Pharma Marketletter articles from November 2006

Pharma Marketletter archives from November 2006

ABPI manifesto calls for action on drug take-up; says patients in UK "short-changed".(Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry)
November 13, 2006... With the aim of helping to increase the uptake of innovative new drugs and tackle the still existing problem of "postcode" prescribing under the National Health Service, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has issued a...

Indian Pharma cuts 886 drug prices.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Indian government has said that prices of 886 drug brands have been voluntarily reduced by the parmaceutical industry in a 0.26%-74.5% range. The medicines include top selling antidiabetic drugs, antibiotics, cough syrups, painkillers and...

WHO acts on drug procurement fraud.
November 13, 2006... With the huge amounts of money spent every year on pharmaceutical products - up to $50.0 billion - the market is extremely vulnerable to corruption, says the World Health Organization, noting the recent estimates show that as much as 25% of...

Australian medical advances lauded.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Pharmaceutical trade association Medicines Australia says it welcomes the release of Research Australia's report into medical advances, titled "Then, Now...Imagine," which was developed in consultation with 10 of Australia's leading health and...

US drugmakers lose price-fixing ruling.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A US District Court has rejected a motion to dismiss a nationwide class action law suit, which was brought against several leading drugmakers, including the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, and USA-based Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and...

Row triggered by claim of rising Rx drug coverage costs for Medicare Part D.
November 13, 2006... A row has erupted in the USA over a late election campaign period report by Families USA, a pressure group that has consistently opposed the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit for senior citizens, which states that private health...

US pharmacy chain in $21.3B takeover.(CVS Pharmacy Inc. acquired with Caremark Rx Inc.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A Rhode Island, USA-based pharmacy chain, CVS, has announced the $21.3 billion takeover of Tennessee-based pharmacy benefit manager Caremark Rx, according to local media reports. The Wall Street Journal described the merger as creating "a...

Merck & Co signs R&D deal with Gladstone.(J David Gladstone Institutes have entered a collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The USA's J David Gladstone Institutes have entered a collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co for the research and development of drugs for neurodegenerative disease treatments, including Alzheimer's disease, that are linked to...

Strong data on Shire's long-acting ADHD drug.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Shire reported strong results from two Phase II trials of its investigational attention-deficit hyerpactivity disorder drug, SPD465 (triple-bead mixed amphetamine salts), at a major medical meeting of child and adolescent psychiatrists in San...

Statin benefits may outweigh risks.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Benefits of statin use may outweigh risks for patients with chronic heart failure, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which investigated a diverse population of patients with heart...

Bentley initiates Ph II trial of insulin nose spray.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The USA's Bentley Pharmaceuticals has initiated a Phase II trial of its human recombinant intranasal insulin spray for the treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia in diabetics. The US Phase II evaluation is designed to enroll 24 patients with...

Biogen Idec's 3rd-qtr income rockets 476%.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... USA-based biotechnology firm Biogen Idec says that its net income for the third quarter of 2006 was $156.6 million, or $0.45 per share, on a generally-accepted accounting principles basis, representing a 475.7% increase on the comparable period...

Gilead extends Myogen offer deadline to Nov 13.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... California, USA-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences says it has extended the date of its tender offer for fellow US company Myogen to November 13. The proposal was originally due to expire on November 10, a federal employee holiday,...

Mylan sees profit for 2nd-qtr more than double.(Mylan Laboratories Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Pittsburgh, USA-based pharmaceutical group Mylan Laboratories says that its net income for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2007 was $77.5 million, or $0.36 per share, an increase of 116.4% and 125%, respectively. The results were ahead of...

ImClone's 3rd-qtr income rises 88%.(Carl Icahn appointed as a chairman at ImClone systems)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... US drugmaker ImClone systems, which recently appointed billionaire investor Carl Icahn as chairman following a bitter dispute with the previous board of directors (Marketletters passim), says that its net income for the third quarter of 2006...

Somatuline Autogel NDA submitted to FDA.(approval for use of Somatuline Autogel )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... California, USA-based drugmaker Tercica says that its partner, French pharmaceutical firm Ipsen, has submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration requesting approval for use of Somatuline Autogel (lanreotide acetate) in...

InterMune and Roche in HCV licensing deal.(InterMune Inc. collabaration agreement with Roche Holding Ltd)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... USA-based biotechnology company firm InterMune says that it has signed an exclusive collaboration agreement with Swiss drug major Roche, under which it has outlicensed worldwide development and commercialization of its hepatitis C virus...

Altana Pharma's 3rd-qtr 2006 sales rise 11%.(Altana Industrie-Aktien und Anlagen AG)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... German drug and chemicals group Altana AG says its third-quarter 2006 sales rose 23% on the like, year-ago period, to 2.91 billion euros ($2.78 billion), due to a good operating performance and the continued favorable impact of last year's...

Genmab's 9-month 2006 income jumps 57%.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Danish drugmaker Genmab AS says that in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2006, its revenues totaled 105.6 million Danish kroner ($17.9 million) versus 45.3 million, in the like, year-ago period, although its operating loss jumped to...

Epigenomics' 3rd-qtr 2006 loss widens 25%.
November 13, 2006... German molecular diagnostics firm Epigenomics AG says that its revenue for the third quarter of 2006 was 1.2 million euros (1.5 million), down 43% on the comparble period last year, due to significantly higher R&D contributions its development...

Introgen gains rights to therapies combining EGFr inhibitors.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Texas, USA-based Introgen Therapeutics says that it has obtained a worldwide, exclusive license to a family of patent applications directed to combination therapy using Advexin with inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptors, such as...

Santhera prices 88.5M SwFr IPO.(Santhera Pharmaceuticals)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Liestal, Switzerland-based Santhera Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on neuromuscular diseases, says that it has successfully completed its Initial Public Offering of shares and its listing on the SWX Swiss...

Ranbaxy gets tentative approval for cetirizine syrup.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Indian group Ranbaxy has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market cetirizine HCl Syrup, 5mg/5ml. Total annual US market sales for this cetirizine formulation were $146.3 million, said the...

Oramed signs manufacturing deal for oral insulin pill.(Oramed Pharmaceuticals contracts with Swiss Caps AG)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Israel-headquartered Oramed Pharmaceuticals has signed a manufacturing agreement with Swiss Caps AG, one of the largest softgel capsule manufacturers. Under the terms of the agreement, Swiss Caps will provide gel capsules for the upcoming Phase...

Abbott makes $3.7 billion bid for Kos to expand in lipid management market.(Abbott Laboratories Inc. (Abbott Park, Illinois) acquired with Kos Pharmaceuticals )
November 13, 2006... Illinois, USA-based health care major Abbott Laboratories, has entered an agreement to acquire Kos Pharmaceuticals for $78 per share in case, for a total transaction value of $3.7 billion, net of cash currently held by Kos. The offer, disclosed...

Novartis to open new R&D faciltiy in China, with $100 million investment.(Novartis plans to create a new strategic biomedical R&D center )
November 13, 2006... Swiss pharmaceutical major Novartis has announced plans to create a new strategic biomedical R&D center in Shanghai, China. An investment of $100.0 million has been earmarked for the two-part design and construction of the facility, with...

India's Cadila to enter biotech sector.(India's Cadila Healthcare plans to enter the biotechnology business)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... India's Cadila Healthcare, a part of the Zydus group, plans to enter the biotechnology business, Zydus group chairman Pankaj Patel said. The firm will form a separate business unit under the company's key division, Zydus Cadila. The...

Pharmastandard plans Russian and UK IPO.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Russian generic drugmaker Pharmastandard says it is planning an Initial Public Offering in London, UK, and a listing on the Russian Trading System and Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, reports Reuters. Igor Krylov, the firm's general...

Czech pharma consumption down 5% in 3rd-qtr 2006 as restrictions bite.
November 13, 2006... Data on pharmaceutical consumption in the Czech Republic in the third quarter of 2006 has confirmed a further decline this year. As a consequence of restrictive measures, which limited availability - especially of modern drugs - 5% less by...

Delivering health care in enlarged EU.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The challenges of delivering health care in the enlarged European Union were discussed last month in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. The conference was financed by the European Commission and organized by the Bulgarian Faculty of Public Health of the...

AstraZeneca to undertake extra Ph II CytoFab study following EMEA/FDA discussions.(Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency )
November 13, 2006... Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca says that it will carry out an additional Phase II clinical trial of its developmental sepsis treatment CytoFab (polyclonal ovine anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody fragments). The agent, which is being...

S-P and Teva sign UK Mesren promotion deal.(Schering-Plough contracts with Teva Pharmaceuticals )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... US drug major Schering-Plough says that its UK subsidiary has signed a deal with the UK arm of Isreal's Teva Pharmaceuticals covering the co-promotion of mesren, a 5-aminosalicylic acid, for use in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and...

Levitra effective in ED in men with CV disease.(cardiovasculaL diseases)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... New clinical trial data demonstrates that Levitra (vardenafil HCl) is effective at the first dose with continued success in treating erectile dysfunction in men with associated medical conditions that affect the cardiovascular system. The drug...

FDA to hold workshop on unapproved drugs.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The US Food and Drug Administration is to hold a public workshop on January 9, 2007, on the topic of marketed unapproved drugs. The event's stated objective, according to the agency, is "to provide information, clarification and guidance to...

Rise in US market entry delays for generics.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The number of agreements between research-based drugmakers and potential generic competitors to delay the introduction of generic drugs into the US market after patent-expiry has recently grown, according to a report in the St Louis...

Pfizer joins Arkansas in anti-obesity campaign.
November 13, 2006... The US state of Arkansas is being partnered by global drug giant Pfizer in the formation of a new school-based community program to reduce the number of children who are overweight or at risk of becoming so. According to Arkansas Governor...

PhRMA welcomes Penn Cover All Kids program.(Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has issued a statement in support of the Cover All Kids initiative by the US state of Pennsylvania. The drug industry trade association also reported that, in Pennsylvania alone,...

More US firms push cheap drugs on workers.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A study by the Wall Street Journal has found that an increasing number of US businesses "are trying harder to push generic drugs on their employees," as these may cost as much as 80% less than branded equivalent treatments. The growing...

US Rx drug benefit web site guide launched.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A joint venture between the USA's health insurers, drug stores and pharmacists is offering senior citizens advice on-line about which Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit plan to enroll in for the coming year. Trade associations...

Takeda signs $100M Ab development deal with Xoma, ditches Tavocept and TAK-128.
November 13, 2006... Xoma and Japanese pharmaceutical giant Takeda have signed an agreement for the discovery and development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, which is intended to capitalize on the US drugmaker's technologies and expertise in this area. On the...

Kyowa accelerates US drug development.(Kyowa Hakko Kogyo )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kogyo is accelerating the clinical development of its antibody drugs in the USA. BIW-8405, an interleukin-5 receptor alpha antagonist for the treatment of asthma, which is being developed by BioWa, Kyowa's US drug...

Vertex' 3rd-qtr 2006 loss widens 17.4%.(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... US drugmaker Vertex says that its third-quarter 2006 non-generally accepted accounting principles loss reached $47.9 million, or $0.42 per share, from the $40.8 million, or $0.43 per share loss it saw in the like, year-ago period, due to...

Allergan buys Groupe Corneal for $217M.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Allergan has signed an agreement to acquire France's Groupe Corneal Laboratoires for approximately 170.0 million euros ($217.0 million). Through the all-cash deal, the US drugmaker gains sole worldwide rights to the facial wrinkle treatment...

Cytogen's 3rd-qtr 2006 net loss improves 24%.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... New Jersey, USA-based Cytogen says that, for the third quarter of 2006, it saw a net loss of $5.7 million, or $0.26 per basic and diluted share, a 24.5% improvement on the like, year-ago period, as total product revenues jumped 20% to $4.2...

Cephalon's 3rd-qtr 2006 sales increases 56%.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... USA-based Cephalon says its third-quarter 2006 revenues reached $482.3 million, a 56% surge on the like, year-ago period. Sales during the period, which exceeded the firm's predictions of $425.0 - $440.0 million, were driven by strong income...

Ablynx and Wyeth sign Nanobody R&D deal.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Belgian biopharmaceutical company Ablynx, a specialist in the development of novel antibody derived therapeutic proteins called nanobodies, says it has established an R&D and license collaboration with US drug major Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. The...

Yondelis shows activity in sarcoma studies.
November 13, 2006... Spanish drugmaker PharmaMar, a subsidiary of the Zeltia Group, says that new data from trials of its anticancer agent Yondelis (trabectedin) show that it has significant anti-tumor activity in two specific groups of sarcoma patients. The...

Alzhemed performs well in Ph II AD study.(Alzhemed (tramiprosate) in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disea)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Canadian drugmaker Neurochem says that data from a Phase II trial of its drug Alzhemed (tramiprosate) in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, shows that long-term administration of the agent reduces the level of...

Merck KGaA sees positive Erbitux data.
November 13, 2006... German drugmaker Merck KGaAsays that the results of a Phase III study of Erbitux (cetuximab), used with irinotecan as a second-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer, indicate that, although the drug does not show a difference in overall...

Shire's MMX mesalazine performs well in UC studies.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... UK-based drugmaker Shire says that data from trials of its drug MMX mesalazine, a once-daily oral treatment for mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis, show that it is effective in inducing remission. The findings were presented at the 14th United...

NovaDel's NitroMist approved by FDA.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... New Jersey, USA-based NovaDel Pharma says that its drug NitroMist (nitroglycerin lingual aerosol) has received Food and Drug Administration approval as a treatment for angina pectoris associated with coronary artery disease. The company added...

New Japanese panel to seek measures to resolve drug approval delays.
November 13, 2006... The first meeting of a newly-established study committee within Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, aimed at swiftly providing new safe and effective pharmaceutical products, has now taken place. In his address in the wake of...

India's NPPA sets cap on drug price hikes.(National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Indian government-supported drug price watchdog, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, will invoke the public interest clause in the country's drug law more often to pressure pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of...

GSK/Adolor's Entereg gets approvable letter.(GlaxoSmithKline PLC)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... US regulators have requested more clinical data on UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline and USA-based Adolor's Entereg (alvimopan). The Food and Drug Administration says that the agent's New Drug Application for the management of postoperative ileus...

FDA delays Protherics' Voraxaze til 2008.(Voraxaze (carboxypeptidase G2))(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... UK drugmaker Protherics says that the US Food and Drug Administration has requested additional manufacturing data following its Biologicals License Application submission for Voraxaze (carboxypeptidase G2), a treatment for patients at risk of...

Treatment begins in Ph III Trovax study.(Oxford BioMedica PLC)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... UK gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica says that the first patient has been treated in TRIST, a pivotal multicenter Phase III trial of its novel cancer immunotherapy, TroVax, in patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma....

Novartis' painkiller Prexige cleared in EU.(European Union)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Swiss drug major Novartis' Prexige (lumiracoxib) has been approved in the European Union as a new treatment option for patients suffering from osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis and a leading cause of chronic pain. The oral...

Japan stock market week to Nov 6, 2006.(Financial report)
November 13, 2006... Tokyo saw a virtually flat market in the week ended November 6 (four trading days because November 3 was a national holiday in Japan). The Nikkei 225 was up a marginal 0.1%, maintaining the 16,300 level, while the Topix index edged down 0.2%....

Evolutec finds new mechanism for hay fever drug.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Evolutec, a UK biopharmaceutical firm developing products for the treatment of allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, has discovered an additional mechanism of action for its lead drug candidate, rEV131, which is currently in a Phase...

Geron licenses Immunomic's LAMP target.(Immunomic Therapeutics)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Geron Corp and fellow USA-based Immunomic Therapeutics have signed a patent license agreement under which Geron will receive exclusive rights to the LAMP antigen-targeting sequence for use in cancer vaccines. Geron's therapeutic cancer...

Indevus licenses European Sanctura XR rights to Madaus.(Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The USA's Indevus Pharmaceuticals has licensed the rights to sell Sanctura XR (trospium Cl), the once-daily formulation of its currently-marketed overactive bladder drug, in certain territories outside the USA, to Germany's Madaus GmbH. Madaus...

Promising data for BioMimetic's GEM OS1.(BioMimetic Therapeutics )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The USA's BioMimetic Therapeutics has reported promising interim results for the use of its growth-promoting surgical implant GEM OS1 Bone Graft in the product's first orthopedic clinical trial in Canada for foot and ankle fusion indications....

Haptogen and Artemis to develop preclinical mouse models.(Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Scotland's Haptogen, a specialist in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, says it has entered into a collaboration with Germany's Artemis Pharmaceuticals which will focus on the creation of validated genetically modified...

Qiagen launches Biomedical Tissue management system.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Netherlands-based Qiagen, the world's leading provider of products for pre-analytical sample preparation and molecular diagnostics, says it has launched its new Biomedical Tissue Management System. This includes a wide range of the firm's...

CDC to test Novavax' flu vaccine.(United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... USA-based infectious disease specialist Novavax says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has agreed to undertake assessment of its H5N1 influenza vaccine candidate against live bird flu virus. Under the terms of the...

Cell Thera temporarily halts PIONEER study enrollment.(Cell Therapeutics Inc.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... USA-based drug developer Cell Therapeutics says that recruitment in its PIONEER lung cancer trial, designed to assess its developmental anticancer agent Xyotax (paclitaxel poliglumex), has been suspended while it awaits follow-up data from...

Guatemala and Global Fund "must improve" HIV drug access.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... International medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Frontiers) has demanded that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Guatemalan government do more to expand and maintain the...

US campaign group sets up on-line Medicare advice.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Medicare Rights Center, a US campaigning organization, has set up an on-line advice service for older people and the disabled, to enable them to select the best Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit plan, as well as to find ways of...

WHO shortlist for Director General.(World Health Organization)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... After the first day of its deliberations to choose a new Director General, the World Health Organization's Executive Board has selected a short list of five candidates. The replacement for Lee Jong-wook, who died on May 22, will be one of Kazem...

India's government faces drug price control opposition.(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... India's government proposal to enforce price controls on more drugs (Marketletter November 3) has led to criticism from the world's largest drugmaker. Kewal Handa, Pfizer's managing director for India, described the regulations as...

PhRMA study claims Medicare Rx success.(Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit plan has "significantly reduced...out of pocket costs and...improved access to medicines," for people who were previously without prescription drug coverage, according to a statement released by the...

US CDC wants CFS taken seriously.(chronic fatigue syndrome)(US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a campaign to raise awareness about chronic fatigue syndrome among doctors and patients. The agency's initiative comes amid skepticism from many in the US medical profession...

Anticancer drug isolated from green veg.(vegetables )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A team of UK scientists have isolated the anticancer properties in Brussels sprouts and cabbage. According to data published in the October issue of the journal Carcinogenesis, a chemical in these vegetables can kill breast cancer cells when...

Mars' CocoaVia cuts LDL cholesterol 6%.
November 13, 2006... New data published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests that supplementing diet with sterol-enriched chocolate bars could promote cardiovascular health. Researchers at the USA's University of...

34 killed in Panama by contaminated drugs.(presence of diethyline glycol)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... More than 70 people in the central American republic of Panama have been taken ill, with at least 34 of them dying, from the effects of contaminated drugs that were produced locally. Cough syrup, antihistamine tablets, calamine lotion and rash...

Canada's generic drug firms greet court ruling.(dispute between AstraZeneca PLC and Apotex Inc.)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association has welcomed the verdict in the country's Supreme Court, in a dispute over the application of supplementary patents for drugs. The court explicitly rejected the practice known as "evergreening,"...

Drug sales up 5% in year to August 2006.
November 13, 2006... Drug sales through retail pharmacies in 13 major markets grew 5% overall at constant exchange rates, or 3% in US$ terms, in the 12 months to August 2006, to total $379.29 billion, reports IMS Health's Retail Drug Monitor. The rate of increase...

Vietnam's regulators and drugmakers await WTO.(World Trade Organization )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Vietnam's Health Minister, Tran Thi Trung Chien, has given details of the country's tax reduction road map for drug and cosmetic products, as part of the process of joining the World Trade Organization (Marketletter October 16), the Vietnamese...

"Don't murder drug innovation," says LEEM.(France's drug industry trade association)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The president of France's drug industry trade association (LEEM) has set out the sector's concerns about threats to innovation. "Let us not murder Mozart," Christian Lajoux told a gatering of the Association of Pharmaceutical Industry Managers...

UK Internet drug logo "useless," say experts.(Royal Pharmaceutical Society )(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... A proposal by the UK's Royal Pharmaceutical Society (which represents pharmacists) to authorize on-line suppliers of pharmaceutical products has been met with skepticism from experts in Internet security. Under the RPS proposal, on-line...

EMEA drug research for newborns appeal.(European Medicines Agency)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has published the conclusions of its recent workshop on neonates, which looked at scientific issues related to the investigation of drugs intended for the treatment of newborn children. One of the main...

Innovative Medicines Initiative's EU launch.(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, in collaboration with the European Commission, has launched a new on-line campaign to "mobilize participation in the Innovative Medicines Initiative accross Europe." The...

Daiichi Sankyo's first-half profit jumps 35.3%.(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Daiichi Sankyo reported solid earnings for the six months to September 30, 2006. The firm, which is Japan's second-largest drugmaker, saw net sales reach 485.84 billion yen ($4.08 billion), up 7.5% on the like, year-ago period. However, its...

Takeda's six-month profit drops 12.2%.(Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Takeda says that its net income for the six months ending September 30, 2006, reached 159.14 billion yen ($1.35 billion), a 12.2% drop on the like, year-ago period, as sales of its key drug Actos (pioglitazone) were impaired by competition from...