PharmaGossip

Road Trip

2008-05-14T03:59:00.002+01:00

Back tomorrow.

Hank McKinnell keeps on truckin'

2008-05-13T17:51:00.002+01:00

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Hank McKinnell to its Board of Directors.

Dr. McKinnell is the former Chief Executive Officer and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pfizer Inc.

He is currently Chairman of the Accordia Global Health Foundation, an organization dedicated to fighting infectious diseases in Africa, and the Lead Director of the Board of Directors of Moody's Corporation.

Are the Republicans on drugs!?

2008-05-13T06:43:00.001+01:00

"The change you deserve."

AstraZeneca - Toprol XL: clinical trials, ain't they a bitch!

2008-05-13T04:39:00.002+01:00

AstraZeneca's Toprol XL, given before surgery to prevent heart complications, increases the danger of stroke or death, researchers said.

The researchers studied 8,351 patients at risk for cardiac complications who were having an operation that didn't involve the heart. While the drug reduced the chance of a heart attack, the increased possibilities for death and stroke may outweigh its usefulness, they said in The Lancet.

``Our results highlight the risk in assuming a peri- operative beta-blocker regimen has benefit without substantial harm,'' authors led by researcher P.J. Devereaux from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario wrote. ``Patients are unlikely to accept the risk.''

More at Bloomberg

US SEC charges three Fla. doctors in trading case

2008-05-12T18:52:00.003+01:00

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said it has charged three Florida doctors with illegal insider trading, including a board member at pharmaceutical company IVAX Corp.

The SEC said Zachariah P. Zachariah (pic), an IVAX board member, began illegally trading in the company's securities only minutes after he learned that IVAX might be acquired.

The agency also charged Zachariah's brother, Mammen Zachariah, and his friend, Sheldon Nassberg, with engaging in illegal insider trading in the stock of an unrelated company, Correctional Services Corp, around the same time as the IVAX trading.
Reuters

More info.

Peter Libby MD explains why he stopped "ghost-talking"

2008-05-12T15:06:00.004+01:00

Some leading medical experts have decided to end an age-old tradition — taking money from drug companies. These doctors used to get paid for making speeches. But they say they're reclaiming their tarnished credibility.

Madeleine Brand talks to Peter Libby, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, about his decision.

Dr. Libby has disclosed that he has served as a consultant for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; AtheroGenics, Inc.; Boehringer Ingleheim; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; GlaxoSmithKline; Interleukin Genetics; Kowa Research Institute; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Pfizer Inc; Sanofi-Aventis; and Schering-Plough Corporation. He has participated in Speakers Bureau activities for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Pfizer Inc.; and Sanofi-Aventis.

Listern here.

You will have heard this melody

2008-05-12T11:33:00.002+01:00

But never played more beautifully.

Paul Gregory plays Gran Vals by Francisco Tarrega.

Physician, Heal Thyself

2008-05-12T10:20:00.003+01:00

Did you know that 60% of doctors today are dissatisfied with their practice of medicine? Our first feature length film is borne out of the dark frustrations of a Boston doctor who refused to ignore that, every day, we are losing good doctors.

Dr. Ryan Flesher’s raw and unscripted look at himself and his own place in medicine provides a unique revelation that our modern day healers have long held silent. Being a physician today carries a complexity and responsibility, known only to those whom are expected to tend to the ills of society. But when doctors are suffering themselves - who really cares? We are all patients and come the day that we allow for money to supersede humanity, we all become collateral damage.

Dr. Flesher, driven by the altruism that brought him into medicine, with camera in hand, will pull back the curtain. In so doing, he becomes both observer and participant in this unique exploration into the psyche of physicians today.

Heal Thyself

GSK - this old heart of mine

2008-05-12T06:29:00.002+01:00

The multinational drugs company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) downplayed an early warning about the rising number of people who have suffered heart attacks after using one of its drugs, abacavir. An anti-Aids medication, abacavir is taken by tens of thousands of people worldwide.
GSK was officially told of the possible risk in May 2005, three years before it issued a statement to its investors saying that the findings of an even stronger potential link between heart attacks and abacavir are "unexpected" and "unconfirmed". The company also said that it could find no association between abacavir use and heart attacks following a trawl through its internal data. However, it failed to mention that its own summary of product characteristics issued when the drug was launched in the late 1990s had described "mild myocardial degeneration" in mice and rats given the drug for two years.

Some scientists monitoring the safety of Aids drugs are privately furious with GSK for downplaying the significance of one of the biggest safety trials of abacavir – one of several anti-virals taken by Aids patients in combined HIV therapy – when the findings were published last month.

"GSK was extraordinarily well prepared in terms of a statement that downplayed the significance of the findings," said a scientist close to the safety study. "As a consequence, people are confused. They think there is something wrong with the study because GSK said it cannot find evidence to support findings of a link with myocardial infarction [heart attack]."

More at The Indy

Paradoxical pharmacology?

2008-05-11T18:50:00.002+01:00

Insider is interested!

China's heparin suppliers - under the red flag!

2008-05-11T18:26:00.003+01:00

The Food and Drug Administration is withholding a list of Chinese heparin suppliers requested by congressional investigators looking into problems with tainted supplies of the blood thinner, saying confidentiality agreements prevent release of the companies' names.

Members of Congress also are concerned that Chinese heparin manufacturers and their raw-material suppliers didn't fully cooperate with an FDA inspection team in February, after the heparin crisis erupted internationally, and barred the FDA from complete access to some workshops, records and workers.

An FDA compliance official testified to a congressional subcommittee April 29 that the FDA could try to revisit facilities in China, but said, "I cannot say whether they will admit us or not, or whether they will allow us to do a full inspection."

Tensions between congressional Democrats and the FDA over the agency's handling of the heparin problem and its willingness to disclose information have escalated in recent weeks.
"The FDA thinks they have it under control, but they really don't," said the congressman leading the investigation, Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). The FDA's reluctance to release the Chinese companies' names is a red flag, he said. "If I was the FDA director, I'd shut down every drug coming in from China" until they were deemed safe, he said.

Big Pharma's Big Problem contd. - Now the WaPo weighs in

2008-05-11T18:04:00.003+01:00

Big pharma needs a miracle drug. The major drug makers are so beaten down that in some instances dividend yields, rather than the next blockbuster drug in the pipeline, are what are propping up the stocks.

Take Pfizer. At its May 7 close of $19.92, the stock is off 28% since last June and is 60% below its all-time high, set in 1999.

Talk about a lost decade.

More at the WaPo.

http://www.kiplinger.com/

The Post-American World

2008-05-11T08:47:00.002+01:00

A great read.

Sub Prime Humor

2008-05-11T08:29:00.001+01:00

A 45 page slide show.

Abbott - Norvir: some weekend reading

2008-05-11T08:24:00.002+01:00

Back in April, we at the Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) blog asked “What is Abbott trying to hide?” in a blog post about drugmaker Abbott Laboratories’ efforts to keep documents from reaching the public in a class action lawsuit challenging Abbott’s unconscionable 400% price hike for its HIV/AIDS drug Norvir.

I’m pleased to report that the Court in that case recently ordered that some of the documents be made available to the public.

PAL have just posted those documents in their entirety on the PAL blog, in an entry titled “What Abbott was Trying to Hide - Court unseals Norvir documents.”

Pfizer - Lipitor: going down

2008-05-10T07:56:00.002+01:00

Sales of Lipitor dropped more than £50 million in England last year, as the blockbuster cholesterol drug fell victim to aggressive cost cutting by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

The decline in Lipitor is especially significant because it is the surest sign yet that PCTs have seized control of the primary care prescribing budget, and are now dictating the market to GPs and pharmaceutical companies.

Sales of Lipitor (atorvastatin) from GP prescribing fell £53 million in 2007 compared to the previous year, representing a very substantial 15% decline for the UK's biggest selling drug.

More

Peter "the" Pitts - come on down!

2008-05-10T07:25:00.002+01:00

Read the comments!

A thought provoking psychiatrist

2008-05-09T16:38:00.000+01:00

http://lakecocytus.blogspot.com/

I particularly like the post about NICE.

"New Rules" from UK's Pharma police

2008-05-09T09:58:00.002+01:00

More detailed requirements for pharmaceutical companies’ relationships with patient groups and health professionals will be included in the revised ABPI Code of Practice which comes into effect on July 1.Many of the changes relate to even greater transparency, and include:

• Companies will have to make publicly available a short description of their support for patient organisations for both financial and significant indirect support.

• Sponsorship declarations must accurately reflect the nature of the company’s involvement.

• It will be a breach of the code to fail to disclose details on ongoing clinical trials.

• Companies will need to have a contract for health professionals and others employed as consultants, and are strongly encouraged to require consultants to declare this as an interest.

• Companies are also encouraged to make publicly available information about donations and grants to institutions etc that support healthcare and research.

As well as changes based on the two codes of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), others include heightening awareness of the need for health professionals to report adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

“The ABPI Code of Practice is continually evolving to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry and its stakeholders can have maximum confidence in the standards set for ethical and responsible behaviour of companies and staff,” said Chris Brinsmead, President of the ABPI. “In this, the 50th year of the ABPI Code of Practice, the ABPI has not only agreed to revisions to implement the new requirements of the EFPIA code – as we are obliged to do – but also made further amendments to reflect experience, comments and suggestions received since the introduction of the 2006 code.”

Other changes include:

• More guidance about meetings and hospitality.

• Additional limitations over the supply of samples.

• The publication of interim case reports when publication of the final report is delayed because the company’s procedures require audit.

• Advertisements for the outcome of certain cases will now appear in the nursing media as well as in medical and pharmaceutical journals.

The changes have been approved by the ABPI following consultation, and will come into effect on July 1 with a transition period. Comments, proposals and suggestions on the code are always welcomed and, where relevant, will be considered for possible inclusion.

A summary of the changes can be viewed at http://www.pmcpa.org.uk

STEPS - not the group, fatty!

2008-05-08T18:00:00.003+01:00

The UK National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has published a MeReC Bulletin (PDF) discussing the drug management of obesity.

The bulletin describes the increasing incidence of obesity and the impact that this has on health. The article also discusses non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods for loosing weight with a more detailed examination of when drugs are appropriate, how effective they are likely to be and the side effects and safety concerns associated with use.

The article concludes that, “it is worth encouraging people to eat a little less and move a little more“. It is also noted that all anti-obesity drugs are associated with modest weight loss of 3 to 5kg and that prescribing should consider the overall benefit in relation to safety warnings, national guidance and licensed product indications.

Finally, the bulletin provides a table of the three currently available anti-obesity drugs with detail given for Safety, Tolerability, Efficacy, Price and Simplicity of use (STEPS) that will aid clinicians in making an informed decision about which drug is most appropriate to use.

Hat tip: Matt

Remote Area Medical in deepest Tennessee

2008-05-08T17:42:00.001+01:00

Forty-seven million Americans have no health insurance. Millions more are underinsured, unable to pay their deductibles or get access to dental care. Here's the story of Remote Area Medical, a charity founded by Stan Brock that was originally designed to bring doctors and medicine into the jungles of the Amazon. But these days RAM finds itself doing much of its business in the U.S. Scott Pelley spent a weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee taking a look at RAM in action.

Watch the video.

Big Pharma's Big Problem - an FT redux

2008-05-08T16:54:00.001+01:00

Some of the world's biggest drugs companies - including Britain's GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca - are facing their worst crisis in decades, as their future revenues come under threat from shrinking drug pipelines, increased competition from generic rivals and a slew of patent expiries.

"For the first time in history, the industry will have negative growth in 2011," says Alexis de Rosnay, global co-head of healthcare at Lehman Brothers. This is a timebomb the sector has known about for some time. Its last big answer, up to about three or four years ago, was to pursue large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

AstraZeneca was created in a £52bn deal in 1999. GSK resulted from a £120bn deal in 2001. Pfizer launched a $53bn takeover of Pharmacia in 2003 and Sanofi-Aventis was formed from a $64bn merger in 2004.

More at the FT

Amgen's Sharer shares his regrets with shareholders

2008-05-08T13:33:00.002+01:00

The beleaguered chief executive of biotech giant Amgen Inc. confronted an often testy group of shareholders Wednesday, his first annual meeting with investors since the company's fortunes took a hard turn last summer.

"Last year was awful. I deeply, deeply regret that," Kevin Sharer said, appearing calm and confident during an hour long presentation to an audience of several hundred at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village.

He also sought to reassure investors. Sharer said the company was off to a good start this year and suggested that many of Amgen's woes should be viewed along with problems affecting all drug companies. "I'm not making any excuses . . . but things are pretty stormy out there right now."

More at LA Times

Which Big Pharma CEO has wandering eyes?

2008-05-08T13:25:00.003+01:00

So, here's the story:

When Michele Royalty wore a simple black strapless gown to a black-tie business dinner for her pharmaceutical company, she says, "I saw the CEO's eyes drop to my cleavage."

"Once a CEO is startled by seeing your cleavage, an image is set in his mind that is not going to disappear," says Ms. Royalty, who recently retired as an executive at the company. "I never wore that type of dress again."

More at WSJ

So the $64,000 dollar question - who did Michele work for?

The article doesn't say.

But this might help us solve the mystery!

Guess what Merck has called it's 1200 drug rep layoff programme?

2008-05-07T10:00:00.002+01:00

"Plan to Win"!