Pharma Marketletter articles from March 2005

Pharma Marketletter archives from March 2005

CMS says US 2007-14 aggregate Rx spending will decelerate, despite Medicare benefit.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
March 7, 2005... Growth in US health care expenditures are anticipated to remain stable through 2006, at just over 7.0%, the result of diverging public- and private-sector spending trends, and with fast growth in the former sector being exemplified by the...

US consumers value Rx drugs but believe makers put profits first, says Kaiser poll.(Pharmaceutical industry)
March 7, 2005... US consumers believe prescription medicines are improving their lives but most also say the drug industry cares more about profits than people, according to a new survey published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 78% of adults polled said...

PhRMA members R&D spend tops $38 billion.(Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... R&D investment by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America member companies totaled a record $38.8 billion in 2004, up 12.6% from $34.5 billion in 2003 and an estimated $2.0 billion in 1980, says the PhRMA. R&D is focusing more...

Pfizer to acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals.(Pfizer Inc. acquires IDUN Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
March 7, 2005... Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, says it has entered into an agreement to acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held US firm focused on the discovery and development of therapies to control apoptosis, a process of cell death that...

Alpharma in deal with India's Orchid.(Alpharma Inc. enters into agreement with Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US firm Alpharma has entered into an agreement with Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, a Chennai, India-based company, whereby the latter will develop, manufacture and supply generic prescription products for exclusive sale by the former. ...

Japan's Sankyo and Daiichi confirm $7.7 billion merger to create critical mass.(Sankyo Company Ltd.)(Daiichi Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)
March 7, 2005... Following strong rumors in the preceding days, on February 25, Japanese drugmakers Sankyo and Daiichi Pharmaceutical confirmed their intention to merge (Marketletter February 28), in a stock deal valued at around 813.0 billion yen ($7.72...

French govt gives go-ahead for Boiron-Dolisos merger, but with conditions.
March 7, 2005... The French Economics and Industry Ministry has given the go-ahead to the merger between the country's main homeopathic drug producers, Boiron and Dolisos (Marketletters passim), but has stipulated that this should be "under certain conditions."...

Spain's Faes Farma sees 2004 net profit boosted by a one-time gain.(Pharmaceutical industry)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Spanish drugs company Faes Farma has posted a 22% jump in 2004 net profit to 23.8 million euros ($31.1 million), but the results came mostly from a 5.0 million-euro extraordinary gain, the company acknowledged in a statement to local stock...

Japan's Shionogi to boost R&D budget; outlines current pipeline projects.
March 7, 2005... Japanese drugmaker Shionogi held an R&D meeting in Tokyo last month to update analysts on its current activities and mid-term R&D projects. The company is set to increase its R&D budget over the next five years, planning to invest some...

Enablex in elderly: no cognition impairment.(Novartis AG)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Novartis' Enablex (darifenacin), a one-daily treatment for over-active bladder, does not impair cognition in elderly patients, according to a study published in the Journal of Urology (February issue). While the randomized, double-blind,...

Neose completes $32M stock offering.(Neose Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Neose Technologies of the USA has closed the sale of 8,050,000 shares of its common stock, which includes 1,050,000 shares purchased by the underwriters in the offering to cover over-allotments. Total gross proceeds from this offering are $32.2...

UK's Provalis to de-list from USA's Nasdaq.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK-based pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics group Provalis says that it intends to: terminate its American Depositary Receipt program and its NASDAQ listing on the USA's Nasdaq market; and, as soon as possible thereafter, suspend its...

Wyeth wins PA diet drug trial.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US drug major Wyeth says that the jury in the cases of Melinda Hoyt versus Wyeth and DaLene Marlowe vs Wyeth in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia has found in favor of Wyeth. The verdict came at the close of the first phase, the damages...

Analysts slash forecasts on AstraZeneca's Crestor.
March 7, 2005... The already-battered shares of Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca took another hit on February 25, when analysts at Goldman Sachs and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein expressed strong doubts about future profits from the company's...

Personalized medicine's impact on pharma/ life sciences: PricewaterhouseCoopers.
March 7, 2005... Pharmacogenomics will alter the balance of power in how drugs are developed, tested, marketed and prescribed over the next decade, and the blockbuster business model of big drug firms will eventually give way to a more targeted approach. As...

Dendreon posts strong results for Provenge combination therapy.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US cancer specialist biotechnology group Dendreon has revealed strong results from a Phase II study of its experimental vaccine Provenge. In combination with Roche's Avastin (bevacizumab), Provenge increased prostate-specific antigen doubling...

Transgene plans to focus its product pipeline on cancer.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The French vaccine's and immunotherapy specialist company, Transgene, announced its new strategic goals alongside its 2004 financial results. Transgene has decided to limit its product portfolio and concentrate on three of its candidates:...

Strong trial results for two Millennium Pharma anticancer candidates.(Velcade and MLN2704)
March 7, 2005... USA-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals has reported encouraging results from two clinical trials of Velcade (bortezomib) in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the data were derived from...

Biotica and Cambridge University announce polyketide synthesis program.(Biotica Technology Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Privately-held UK-based biotechnology firm Biotica Technology and the University of Cambridge have secured funding for a collaborative research initiative into into new heterologous expression systems for the production of polyketides,...

Potential drug target for cocaine abuse found.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Researchers from the US National Institute of Drug Abuse have found that a benztropine-like substance, a drug used to treat Parkinson's disease, can block the stimulating effects of cocaine, suggesting a potential treatment for abusers. ...

Novo Nordisk posts strong results for stroke therapeutic.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Danish firm Novo Nordisk has posted encouraging results from a clinical trial of its NovoSeven (recombinant coagulation factor VIIa) in the treatment of acute intracerebral hemorrhage. The data, published in the New England Journal of...

Marijuana analogue may stall decline from Alzheimer's.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Research to be published in last week's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience shows that a synthetic analogue of the active component of marijuana may reduce the inflammation and slow the mental decline associated with Alzheimer's disease. ...

Boehringer Ingelheim sees strong results for tipranavir.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Data from a Phase III study of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir presented at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections indicate that it is twice as effective at reducing the viral load as the market-leading...

Artemis, CXR and ITI launch $10.5M R&D initiative.(ITI Lifesciences, CXR Biosciences)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Dundee, Scotland-based biotechnology firms ITI Lifesciences and CXR Biosciences have launched a L5.5 million ($10.5 million) R&D program in collaboration with the German research technology group, Artemis Pharmaceuticals. The companies...

Antisoma's first-half losses grow $3.2M.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK cancer drug developer Antisoma's interim results show the company's assets standing at L32.3 million ($61.8 million) in cash and short-term investments for its first - half year to December 31 2004, with operating losses of L2.8 million for...

Italy OKs 79 new drugs, plans R&D promotion.(pharmaceutical research development)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Italy's drug agency, the AIFA, has approved for marketing 79 new pharmaceutical products and has also established a new commission to promote drug R&D. The new panel, the CRS, will be headed by Silvio Garattini, director of the Mario Negri...

German public health funds in surplus.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Germany's public-sector health funds now expect a surplus of around 3 billion ($3.95 billion) for their 2004 operations in the wake of the government's health reform. However, Health Minister Ulla Schmidt's call for a significant reduction...

Slowdown in Swiss pharma market growth.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Pharmaceutical sales in Switzerland increased 4.5% last year to reach a value of 4.05 billion Swiss francs ($3.46 billion), and this was the lowest rate of growth seen in the market for a decade, according to the industry organization...

French Rx spending up.(health care spending)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The CNAM health fund organization says French health care spending slowed markedly in 2004. It rose 4.9%, higher than Parliament's 4% target but under the Social Security Accounts Commission's 5.7% forecast last September. However, drug...

Strong technology and sound strategy cement MorphoSys' future success.(conference, management)(Company Profile)
March 7, 2005... Kicking off MophoSys' annual conference in Frankfurt, Germany, chief executive Simon Moroney claimed that "2004 was an outstanding year, with faster-than-expected profitability and a substantially-strengthened product line." Indeed, the group's...

Novogen posts 6% 1st-half sales rise.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Australia's Novogen saw improved sales for the half year to December 31, 2004, and a marginal increase in expenditure due to significant advances with human clinical trialling of its lead anticancer drug phenoxodiol, the company says. The...

India's Zydus to enter Brazil generics market.(Zydus Cadila)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila is to enter the Brazilian generics market after the drug regulatory body, the Anvisa, approved the marketing of four generic drug products. The company has a further application in the pipeline to market five more...

Mylan takeover of King aborted.(Mylan Laboratories Inc., cancels takeover of King Pharmaceuticals Inc.,)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The long-running saga of generics drugmaker Mylan Laboratories' proposed takeover of fellow USA-based King Pharmaceutical (Marketletters passim) had been drawn to a conclusion, with both partners unable to agree on terms for a revised...

Discovery Labs complete $29.1M offering.(Discovery Laboratories Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US biopharmaceutical firm Discovery Laboratories has completed its previously-announced registered direct offerings to select institution investors for an aggregate of 5,060,000 shares of common stock. The shares were priced at $5.75 each,...

Cenix signs research deal with Schering AG.(Cenix BioScience GmbH)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Germany's Cenix BioScience GmbH, a specialist in advanced RNA interference-based research services, and drug major Schering AG of Berlin, Germany, have signed research service agreements to accelerate the latter's target discovery and...

IMPAX intervenes in Barr litigation.(Impax Laboratories Inc., BARR Laboratories Inc.)
March 7, 2005... IMPAX Laboratories says that it has filed a motion in the US for the District of Columbia to intervene as a defendant in a law suit by Barr Laboratories against the Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this month, Barr Laboratories brought...

Tentative FDA appro for Ranbaxy's donepezil.(Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a tentative approval for donepezil hydrochloride to Ranbaxy Laboratories of India. Donepezil is Japanese drugmaker Eisai's branded medicine Aricept. The tentative approval by the FDA does not...

Aurobindo gets FDA OK for generic metformin.(Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... India's Aurobindo Pharma says that it has received US Food and Drug Administration approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Metformin, used in the treatment of diabetes. The company, which plans to make both active...

Phytopharm plunges as Yamanouchi looks set to drop Cogane development.(Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK-based Phytopharm says that it has been informed by Japan's Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical that, as a result of a portfolio review ahead of the merger with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical, it is likely it will terminate the licensing agreement, covering...

Tercica submits NDA for Increlex, for short stature, in USA.(new drug application)
March 7, 2005... USA-based Tercica says that it has submitted a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration to market Increlex (mecasermin [rDNA origin] injection), recombinant human Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (rhIGF-1), for the long-term...

Bioogen and Elan suspend sales of Tysabri.(Biogen Idec)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Biogen Idec of the USA and Ireland-based and Elan Corp have announced the voluntary suspension in the marketing of Tysabri (natalizumab), a treatment for multiple sclerosis. The companies are suspending supply of the drug from commercial...

IMI plans major cardio R&D program.(Inverness Medical Innovations got $57.0 million fund support from ITI Life Sciences for research and development programs)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Inverness Medical Innovations, a US manufacturer and marketer of rapid diagnostic products for the consumer and professional markets, says that ITI Life Sciences, a Scottish economic and business development initiative, has agreed to provide...

Rx safety fears are an opportunity for biotech to educate Congress and public: BIO meeting.(Biotechnology industries)
March 7, 2005... Biotechnology companies operate in the world's most highly-regulated industry, and those who do not like the sector work to shape the environment in which they function, according to Karen Bernstein, editor-in-chief of BioCentury Publications....

US CMS proposes competitive acquisition for physician-administered drugs.
March 7, 2005... US physicians who administer drug products in their offices to Medicare beneficiaries under the plan's Supplementary Medical Insurance Program (Part B) could have the option of an alternative process for obtaining the drugs under a proposed...

New mid-level drugs "spend $71M to launch".(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Mid-level drug brands (ie, those slated to peak at annual sales under $1.0 billion but over $500 million) invest $71.0 million on average in marketing between Phase III trials and the first year on the market, reports Cutting Edge Information....

Promising results for Alnylam's AMD RNAi treatment.(Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... USA-based RNAi therapeutics company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has posted encouraging in vivo efficacy data on the use of its RNA interference technology in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Animal model experiments conducted...

Genaera posts strong preliminary results for AMD drug.(age-related macular degeneration)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Genaera has posted positive clinical trial results, including pharmacokinetic data and updated visual acuity outcomes, from a multi-center open-label US Phase II clinical trial with Evizon (squalamine lactate) for the treatment of choroidal...

Actelion's Tracleer gets Japanese go-ahead.(pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Switzerland-based Actelion has received a favorable review of its pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy, Tracleer (bosentan) from the Japanese health authority. This evaluation will form the basis for the Japanese government's marketing...

New indication for ImmuneRegen's Homspera.(ImmuneRegen BioSciences Inc.'s airway hyperactivity treatment)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Arizona, USA-based R&D biotechnology firm ImmuneRegen Biosciences has reported positive results from an animal study of its drug candidate, Homspera (modified substance P), in the treatment of airway hyperactivity. The study used a...

Memory Pharma starts dosing in Phase I study of MEM 3454.(nicotinic alpha-7 receptor)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US drug firm Memory Pharmaceuticals has commenced dosing in a Phase I study of MEM 3454, a partial agonist of the nicotinic alpha-7 receptor. The study is being conducted in Toronto, Canada, under a Clinical Trial Application filed with Health...

Strong results for APP's Abraxane.(American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc.'s breast cancer treatment)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US drugs firm American Pharmaceutical Partners has posted strong results from a Phase III clinical study of Abraxane (paclitaxel albumin-bound particles for injectable suspension) in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The trial...

MedImmune and Abbott expand ex-US agreement.(Abbott Laboratories)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US drugmaker MedImmune has amended its ex-US distribution agreement with drug major Abbott Laboratories for monoclonal antibodies directed against respiratory syncytial virus. Under the terms of the amended agreement, Abbott will distribute...

Oncolytics wins FDA trial approval for malignant glioma therapy.(Oncolytics Biotech Inc. to test Reolysin)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Canada-based Oncolytics Biotech has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration to begin a Phase I/II clinical trial to investigate the use of Reolysin, a proprietary formulation of human reovirus, to treat patients with...

UK plans more Rxing by nurses, pharmacists.
March 7, 2005... UK Health Secretary John Reid has announced new proposals for pharmacists to be able to prescribe medicines for a range of common illnesses and take on duties such as patient admission and discharge reviews, acute pain management and medication...

Germany: generics set for consolidation?(Novartis AG acquires Hexal Pharma)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Following the acquisition by Novartis of German generic drugs producer Hexal (Marketletter February 28), Volker Fitzner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers says he is expecting a tide of consolidation in the national generics arena. Bernd Wegener,...

UK NICE seeks to curb Alzheimer's drugs.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Eisai's Aricept (donepezil), Novartis' Excelon (rivastigmine) and Johnson & Johnson/Shire's Reminyl (galantamine) are not recommended for use in the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, according to preliminary recommendations by...

Canada "must repeal Rx price controls:" study.(Pharmaceutical industry )
March 7, 2005... Canada's pharmaceutical policy is failing to provide better outcomes than competitive markets could, and its price controls distort the market, reduce competition and drive prices up, according to a new study by The Fraser Institute, a Canadian...

Indian govt budget disappoints pharma.
March 7, 2005... India's Union government's budget for 2005-6 does little to help promote the country's pharmaceutical sector or access to medicines, according to industry spokesmen. The budget, announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on February 28,...

BioVision Life Sciences Forum 2005.
March 7, 2005... BioVision's World Life Sciences Forum 2005 will be held April 11-15 in Lyon, France, with speakers including: World Health Organization Director General Jong-wook Lee; Astra- Zeneca chief executive Sir Tom McKillop; Bernard Kouchner, co-founder...

Australian pharma challenge to govt.(Pharmaceutical industry )(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Pharmaceutical industry association Medicines Australia has called on the government for a White Paper on future access to subsidized drugs under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. In its submission to the federal budget, the group challenges...

Provalis half-year 2004 results in line.(financial reports)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK pharmaceutical and medical diagnostics firm Provalis has announced second half-year 2004 sales of L6.7 million ($12.8 million), up 4.6% on the like-year earlier period, with a gross profit of L3.5 million. Within the pharamceutical...

UPDATE: Japan's Sankyo and Daiichi confirm $7.7 billion merger to create critical mass.(Daiichi Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. and Sankyo Company Ltd.)
March 7, 2005... Following strong rumors in the preceding days, on February 25, Japanese drugmakers Sankyo and Daiichi Pharmaceutical confirmed their intention to merge (Marketletter February 28), in a stock deal valued at around 813.0 billion yen ($7.72...

Solvay sees dip in 2004 pharma sales.
March 7, 2005... Belgian pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics group Solvay reported a 4% rise in total sales to 7.88 billion euros ($10.45 billion) for 2004 although, at constant exchange rates, the increase would have been 7%. Net income leapt 26% to 541.0...

Sanofi-Aventis 2004 EPS jumps 18.2%.(earnings per share, financial reports)
March 7, 2005... France's Sanofi-Aventis, now the world's third-largest drugmaker through the merger of Sanofi-Synthelabo and Aventis last year, reported a solid set of financial results for 2004, with net income rising 17.9% to 5.25 billion euros ($6.95...

Nautilus completes 7.25M-euro financing.(Nautilus Biotech S.A.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... France's Nautilus Biotech, a private protein pharmaceutical company, has announced the completion of a 7.25 million-euro ($9.6 million) round of financing with a syndicate led by Auriga Partners. Along with existing investors, Matignon...

Icahn hails Mylan/King merger collapse a "victory".(investor Carl Icahn, Mylan Laboratories Inc. and King Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Responding to the announcement by Mylan Laboratories and King Pharmaceuticals that they have terminated their proposed merger (see page 7), billionaire investor Carl Icahn stated that this was a "victory for all Mylan shareholders and a victory...

Progress in settling Wyeth diet drug claims.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... US pharmaceutical major Wyeth has said that plaintiffs' attorneys representing a substantial number of claimants who have opted out of the National Diet Drug Settlement (relating to damage caused by the firm's previously-marketed fenfluramine...

Serono licenses Rosetta Resolver system.(Rosetta Biosoftware )(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Leading Swiss biotechnology firm Serono has licensed from Rosetta Biosoftware the US firm's Rosetta Resolver system. This is an enterprise-wide gene expression data analysis system designed to meet the scientific and business requirements of a...

UPDATE: Biogen and Elan pull MS drug Tysabri from the market on two cases of CNS disorder.(Biogen Idec, multiple sclerosis, central nervous system)
March 7, 2005... Biogen Idec of the USA and Ireland-based Elan Corp have voluntarily suspended marketing of their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab), following reports of two cases of serious adverse events, one of which was fatal, in patients taking...

"No more than necessary," - Nicorette debuts new ad campaign.(smoking cessation product)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Nicorette, the UK's leading nicotine-containing smoking cessation brand, has launched a new advertising campaign for placement in key pharmacy, nursing, general practitioner and trade journals in the run-up to this year's No Smoking Day. ...

Covalys Biosciences and Cisbio enter collaboration.(Cisbio international )(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Switzerland's Covalys Biosciences AG and France-headquartered Cisbio international say they have signed a deal to develop products combining the former's SNAP-tag protein-labeling system with the latter's homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence...

Niro expands pharmaceutical test center in Denmark.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Niro is finalizing a 10.0 million-euro ($13.4 million) invest program centered on the expansion of its pharmaceutical testing site located at the firm's head office. Already containing an extensive range of...

UK drugmakers and doctors slam NICE preliminary "no" to Alzheimer's drugs.(Royal College of Psychiatrists of United Kingdom condemns the use of cholinesterase inhibitors for treating Alzheimer's disease )
March 7, 2005... The UK Royal College of Psychiatrists has condemned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's preliminary recommendation that the four cholinesterase inhibitors currently licensed in the UK to treat Alzheimer's disease should not be used...

Spanish 4.2% pharma discount takes effect.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... At the beginning of March, Spain imposed a general 4.2% discount on the price of all medicines which have been on the market for more than one year, except those which are covered by the reference price system or whose prices are no more than 2...

Cyprus: 25% Rx price cut.(drug pricing policy)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... The government of Cyprus' new drug pricing policy took effect at the start of March and it will, by basing prices on the average in four European Union member states, reduce average prices by around 25%. The country's association of drug...

Editor's views on Japanese M&A; Tysabri withdrawal.(pharma merger and acquisition )(Editorial)
March 7, 2005... The past week has been one of those when news has flowed thick and fast - some good and some not - and keeping on top of it all has been a challenge. Just in time for the previous issue of the Marketletter, we wrote about the "rumored" merger...

IMPAX gets final FDA approval for generic Dantrium.(Impax Laboratories Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... USA-based IMPAX Laboratories says that the Food and Drug Administration has granted final approval to its Abbreviated New Drug Application for a generic version of Dantrium (dantrolene sodium) 25mg, 50mg and 100mg capsules. Proctor and...

Eiffel signs second asthma feasibility study deal.(Eiffel Technologies Ltd)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Eiffel Technologies of the UK says that it has signed a second asthma feasibility study deal with an unnamed USA-based specialty pharmaceutical company. Eiffel managing director Christine Cussen said: "it's a pity that commercial constraints...

Valeant to debut Tasmar in EU following EMEA approval.(Valeant Pharmaceuticals International)(European Medicines Agency)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... California, USA-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International says that it has received approval from the European Medicines Agency to market Tasmar (tolcapone) in the European Union and plans to begin selling the product immediately. Valeant...

Valeant competes Xcel Pharma buy.(Valeant Pharmaceuticals International acquires Xcel Pharmaceuticals)
March 7, 2005... Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has completed its $280.0 million acquisition of fellow US firm Xcel Pharmaceuticals, following the early termination by the US Federal Trade Commission of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino...

Japan stock market week to February 28.(pharmaceutical index)
March 7, 2005... Tokyo saw an extended gain in the week to February 28. The Nikkei 225 advanced 0.8% to close at the 11,700 mark for the first time in almost eight months, while the Topix index closed up 0.9%. The strength of the Tokyo market was supported by a...

Vernalis: reduced losses for 2004.(Vernalis Group PLC)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK-based drugmaker Vernalis has announced a loss for the year ended December 31, 2004, of L29.2 million ($56.1 million), which is an improvement on 2003, which saw a deficit of L34.2 million. Turnover rose 76.7% to L15.2 million with cash...

Cambridge Bio wins US govt grant.(Cambridge Biostability got L3.5 million grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... UK firm Cambridge Biostability has been awarded a L3.5 million ($5.4 million) research grant towards the development of its dry vaccine technology, with a view to producing the first ever all-in-one inoculation against botulism. The grant,...

Enrollment in trials of alagebrium suspended.(Alteon Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... USA-based Alteon has voluntarily temporarily suspended recruitment of patients in ongoing clinical trials of its alagebrium, pending additional preclinical data and discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration. The agent which,...