Pharma Marketletter articles from June 2005

Pharma Marketletter archives from June 2005

GSK files Fluarix BLA with US FDA.(pharmaceutial industry)(GlaxoSmithKline )(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... GlaxoSmithKline is hoping to gain a slice of the US influenza market with the submission of a Biologics License Application for its flue vaccine Fluarix (split virion, inactivated) to the US Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine has already...

Actelion suspends palosuran program.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Switzerland-based Actelion says that preliminary efficacy data from a proof-of-concept program evaluating its urotensin-II receptor antagonist palosuran for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy do not support a further clinical development...

Ph IIa safety stage of ATL-104 completed.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... UK drugmaker Alizyme says it has successfully completed the dose-escalation safety stage of a Phase IIa clinical study evaluating ATL-104 as a potential mucositis therapy. In the first arm of the trial, 27 patients were administered...

Nabi starts 1st human trial of epidermidis vacc.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US group Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has initiated the first human clinical study of a vaccine to prevent Staphylococcus epidermidis infections in high-risk patients, which include neonates, subjects with in-dwelling catheters and those undergoing...

Myogen and Novartis expand collaboration.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Denver, Colorado, USA-headquartered Myogen says that it has expanded its partnership with Swiss drug major Novartis, which focuses on the discovery and development of novel drugs for cardiovascular disease, to include the former's histone...

Rectogesic: UK launch.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... UK-based speciality pharmaceuticals group Prostrakan says that its Rectogesic, a 0.4% topical nitroglycerin ointment, has been launched in the UK, marking the only available prescription drug for the relief of chronic anal fissure pain. ...

Patients feel pain of Austrian funds' deficit.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The Austrian local health funds are among those pointing to increasing funding problems with the latest estimate of a deficit of 317.0 million euros ($398.7 million) for 2004. The overall deficit in the Austrian funds for last year has turned...

French health spend growth slows.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Growth in French health care spending slowed further in April, rising just 3.5% in the first four months of this year against the same period of 2004. The figures from the health fund organization, the CNAM, have been keenly awaited because...

German pharmacists in deal with health funds.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Leading representatives of German health funds and the country's pharmacy organizations have resolved the simmering row over compensatory payments following what pharmacists claimed was a loss of income in 2004 from sales of prescription drugs....

National cancer inst debuts in France.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Inca, the new French national cancer institute - an organization which will be responsible for all cancer-sector information, treatment and coordination - has been launched with a budget of 70.0 million euros ($88.0 million). This will rise to...

Nigeria's ban on drug imports applauded.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Emma Ebere, who is president of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria as well as managing director of Gemini Pharmaceuticals, has applauded the government of Nigeria's ban on the importation of some...

Australis's TGA seeks greater powers.(pharmaceutial industry)(Therapeutic Goods Administration)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... National drug regulator, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration is seeking increased power over pharmaceutical companies amid claims that an arthritis drug may have contributed to the deaths of 30 people in Australia. Royal Adelaide...

Indian pharma market grows 6.4%.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... In India, sales of cardiovascular medicines have proved to be the fastest-growing among the large therapeutic sectors, increasing 14% to 21.76 billion rupees ($500.8 million) for 2004, followed closely by antidiabetics, up 11% to 9.30 billion...

EFC suspends 10% tax on drug imports.(pharmaceutial industry)(East African Community)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The East African Community, the regional intergovernmental organization of the Republics of Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, has temporarily suspended the 10% tax that was imposed in January on drugs imported into the region,...

Australia: flu center.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The government of Australia has allocated A$23.2 million ($17.6 million) over four years to upgrade the World Health Organization's Melbourne Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza, one of four but the only one in the...

Sanofi-Aventis links with WHF to encourage CD disease prevention.(pharmaceutial industry)(World Heart Federation )
June 6, 2005... The World Heart Federation and France's Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third-largest drugmaker, have entered a three-year partnership agreement to address prevention and control of cardiovascular disease. This announcement was made at the World...

No single treatment best for prostate, says Mayo Clinic.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or hypertrophy, is a condition affects most men as they age. About half of males with an enlarged prostate seek medical treatment because of bothersome urinary tract symptoms. These may include poor urine flow,...

Centralized medical publications functions increase productivity.(pharmaceutical business)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The majority of pharmaceutical companies operate their medical publications organization under a decentralized structure and could potentially increase productivity and publication effectiveness by creating a centralized medical publications...

Biotech 2005: a shift towards predictive, preventative and personalized medicine.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... Tremendous growth is currently taking place within the biotechnology industry worldwide, as society makes the transition from struggling to meet the escalating health problems of aging populations and moving towards a focus on wellness by...

Depressed individuals struggle in silence, new study shows.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... According to a survey commissioned by the World Federation of Mental Health and leading multinational drugmakers Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, people with major depressive disorder, on average, waited more than 11 months to see a doctor...

Vietnam pharma imports.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam imported medicines worth $98.0 million in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%, according to the Vietnamese News Agency. Medicines accounted for around 4% of the city's total...

Alteon's Alagebrium improves age-related blood vessel damage.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US drugmaker Alteon says that a Phase IIa study of its investigational antihypertensive drug alagebrium suggests that it increases arterial elasticity, by breaking advanced glycation end-product crosslinks, and also improves endothelial...

Encysive's Thelin meets Ph III primary endpoint.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Encysive Pharmaceuticals of the USA has released strong data from STRIDE-2, its second randomized, pivotal Phase III clinical trial of Thelin (sitaxsentan) for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension The study of this...

Adherence to AstraZeneca's Pulmicort reduces ER visits.(pharmaceutial industry)(exacerbation rates)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Young children who generally comply with their asthma control therapies, and specifically AstraZeneca's Pulmicort Respules (budesonide inhalation suspension), have lower exacerbation rates, while those less adherent did not experience the same...

New River's ADHD drug sees good Ph III results.(pharmaceutial industry)(Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The USA's New River Pharmaceuticals has reported positive results from a Phase III trial of its lead drug candidate NRP104, a treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The study compared the efficacy, duration of action and...

Eli Lilly's olanzapine: better compliance.
June 6, 2005... People taking atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia were most likely to discontinue therapy due to continued presence of psychiatric symptoms, according to data presented at the 158th annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association,...

Data supports Roche's CellCept for liver transplants.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Swiss drug major Roche says that data reported in over 90 abstracts presented at the American Transplant Congress in Seattle, USA show that liver transplant patients taking its immunosuppressant CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) experience a...

Valentis licenses GeneSwitch to Organon.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US group Valentis has granted UK-based Organon Laboratories, a subsidiary of Dutch firm Akzo Nobel, a worldwide non-exclusive license for its GeneSwitch gene regulation technology for research purposes. Under the terms of the deal, Valentis...

CytRx files arimoclomol IND for ALS.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... CytRx Corp of the USA has filed an Investigational New Drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration for arimoclomol as a therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The firm says it hopes to initiate Phase...

FDA OK's extended shelflife for TAXUS.(pharmaceutial industry)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Canada's Angiotech Pharmaceuticals and its USA-based partner Boston Scientific say that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the extension of the shelflife of the TAXUS Express paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system to 12 months...

Alkermes' alcoholism drug gets FDA priority review.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Alkermes says that its New Drug Application for Vivitrex (naltrexone long-acting injection) has been accepted for a priority review by the US Food and Drug Administration. The agent is being developed as the first long-acting medication...

Biovail gets FDA OK for generic zolpidem.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Canadian group Biovail has received a tentative approval for its zolpidem tablet for short-term treatment of insomnia from the US Food and Drug Administration. Final clearance of zolpidem, a generic version of French drugmaker...

Qiagen to buy artus GmbH in $39M deal.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... Netherlands-based Qiagen NV, a leading provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins, has revealed that its wholly-owned German subsidiary Qiagen GmbH has...

US decision on Sanofi Plavix patent nearer.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The US judicial authorities are now in a position to deliver a verdict on the long drawn-out and complex patent case involving French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis' antithrombosis agent Plavix (clopidogrel). The drug was launched in 1998...

Servier pays up over Redux/Ponderal in Canada.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... French independant pharmaceutical producer Laboratoires Servier has accepted that it must pay C$13.3 million ($10.6 million) in damages to patients in Canada's Quebec province who were treated with the company's appetite-lowering drugs Redux...

Johnson & Johnson expects to have 10-13 NDAs cleared by 2007.(pharmaceutical industry)
June 6, 2005... Leading US health care group Johnson & Johnson, facing generic competition for some of its blockbuster products, unveiled an array of developmental compounds at a New York analysts' meeting late-May, saying that it has 17 drugs in late-stage...

Serono facility gains ISO certification.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Switzerland-based Serono, the third largest biotechnology company in the world, says that the Serono Biotech Center, its manufacturing facility at Corsier-sur-Vevey, has received ISO 14001:2004 certification, the international environmental...

Aricept and Aciphex boost Eisai results.(pharmaceutical industry)
June 6, 2005... Japan's Eisai reported solid consolidated results for the fiscal year to March 2005 on growth of its two global compounds, the Alzheimer's disease drug Aricept (donepezil) and the antiulcerant Aciphex/Pariet (rabeprazole). Total revenues...

FY-2005 revenues decline for Tanabe.(pharmaceutical industry)
June 6, 2005... Tanabe of Japan reported year-on-year declines in consolidated revenues and earnings for the fiscal year to March 2005, reflecting weak sales of independently-developed drugs and an R&D cost hike. Total sales edged down 0.9% to 172.0 billion...

Sankyo's net profit leaps 11.2%, despite 1.4% sales decline on weak pravastatin.
June 6, 2005... Japanese drugmaker Sankyo reported weak consolidated results for fiscal year to March 2005,due to a decline in Japanese sales and exports of its mainstay cholesterol-lowerer pravastatin (trade name Mevalotin in the USA and Pravachol in Japan)....

Parallel trade in the European Union: market integration or free riding?(drugs)
June 6, 2005... Differentials in pharmaceutical pricing and health care spending between European Union member states have led to substantial differences in the cost of drugs across the region. This, in turn, has resulted in significant parallel trade...

UK's NICE decision on Alzheimer's drugs meets unprecedented opposition.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence, which gives guidance for use of drugs and medical procedures for use in the National Health Service in England and Wales, has continued to come under a barrage of criticism for its decision not...

Lithuania govt "does not support drug sector".(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Research carried out by pharmaceutical companies in Lithuania reveals that the country's imports of medicines are 13 times higher than drug exports, according to the LET news agency. The report notes that the Lithuanian government's policies...

House passes UK stem cell Act.(pharmaceutical industry)
June 6, 2005... HR-2520, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, was passed by a virtually unanimous decision of the US House of Representatives. This Bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank...

US HHS appro for multi-state buying.(pharmaceutical industry)(Health and Human Services )
June 6, 2005... US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has approved plans by three states - Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia - to pool their collective purchasing power to gain deeper discounts on prescription medicines for their state...

Xenova's even progress in first-quarter results.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... UK drugmaker Xenova Group has reported a first-quarter 2005 net loss per share of 0.8 pence, in line with its performance during the like, year-ago period which saw a loss of 0.9 pence. Revenues from licensing agreements, strategic...

Evotec income up 10% in 1st qtr.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... German drug discovery and development firm Evotec OAI AG said that revenues for the first quarter of 2005 increased 10% on the like, year-ago period, to 15.9 million euros ($20.0 million), driven by its strong Discovery and Development Services...

Maelor: 41% reduction in 1st-qtr loss.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... UK specialist health care products firm Maelor has reported a first-quarter loss of L660,000 million ($1.2 million), a 41% year-on-year drop, on the strength of an R&D tax credit and a deffered tax asset. According to the company, this arose...

Celsis prelim full-year sees record profit.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Celsis International, a UK-based microbial detection and analytical services provider, has reported total revenues for the year-ended March 31, 2005, of $30.4 million, up 10.1% on the previous year with both its product and laboratory groups...

Merck KGaA grants Organon rights.(pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... German drugmaker Merck KGaA says that its Monaco-based affiliate Laboratoire Theramex, which focuses on products for women's health, has granted worldwide development and marketing rights for its novel oral contraceptive EMM 310066...

Servier's Procoralan as effective as atenolol.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... According to a new analysis of the INITIATIVE study, presented at the British Cardiac Society meeting held in Manchester, UK, French drugs and chemicals maker Servier's Procoralan (ivabradine) is effective and well-tolerated for the treatment...

Strattera: emotional benefit in women.
June 6, 2005... Females with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder taking Eli Lilly's selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor Strattera (atomoxetine HCl) demonstrated no difference in core symptom improvement compared to men, yet experienced a greater...

Three Rivers buys Amphotec/Amphocil rights.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Privately-held company Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals says it has completed the purchase of worldwide rights to the invasive aspergillosis treatment Amphotec/Amphocil (amphotericin B cholesteryl sulfate complex for injection) from fellow...

TopoTargets gets US and EU patents.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Danish oncology group TopoTarget A/S has obtained two patents: US patent number 6888027 and European patent number 1301184, which relate to the company's leading histone deacetylase inhibitor program. The US patent covers a family of...

FDA committee OKs BI's tipranavir for HIV.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The US unit of German drugs major Boehringer Ingelheim says the US Food and Drug Administration's Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee has recommended marketing clearance of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir, a non-peptidic protease...

A-Bio/Novo Nordisk sign Master Service Agreement.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Asia's leading biologics contract manufacturer A-Bio Pharma Pte Ltd has signed a multi-year Master Service Agreement with Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S. Under the deal, Novo Nordisk will engage A-Bio for process development and Good...

FDA grants tentative appro to Teva's generic zolpidem.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel says that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted tentative approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for zolpidem tartrate tablets 5mg and 10mg for the treatment of insomnia. Final...

Codexis and B-MS in research deal.(pharmaceutial industry)(Bristol-Myers Squibb)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... California, USA-based privately-held biosciences group Codexis has entered into an agreement with drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, which is centered on improving biocatalyst productivity for an undisclosed product candidate in the latter firm's...

Japan stock market week to May 30.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... Tokyo saw an extended advance in the week to May 30. The Nikkei 225 closed the review period up 1.0%, while the Topix index gained 0.4%. At the beginning of the week, market dynamics were basically weak due to a lack of new trading incentives,...

Partnerships needed for LDC pediatric cancers.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... The emergence of cancer as a major cause of child deaths in developing countries is not being adequately addressed by national or international health organizations and charities, according to investigators at St Jude Children's Research...

ECoJ says it has "no jurisdiction" in dispute between GSK and Greek wholesalers.(European Court of Justice, GlaxoSmithKline, Syfait)
June 6, 2005... The European Court of Justice has said it is not in a position to offer an opinion in the case concerning Greek pharmaceutical wholesaler Syfait and others versus GlaxoSmithKline Greece, C-53/03, which was referred to it by the Greek...

Swedish monopoly on retail drug sales contrary to EU law, says ECoJ.(pharmaceutial industry)
June 6, 2005... The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Swedish system of selecting medicines, operated by the state-controlled company Apoteket, is liable to place products from other European Union member states at a disadvantage in Sweden compared...

Novartis' Xolair cuts severe exacerbations in asthma patients 44%, study shows.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Data from a clinical study, presented at the centenary congress of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego, California, demonstrate that Swiss drugmaker Novartis' Xolair (omalizumab) cut the rate of severe asthma exacerbations and reduced...

FDA assesses ED drug link to blindness.(erectile dysfunction drugs, Viagra, Cialis, Levitra)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of blindness in men using the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra (sildenafil; Pfizer), Cialis (tadalafil; Eli Lilly/Lilly ICOS) and Levitra (vardenafil; Bayer...

Renovis and Pfizer enter $170M pain deal.
June 6, 2005... US developer of neurological drugs Renovis has signed a global collaboration and licensing deal with the world's largest drugmaker, Pfizer, relating to pain treatments which target the vanilloid receptor (VR1), representing a move potentially...

Roche's new Invirase version OKd in EU.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Swiss drug major Roche has obtained European marketing approval for its new 500mg formulation of Invirase (saquinavir mesylate), a protease inhibitor for the treatment of HIV. This new form, which should be available within a month in the UK,...

Plant therapy for prostate cancer?(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Marking a new strategy in the fight against cancer, scientists have exploited the properties of the plant pigment chlorophyll, which is central to photosynthesis, to develop a potential treatment for prostate cancer. According to a report in...

Halozyme's Hylenex NDA accepted by FDA.(pharmaceutial industry)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US drugmaker Halozyme Therapeutics says that the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted a New Drug Approval application for its drug absorption facilitator, Hylenex (rHuPH20), formerly known as Enhanze SC. The SanDiego-headquartered...

New indication for AstraZeneca's Merrem.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca's antibiotic Merrem IV (meropenem for injection) for the treatment of adults and children with complicated skin and skin structure infections. The agent...

Boston's Liberte: good 30-day safety data.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US stent specialist Boston Scientific says that 30-day safety data from a clinical trial of Liberte, its paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system, supports its safety, as evidenced by a low overall rate of Major Adverse Cardiac Events, which...

S-A's Ketek superior performance in CAP.(pharmaceutial industry)(Sanofi-Aventis)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... France's Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third-largest drugmaker, says that that its antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin) showed superior efficacy in outpatients with community-acquired pneumonia to local standard first-line oral antibiotic therapy in...

Elite's abuse-resisitant oxycodone gets IND.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The USA's Elite Pharmaceuticals says that that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved an Investigational New Drug application for its abuse-resistant oxycodone product. The agent harnesses the firm's proprietary abuse-resistant...

Manhattan's obesity drug: strong results.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... New York, USA-based Manhattan Pharmaceuticals says that its lead candidate drug, the anti-obesity agent oleoyl-estrone, induced significant weight loss in a preclinical pharmacology study when administered alone and in combination with other...

Amarin first-quarter losses widen 47%.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Buenos Aires, Argentina-based pharmaceutical company Amarin Technologies SA has reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2005, inclusive of discontinued activities, of $3.4 million or $0.9 per American Depositary Share versus a net profit,...

Repligen's FY 2005 sees 35% sales rise.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US biopharmaceutical group Repligen says that its total revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, was $9.36 million versus $6.91 miliion for the previous year, and stating that this 35% increase was nourished by sales of recombinant...

Baxter reiterates full-year 2005 outlook.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... At a recent investor conference in Chicago, executives from US drugmaker Baxter International reiterated the firm's financial guidance for the current financial year year, highlighted a number of near-term stratgic objectives and reviewed the...

Guilford loses 20% of workforce over Gliadel.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The USA's Guilford Pharmaceuticals has implemented a program of strategic reorganization, focusing its efforts on sales of its flagship product, the brain cancer drug, Gliadel Wafer (polifeprosan 20 with carmustine implant), and the clinical...

Schering-Plough promotes Michael Perelman to VP global project management at S-PRI.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... US drug major Schering-Plough has promoted Michael Perelman to the position of vice president, global project management, at its Schering-Plough Research Institute, based at Kenilworth, New Jersey. Dr Perelman joined the firm in 1996.

Willie Deese named president of Merck & Co manufacturing division.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Willie Deese, currently senior vice president of global procurement at Merck & Co, has been named president of the group's manufacturing division, succeeding Richard Clark who has been elected chief executive of the firm (Marketletter May 16)...

Stephan Lawton joins Nabi as VP, govt relations.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... USA-based Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has recruited Stephan Lawton as vice president of government relations. Mostly recently, Mr Lawton served as VP and general counsel of the US Biotechology Industry Association.

Momentum names Barbara Rosengren VP, strategic product development.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Momentum Pharmaceuticals, a US biotechnology firm, has appointed Barbara Rosengren as vice president, strategic product development. Ms Rosengren joins the company from Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Borean Pharma names John Nieland as VP, preclinical.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Danish drug development company Borean Pharma A/S has named John Nieland as vice president, preclinical research. Dr Nieland was previously research director at MediGene AG.

EU clears Novartis' acquisition of Hexal.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The European Commission has given its approval for Swiss drug major Novartis to proceed with its acquisition of German generic drugs producer Hexal AG (Marketletter February 28). The deal is expected to conclude this month and will involve the...

Sanitas buys Hoechst Biotika.(pharmaceutial industry)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Sanitas, Lithuania's largest pharmaceutical producer, is reported to have signed an agreement, in late May, to purchase Hoechst-Biotika, a drug manufacturer in the Slovak Republic, according to the LETA news agency. The acquisiton price is said...