Pharmaceutical industry

U.S. Also Files Complaint Against Two Atlanta-Based Nursing Home Chains and Their Principals

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy, Omnicare Inc. of Covington, Kentucky, will pay $98 million, and drug manufacturer, IVAX Pharmaceuticals of Weston, Florida, will pay $14 million to resolve allegations that Omnicare engaged in kickback schemes with several parties, including IVAX, the Justice Department announced today. Approximately $68.5 million of the settlement proceeds will go to the United States, while $43.5 million has been allocated to cover Medicaid program claims by participating states.    » read more »

Company Utilizing New Manufacturing Practices and Technologies

November 2, 2009 -- Abbott Park, Illinois (NYSE: ABT) — Abbott announced today that it is saving 1 billion gallons of water annually since launching a comprehensive, global effort in 2004 to preserve natural resources through reducing use of water in the production of its nutrition and other health care products.

In 2004, the company set out to achieve a reduction in water use compared to its 2004 baseline by the end of 2011, when normalized to sales.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- Abbott Park, Illinois (NYSE: ABT) — Abbott announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Evalve, Inc., the global leader in the development of devices for minimally invasive repair of mitral valves.

The acquisition provides Abbott with a leading presence in the growing area of non-surgical treatment for structural heart disease.Evalve's minimally invasive catheter-based MitraClip® system is the first commercially available treatment option approved in Europe for non-surgical mitral valve repair for patients suffering from the effects of mitral regurgitation – a condition that prevents the heart's mitral valve from closing completely The MitraClip system is an investigational device in the United States and is currently in clinical trials.    » read more »

Pivotal testing of RTS,S is on track for target enrollment of 16,000 children

NAIROBI, KENYA November 3, 2009 -- A pivotal efficacy trial of RTS,S, the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, is now underway in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The trial, which is expected to involve up to 16,000 children, is on schedule, with more than 5,000 children already enrolled, researchers announced Tuesday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Malaria Conference.    » read more »

Proposed Acquisition Of A Majority Stake In Zhejiang Tianyuan

November 04, 2009 -- Basel, November 4, 2009 - Novartis has reached an agreement to acquire an 85% stake in the Chinese vaccines company Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. as part of a strategic initiative to build a vaccines industry leader in this country and expand the Group's limited presence in this fast-growing market segment. This proposed acquisition will require government and regulatory approvals in China.    » read more »

Identifies Projected, Annualized, Pre-Tax Cost Savings of $1.4-$1.7 billion

New Brunswick, NJ (Nov. 3, 2009) – Johnson & Johnson today announced global restructuring initiatives designed to strengthen the company’s position as the world’s leading global health care company. The company is taking steps to prioritize its innovation efforts around the many growth opportunities in health care and to execute aggressively on bringing key new products to market.    » read more »

October 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Mylan Pharmaceuticals, UDL Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical have entered into settlement agreements for a total of $124 million to resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by failing to pay appropriate rebates to state Medicaid programs for drugs paid for by those programs, the Justice Department announced today.    » read more »

Oct. 19, 2009 -- GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK] announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Votrient™ (pazopanib) to treat patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a form of kidney cancer. Approximately 57,700 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with kidney cancer this year, and 13,000 people will die from this disease.    » read more »

Addition of Fort Dodge Animal Health Products Diversifies and Enhances Pfizer’s Already Robust U.S. Portfolio

October 19, 2009 -- NEW YORK -- A new Pfizer Animal Health was unveiled last week as Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth, including its subsidiary Fort Dodge Animal Health, was completed. Pfizer Animal Health is now the world’s leader in the discovery, development, manufacture and sales of veterinary vaccines and medicines for livestock and companion animals.    » read more »

Senator applauds extension of access, continues work on permanent fix

October 19, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Senator Jon Tester today announced that a bill to preserve access to medical supplies for seniors in rural areas was signed into law by the President.

Tester championed the measure in the Senate to postpone new regulations on the sale of medical supplies by community pharmacies.

Without the extension, community pharmacies would have been required to be accredited before selling certain medical supplies. These supplies include wheelchairs, walkers, canes, diabetes testing strips and prosthetics.    » read more »

Results confirm immune response and tolerability

16 October 2009, London, UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced results from a second clinical trial of its pandemic (H1N1) adjuvanted vaccine, which demonstrate that one dose of the vaccine can provide a strong immune response which exceeds criteria as defined by international licensing authorities using the lowest dose of antigen available in pandemic vaccines. The data from GSK’s H1N1 trials announced to date demonstrate the vaccine is generally well tolerated. The vaccine in this trial contains 3.75 µg of H1N1 antigen, which is the EMEA approved final formulation.    » read more »

16 October 2009, London UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved CERVARIX® [Human papillomavirus bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine, recombinant] for the prevention of cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 for use in girls and young women (aged 10-25).    » read more »

October 15, 2009 -- NEW YORK -- Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) announced today that Pfizer has completed its acquisition of Wyeth following the receipt of regulatory approval from all government authorities required by the merger agreement and approval by Wyeth shareholders. Under the terms of the transaction, each outstanding share of Wyeth common stock has been converted into the right to receive $33 in cash (without interest) and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer common stock.

Effective as of the close of trading today, October 15, 2009, Wyeth common stock (NYSE: WYE) will cease trading.    » read more »

"Bills would close a loophole used by brand name drug companies to delay market introduction of affordable generic drugs "

October 14, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and David Vitter (R-LA) today introduced legislation to provide patients with faster access to affordable prescription drugs. The bipartisan Access to Affordable Medicines Act would close a loophole some brand name drug companies exploit that needlessly and unfairly delays the entry of safe, lower-cost generic drugs to the consumer market.    » read more »

"Bills would reduce overuse of emergency rooms, close a loophole used by brand name drug companies to delay market introduction of affordable generic drugs "

October 14, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen today introduced two bills to help control health care costs and provide patients with better care and access to affordable prescription drugs.    » read more »