PharmaGossip

An Amgen Payoff? Why is Ted Kennedy being so nice to the biotech industry?

2009-07-14T00:29:00.001+01:00

I don't mean to suggest that the $5 million Amgen pledged to the Kennedy Institute constitutes a bribe. But it is a difficult sum to ignore.

Slate

Give it a chance

2009-07-13T18:27:00.003+01:00

Buy

Contractors Gone Wild!

2009-07-13T17:43:00.001+01:00

Bummer!

2009-07-13T17:36:00.001+01:00

Bet those Nottingam docs are feeling pissed!

Victoza vs Byetta - fight!

2009-07-13T14:29:00.002+01:00

Liraglutide (Victoza^®) has been launched in the UK for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes. This new drug is a glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) analogue and is in the same class as exenatide (Byetta^®).

There are slight differences between the two products in terms of the product licence.

Exenatide is licensed for combination use with metformin and/or a sulphonylurea in patient not achieving adequate glycaemic control. Liraglutide is licensed in these same combinationsand also in combination with metformin and a glitazone.

Exenatide has been considered in the most recent NICE Diabetes guidance but specific advice from NICE for liraglutide is not due until June 2010.

Hat tip: http://www.prescriber.org.uk/

Clozapine - king of the atypical antipsychotics

2009-07-13T11:20:00.001+01:00

Schizophrenia patients given a cheap older drug are less likely to die prematurely than people on newer treatments, despite the older product's well-known adverse side effects, Finnish researchers said on Monday.

The finding may lead to wider use of clozapine -- sold by Novartis (NOVN.VX) as Clozaril, but also available as a generic -- instead of newer drugs like AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) Seroquel, the current market leader.

Clozapine was the first of a new generation of schizophrenia drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics. But its use has been restricted by health authorities because of safety concerns and patients taking it require regular blood tests.

Despite this, an analysis of 10 years' records for 67,000 patients in Finland found that, compared to treatment with the first-generation drug perphenazine, the risk of early death for patients on clozapine was reduced by 26 percent.

By contrast, mortality risk was 41 percent higher for those on Seroquel, known chemically as quetiapine; 34 percent higher with Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) Risperdal, or resperidone; and 13 percent higher with Eli Lilly's (LLY.N) Zyprexa, or olanzapine.

"We know that clozapine has the highest efficacy of all the antipsychotics and it is now clear, after all, that it is not that risky or dangerous a treatment," study leader Jari Tiihonen of the University of Kuopio said in a telephone interview.

"We should consider whether clozapine should be used as a first-line treatment option."

More

Introducing AdChat - The Website for Pharmaceutical Advertising Professionals

2009-07-13T07:37:00.001+01:00

http://www.adchat.net/

"Tough questions" for Pfizer's Kindler?

2009-07-13T07:09:00.005+01:00

Pfizer’s CEO Jeff Kindler stopped by BusinessWeek for lunch yesterday. Before a firing line of reporters and editors, he tackled some tough questions on the company’s pending mega-merger with Wyeth, the potential for health care reform, and other pressing issues facing his industry.

Here they are.

Insider's view: I bet Jeff had to have a bit of a sit down after that!

Pharma Giles writes ,,,

2009-07-13T00:37:00.003+01:00

Thomas Tossall, a Professor of Medicine at Dry Prong, Louisiana, Medical School, is spearheading a new secret worldwide professional organization. According to Tossall’s preliminary description, it is “to be a forum for senior university staff engaged in surreptitiously taking large amounts of pharmaceutical company money in exchange for puffing pharma products, and who are ready to oppose the small but well organized and well-informed coterie responsible for blowing the whistle on us.”

The Forum for University Corporate Kickbacks in Education as Determined by University Professors (FUCKEDUP), slated to hold its charter conference this month, will be led by a steering committee consisting of physicians from Dry Prong Medical School, the State University of Louisiana and the Catsup Clinic. It will be logistically managed by Crookpointe, a science-based medical communications company that produces “continuing medical educational programs” for doctors to encourage off-label marketing of drugs, and as such is completely sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.

So far, funding for FUCKEDUP has been covered completely out of pocket, though Tossall said he fully anticipates extensive industry participation and funding. The tentative schedule for July’s meeting includes more than two dozen speakers – doctors, industry representatives, health and patient association officials -- and topics range from policy corruption to the establishing the value of collaboration between medicine and industry (for which, of course, Tossall hopes to push as high as he can).

According to Tossall, the perceived risks of physician-industry relationships are too often demonized instead of assessed for value. “The damages are imaginary or speculative,” he claims, dismissing public disquiet at pharmaceutical company payments to supposedly independent scientists as being due to a “crescendo” of anti-business sentiment in science and medicine. “Now that guys like Nemeroff and Biederman have been outed, no one else wants to get caught with their fingers in the till by The New York Times or Senator Grassley”, he says.

For Tossall, the more minor bribes for doctors’ acceptance, for example, of pens and meals -- the “low-hanging fruit” -- is where the corruption trend started, but has grown egregiously in a way that is “highly profitable” to physicians and industry alike.

“The pens, the meals, who’s going to fall on their sword for that?” he said. “What we want is large amounts of cash in plain brown envelopes, and now.”

“Rest assured, we at FUCKEDUP will be doing our utmost to discredit and smear our critics whilst ensuring that the backhanders still continue to roll in for us,” Tossall states, “just like every other pharmaceutical industry funded forum…”

Pharmagossip has a completely unrelated tale from the real world…

Thomas Stossel's Golden ACRE

2009-07-12T06:10:00.003+01:00

A Harvard professor of medicine is organizing a pro-Big Pharma army.

Thomas Stossel, the American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is spearheading a new nonprofit professional organization that is, according to Stossel’s preliminary description, “to be a forum for what we believe is a hitherto silent majority of individuals engaged in clinical service, medical education and medical innovation ready to oppose a small but well organized and well-funded coterie responsible for an anti-industry movement.”

The Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators (ACRE), slated to hold its charter conference this month, will be led by a steering committee consisting of physicians from Harvard Medical School, the State University of New York Downstate and the Mayo Clinic; it will be logistically managed by Rockpointe, a science-based medical communications company that produces educational programs for doctors that are often sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. So far, funding for ACRE has been covered completely out of pocket, though Stossel said he welcomes industry participation and support. The tentative schedule for July’s meeting includes more than two dozen speakers – doctors, industry representatives, health and patient association officials -- and topics range from policy explanation to the value of collaboration between medicine and industry (for which, of course, Stossel makes no apologies).

According to Stossel, the perceived risks of physician-industry relationships are too often demonized instead of assessed for value. “The damages are imaginary or speculative,” he said, adding that in the “crescendo” of anti-business sentiment in science and medicine, “no one wants to sign up to be abused by The New York Times or Senator Grassley.”

Insider's view: Who's backing this? Who's paying Rockpointe's bills?

Also - it's good to see they dont try and defend Biederman and Nemeroff - LOL

A note appended to an article by Stossel published in the British Medical Journal in early 2008 stated that he "is on the boards of directors and owns stock options in ZymeQuest and Critical Biologics Corporations, and his employer has licensed intellectual property to these companies, which may result in his receiving milestone payments, royalties and in the stock options having financial value. He receives fees for speaking to corporations and other organisations on the topic of conflict of interest. He has served on scientific advisory boards for Biogen, Dyax, and Merck."

Bill Moyers Show Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore

2009-07-11T10:33:00.004+01:00

Friday, July 10th, 2009

ALERT: We've just been informed that Bill Moyers, on his show later tonight, will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executive -- the former head of publicity for CIGNA, one of the top health insurance companies in the country -- that the disinformation and attacks on Michael and the film were extensive and well-planned. Their job was to stop the movie from reaching a wide audience (and, more importantly, from having the widespread political impact the industry feared "Sicko" would have).

Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.

The show airs tonight at 9:00 PM on PBS. (Check your local listings for exact times. Many areas show it on Saturday night, too.)

You can check out the segment about Michael and "Sicko" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1FwOCNoZ8

Be sure to tune into Bill Moyers Journal tonight at 9:00 PM for the full program. Check here for local listings (and rebroadcasts):

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html

If you get this email too late, their website will soon post the full show soon:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers

Finally, the truth comes out. From one of their own. Amazing.

Sigma - all aboard the "love boat"

2009-07-11T06:33:00.002+01:00

Putting the "med" in Mediterranean?

A DRUG company is offering doctors who prescribe its medicines a 10-day Mediterranean cruise in a move that could breach a code of conduct.

And taxpayers will help subsidise the cruise - described as "the perfect mix of education and relaxation" - because doctors are being told they can claim it as a professional development program.

The cruise raises questions about drug company ethics and the Australian Medical Association and the peak pharmaceutical industry group have warned the offer could lead to the perception of a conflict of interest for doctors who take it up.

Sigma, a generic drug manufacturer and the third-biggest pharmaceutical company in the country, wants to take general practitioners on a luxury cruise visiting Italy, Malta, Corsica and Monte Carlo in October.

In an advertisement in the Australian Doctor magazine, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is billed as the keynote speaker.

A food science professor, a psychiatrist and a pharmacists will also speak to doctors during the cruise.

The ad said the cruise would have a strong focus on "practical education with a well-balanced format".

"While not in conference sessions, attendees can enjoy the vast range of activities and venues on the ship and of course all the on-shore spoils of the Mediterranean," the ad said.

Although doctors will have to contribute $5195 towards the cost of the trip, industry group Medicines Australia said it would still breach a drug company voluntary code of conduct that requires the educational content of drug company functions to outweigh the hospitality element.

Medicines Australia said a drug company voluntary code of conduct did not allow educational meetings to take place at holiday resorts.

A cruise falls into that category.

The code states that the choice of venue for educational gatherings with doctors must be able to withstand scrutiny and conform to professional and community standards of ethics.

But generic drug companies like Sigma, who are not members of Medicines Australia, do not have to abide by the code.

The code was developed after controversy over drug company hospitality with claims lavish dinners and weekends away could influence the prescribing habits of doctors.

Source

Mmmm pork rinds!

2009-07-11T00:18:00.001+01:00

Don't eat too many

2009-07-10T06:50:00.002+01:00

Hat tip: http://arbroath.blogspot.com/

Merck - Zetia: clinical trials, ain't they a bitch

2009-07-10T06:32:00.002+01:00

Merck & Co. fell in New York trading after researchers halted a study comparing Abbott Laboratories’ cholesterol drug Niaspan with Zetia, sold by Merck and Schering- Plough Corp.

The researchers said there were no safety concerns and chose to stop the study, called Arbiter 6 Halts, after a “prespecified, blinded interim analysis,” according to a posting in the National Institutes of Health’s clinical trials database. Abbott doesn’t know why the study was ended early and wasn’t involved in the decision, said Elizabeth Hoff, a spokeswoman for the company, based in Abbott Park, Illinois.

The study may have shown Niaspan was more effective at unclogging arteries than Zetia, according to analysts from Natixis Bleichroeder Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC. A finding favoring Niaspan may further erode sales of Zetia, which fell 22 percent in the U.S. last year after studies, said Jon Paul LeCroy, an analyst with Natixis, who downgraded Merck today.

More at Bloomberg

Onglyza - prepare for launch

2009-07-09T09:50:00.001+01:00

AstraZeneca Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are preparing to introduce their new diabetes drug Onglyza to the German market in the third quarter as U.S. regulators continue their review of the medicine.

The U.K. and U.S. drugmakers, which plan to jointly market the product as part of a diabetes partnership they began in January 2007, may offer patients a treatment with fewer side effects than current therapies, said Bristol-Myers’s German chief Han Steutel in a press briefing in Frankfurt late yesterday.

“The products which are currently on the market have side effects” such as weight gain and a lower than normal level of glucose in the blood, said Steutel. Onglyza does not have such side effects, he said. The drug won the backing of a European Medicines Agency panel last month, a recommendation that is typically followed by European Commission approval within about three months.

Attention US healthcare consumers

2009-07-09T05:02:00.002+01:00

Big Pharma is gouging you!

Patent-related Barriers to Market Entry for Generic Medicines in the European Union

2009-07-08T16:28:00.001+01:00

PDF

Harborside Health Center

2009-07-08T13:26:00.000+01:00

EC antitrust report out

2009-07-08T12:25:00.001+01:00

The long-awaited European Commission antitrust report following an 18-month investigation of the drugs industry has been published this morning with the authors saying that “shortcomings in the pharmaceutical sector require further action”.

The final report says that market entry of generic drugs is delayed and the EC’s inquiry “suggests that company practices are among the causes”. However, it does not exclude “other factors such as shortcomings in the regulatory framework”. The Commission said it intends to “intensify its scrutiny of the pharmaceutical sector… including continued monitoring of settlements between originator and generic drug companies” and “the first antitrust investigations are already under way”.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that “we must have more competition and less red tape in pharmaceuticals”, saying the sector “is too important to the health and finances of Europe's citizens and governments to accept anything less than the best”. She added that “the inquiry has told us what is wrong with the sector, and now it is time to act”, noting that “we will not hesitate to apply the antitrust rules where such delays result from anticompetitive practices”.

More specifically, the Commission has announced an antitrust investigation into Servier, plus the generics firms Teva, Krka, Lupin, Mylan’s Matrix Laboratories unit and Niche Generics, part of Unichem Labs.

PharmaTimes World News will have comprehensive coverage of the report’s findings and reaction in tomorrow’s elert.

By Kevin Grogan

PharmaTimes

BNP Wives

2009-07-08T07:47:00.001+01:00

Watch
A documentary exploring the extraordinary lives of women working for the British National Party.

Sarah Palin - latest

2009-07-08T07:27:00.002+01:00

Whaddya think of this Pfizer ad?

2009-07-08T07:23:00.001+01:00

Which Big Pharma execs said these quotes

2009-07-08T06:57:00.004+01:00

"Direct-to-consumer promotion was the single worst decision for the industry. When industry says we're spending all the money on R&D but actually it's spending it on TV advertising to preserve margins, it doesn't get much credibility."

And:

"The marginally-different-and-market-it-like-hell model is over."

Answer

Palin latest

2009-07-07T12:31:00.002+01:00