions Soon.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty plans to announce two 'small' acquisitions soon, after walking away from five potential purchases or partnerships since October. In an interview on Friday with Bloomberg News, Witty "said prices are still being pushed up by competition. He declined to elaborate on the planned acquisitions." In addition, "the drug maker will continue to defend keeping Avandia [rosiglitazone] on the market at a July meeting of a US Food and Drug Administration advisory board, Witty said." He stated, "The only thing I ask for is that qualified scientists with the right evidence and data calmly look at the information."
Cheap Inhalable Measles Vaccine May One Day Replace Syringes.
A cheap inhalable measles vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Colorado-Boulder, "could soon be available to families that could pave the way for an end to treatment by syringe for children." Within a few weeks, "human trials of the treatment are scheduled to begin," and they "could lead to inexpensive vaccines for illnesses ranging from tuberculosis to cervical cancer." The researchers are "also hope the trials, which come after five years of development, could reduce the need for painful injections."
Teva Poised To Dominate Generic Drug Industry.
The New York Times reported on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, "an Israeli enterprise that, despite not being a household name, is the biggest generic drug maker in the world." The Times added, "Teva's size gives it huge advantages." In fact, "it has enough cash to buy up a strategically located rival generic maker about every other year." It also "has the bravado, and muscle, to mount patent challenges against name-brand drug makers and wring favourable settlements from them." Still, the Times notes that FDA regulators "raised concerns about bacterial contamination of generic propofol, an intravenous anesthetic used in surgery, made at" one of its US plants, and though "Teva recalled thousands of vials of propofol last year," the "regulators said the company hadn't adequately ensured that the problem wouldn't repeat itself."
Pfizer, Merck Post Large 1Q Revenue Increases, Lower Income.Net
The world's two largest drug makers, Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co., posted big revenue jumps but lower net income for the first quarter, as they enjoyed new revenue from big rivals acquired last year but absorbed billions in severance pay and other costs." The AP adds that their "relatively upbeat profit forecasts for this year and beyond are a sign the acquisitions are starting to pay off." In addition, both "companies beat Wall Street profit expectations widely and edged out revenue expectations, partly due to favourable currency exchange rates."
Eli Lilly & Co. Sues Watson Pharmaceuticals To Block Generic Version Of Osteoporosis Drug.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that "Eli Lilly and Co. sued Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. to prevent the sale of a generic version of its osteoporosis drug Evista [raloxifene] in the United States." In its application for Food and Drug Administration "approval to sell a low-cost version of the Lilly medicine," Watson asserted that Lilly's "patents are invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed, according to a complaint filed by Lilly on May 3 in federal court in Indianapolis."
Expiring Patents, Price Controls Expected To Slow Drug Sales.
Pharmaceutical sales growth worldwide will slow this year due to expiring patents for blockbuster drugs and tighter price controls imposed by European governments." In fact, according to "health industry data firm IMS Health...global prescription drug sales growth" may "slow to between 4 percent and 6 percent compared with 7 percent in 2009. Pharmaceutical companies are expected to "face new competition from lower cost generics" for "drugs worth more than $142 billion." Meanwhile, "European governments will tighten price cost controls to manage increasing healthcare expenses of aging baby boomers."
As increasing demand in developing countries offsets price drops tied to generic competition," drug sales "may grow at least 5 percent worldwide...according to IMS." Emerging markets, including those in "China and India, are expected to grow by as much as 17 percent a year, helping offset the $136 billion a year worth of medicines that will lose patent protection." Notably, "the top disease areas for growth will be in diabetes, cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis, IMS said."
Glaxo CEO Plans To Announce Two "Small" Acquisitions Soon.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty plans to announce two 'small' acquisitions soon, after walking away from five potential purchases or partnerships since October. In an interview on Friday with Bloomberg News, Witty "said prices are still being pushed up by competition. He declined to elaborate on the planned acquisitions." In addition, "the drug maker will continue to defend keeping Avandia [rosiglitazone] on the market at a July meeting of a US Food and Drug Administration advisory board, Witty said." He stated, "The only thing I ask for is that qualified scientists with the right evidence and data calmly look at the information."
Cheap Inhalable Measles Vaccine May One Day Replace Syringes.
A cheap inhalable measles vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Colorado-Boulder, "could soon be available to families that could pave the way for an end to treatment by syringe for children." Within a few weeks, "human trials of the treatment are scheduled to begin," and they "could lead to inexpensive vaccines for illnesses ranging from tuberculosis to cervical cancer." The researchers are "also hope the trials, which come after five years of development, could reduce the need for painful injections."
Teva Poised To Dominate Generic Drug Industry.
The New York Times reported on Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, "an Israeli enterprise that, despite not being a household name, is the biggest generic drug maker in the world." The Times added, "Teva's size gives it huge advantages." In fact, "it has enough cash to buy up a strategically located rival generic maker about every other year." It also "has the bravado, and muscle, to mount patent challenges against name-brand drug makers and wring favourable settlements from them." Still, the Times notes that FDA regulators "raised concerns about bacterial contamination of generic propofol, an intravenous anesthetic used in surgery, made at" one of its US plants, and though "Teva recalled thousands of vials of propofol last year," the "regulators said the company hadn't adequately ensured that the problem wouldn't repeat itself."
Pfizer, Merck Post Large 1Q Revenue Increases, Lower Income.Net
The world's two largest drug makers, Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co., posted big revenue jumps but lower net income for the first quarter, as they enjoyed new revenue from big rivals acquired last year but absorbed billions in severance pay and other costs." The AP adds that their "relatively upbeat profit forecasts for this year and beyond are a sign the acquisitions are starting to pay off." In addition, both "companies beat Wall Street profit expectations widely and edged out revenue expectations, partly due to favourable currency exchange rates."
Eli Lilly & Co. Sues Watson Pharmaceuticals To Block Generic Version Of Osteoporosis Drug.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that "Eli Lilly and Co. sued Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. to prevent the sale of a generic version of its osteoporosis drug Evista [raloxifene] in the United States." In its application for Food and Drug Administration "approval to sell a low-cost version of the Lilly medicine," Watson asserted that Lilly's "patents are invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed, according to a complaint filed by Lilly on May 3 in federal court in Indianapolis."
Expiring Patents, Price Controls Expected To Slow Drug Sales.
Pharmaceutical sales growth worldwide will slow this year due to expiring patents for blockbuster drugs and tighter price controls imposed by European governments." In fact, according to "health industry data firm IMS Health...global prescription drug sales growth" may "slow to between 4 percent and 6 percent compared with 7 percent in 2009. Pharmaceutical companies are expected to "face new competition from lower cost generics" for "drugs worth more than $142 billion." Meanwhile, "European governments will tighten price cost controls to manage increasing healthcare expenses of aging baby boomers."
As increasing demand in developing countries offsets price drops tied to generic competition," drug sales "may grow at least 5 percent worldwide...according to IMS." Emerging markets, including those in "China and India, are expected to grow by as much as 17 percent a year, helping offset the $136 billion a year worth of medicines that will lose patent protection." Notably, "the top disease areas for growth will be in diabetes, cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis, IMS said."
