Pharma Marketletter articles from September 2003

Pharma Marketletter archives from September 2003

Lithuania's new Rx list cuts prices.
September 1, 2003... In Lithuania, the prices of many types of drugs used to treat mental conditions, cancer and respiratory system diseases will fall sharply when a new list of state-subsidized drugs is issued at the beginning of September, reports the LETA news...

German PO to direct-mail Rx drugs.
September 1, 2003... The German post office, the DP, says it sets considerable store by the newly-emerging business of direct prescription drug mailing and that it intends to launch a direct-mail operation. DP chairman Klaus Winkel says the service will spare...

Romanian drug prices in July.
September 1, 2003... Romania's National Statistics Institute reports that the consumer price of pharmaceuticals in Romania in July was 0.5% higher than in June. The price of health care was 1.0% higher, month-on-month, it adds, noting that, in comparison, the...

Turkish health service pharma moves.
September 1, 2003... Turkey's social security organization, the SSK, is shortly expected to announce agreements with pharmaceuticals manufacturers for price discounts on drugs sold to the state organization of 10% on imports and 21% on domestically-manufactured...

Cash-strapped Xenova makes L8.5 million bid for rival KS Biomedix.
September 1, 2003... UK-based Xenova has made an agreed, all-paper offer for rival biotechnology company KS Biomedix, valuing the latter at L8.5 million ($13.6 million), or 13.12 pence a share, in order to create "a stronger oncology business, combining product...

US CRO Kendle to buy Mexico's ECA.
September 1, 2003... Kendle International, a USA-based full-service contract research organization, has entered into an agreement to acquire Mexican CRO Estadisticos y Clinicos Asociados, expanding the company's capability to conduct clinical trials in Latin...

EC withdraws intervention against IMS Health.
September 1, 2003... The European Commission has withdrawn its interim measures decision adopted July 2001 against IMS Health, the world leader in data collection on pharmaceutical sales and prescriptions. A judgment from the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court, while...

CancerVax files for IPO.
September 1, 2003... California, USA-based biotechnology firm CancerVax has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the initial public offering of its common stock. All of the shares are to be sold by the company. The...

Genta to buy Salus Therapeutics.
September 1, 2003... Genta has entered into an agreement to acquire Salus Therapeutics, a fellow US company that specializes in the identification and development of drugs that are based on DNA or RNA, including antisense, small interfering RNAs (siRNA) and...

Early Eprex use helps NSCL cancer patients.
September 1, 2003... New data, presented at the World Congress on Lung Cancer, in Vancouver, Canada, suggest that advanced non-small lung cancer patients, who receive Johnson & Johnson's Eprex (epoetin alfa) from the onset of chemotherapy maintain normal hemoglobin...

Generex gets grant for cancer vaccine.
September 1, 2003... The US National Cancer Institute has awarded Canada's Generex Biotechnology a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $224,000 to develop a T-helper cell breast cancer vaccine. The product targets HER-2/neu, which is overexpressed...

Positive Phase II data for Telik's Telcyta.
September 1, 2003... At the World Congress on Lung Cancer in Vancouver, Canada, Telik reported promising results from a Phase II trial evaluating the potential utility of its Telcyta (TLK286) as a second- or third-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung...

Promising findings for Inspire's diquafosol.
September 1, 2003... Inspire Pharmaceuticals has announced encouraging new data from a Phase IIIb trial, designated study 03-108, examining its diquafosol tetrasodium ophthalmic solution as a treatment for dry eye. The four-week, placebo-controlled,...

Protein Design and Genentech in dispute.
September 1, 2003... USA-based Protein Design Labs is locked in a dispute with Genentech over claims that the latter should reach a licensing agreement with the firm and pay a fee for the use of its technology in relation to the asthma drug Xolair (omalizumab). ...

Elan pays for further noteholder waiver.
September 1, 2003... Irish drugmaker Elan has secured yet another waiver relating to its repayment obligations from noteholders of two of its off-balance-sheet investment vehicles, EPIL II and EPIL III, as the firm continues to buy time ahead of filing its delayed...

Novavax files $50M shelf registration.
September 1, 2003... The USA's Novavax, a specialty drugmaker focused on women's health and infectious diseases, says that it has filed a shelf registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that will allow it to sell as much as $50 million of its...

Abbott and Millennium end research alliance.
September 1, 2003... The USA's Abbott Laboratories and biotechnology concern Millennium Pharmaceuticals say that they have ended their research alliance on diabetes and obesity drug candidates. Abbott noted that it has retained a license to targets, compounds...

Lilly's Gemzar benefits NSCL cancer patients.
September 1, 2003... A meta-analysis of 13 trials, involving 4,556 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, showed that Eli Lilly's Gemzar (gemcitabine) plus a platinum agent demonstrated a statistically-significant improvement in overall survival and...

Positive new data for Axovan's clazosentan.
September 1, 2003... Switzerland's Axovan has announced promising Phase II results for its clazosentan, a specific endothelin A antagonist with potential utility for the treatment of vasospasm subsequent to subarachnoid hemorrhage. In the multicenter,...

Ligand's Targretin trial fully enrolled.
September 1, 2003... Ligand has reported that enrollment has completed for the first of two 600-patient pivotal Phase III trials evaluating Targretin (bexarotene) capsules in front-line combination therapy for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer....

Corixa and Apovia sign agreement.
September 1, 2003... USA-based Corixa and Apovia have announced a R&D and commercialization agreement for Corixa's synthetic adjuvant, RC-529. Under the terms of the multi-year deal, Apovia has obtained the marketing rights to RC-529 for use in an undisclosed...

Neose to collaborate with Sandoz.
September 1, 2003... Neose Technologies has signed a collaborative agreement with Sandoz. Under the terms of the deal, Neose will utilize its proprietary technologies with an undisclosed recombinant protein, manufactured and supplied by Sandoz. If the protein is...

NCI awards AlphaMed Phase II STTR grant.
September 1, 2003... The US National Cancer Institute has awarded AlphaMed a $500,000 two-year STTR Phase II grant for further development of a targeted radiotherapy for metastatic melanoma. The company is collaborating with the University of Missouri in...

AVI files for orphan status for AVI-4179.
September 1, 2003... AVI BioPharma has revealed that it has filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration to gain Orphan Drug status for AVI-4179. The product is a NEUGENE antisense drug which targets the coronavirus implicated in Severe Acute...

US FDA public meeting to view DTC ad studies.
September 1, 2003... On September 22-23, the US Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting at which the agency and others will present the results of research into direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. The agency plans to present...

US CMS plans "appropriate" payments for Medicare-covered drugs.
September 1, 2003... The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing, with a new Final Rule to be published this year, to change the way Medicare pays for covered drugs, and it is asking for public comment, by October 14, on the best method of...

US Govs raise pressure for "dual eligibles".
September 1, 2003... At their annual meeting, US state governors have again stressed that the Medicare drug benefit should be extended to everyone over age 65 (Marketletter August 11). "It is un-American to disenfranchise a group of Americans and treat them...

Acambis developing safer smallpox vaccine.
September 1, 2003... Preclinical data published in Nature Medicine suggests that UK-based Acambis' novel smallpox vaccine may be less neuroviralent than Wyeth's first-generation vaccine Dryvax, which is registered in the USA, while still providing equivalent...

SMC recommends Pfizer's Bextra.
September 1, 2003... The Scottish Medicines Consortium has recommended that the use of Pfizer's COX-2 selective inhibitor, valdecoxib (BEXTRA), should be considered in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients at higher risk of gastrointestinal side effects...

Promising results for Ecopia's antifungal.
September 1, 2003... Ecopia BioSciences has released data showing that its novel antifungal polyketide, ECO-02301, demonstrates in vivo efficacy in a Candida albicans mouse model. In the study, ECO-02301 was compared to amphotericin B, a gold-standard...

Novartis enter generic Prilosec battlefield.
September 1, 2003... Switzerland's Novartis says that it has launched a generic version of AstraZeneca's former top-selling antiulcerant Prilosec (omeprazole) in the USA. The move comes after US drugmaker Mylan rolled out its copy-cat version of the product in the...

BioProgress begins delivery of Xgel system.
September 1, 2003... The UK's BioProgress, a developer of animal-free encapsulation technology, says that it has begun delivery of its new XGel Tabwrap machines as part of a pilot scheme ahead of the completion of its full-scale version of the product. The...

Epimmune's losses flat but cash dwindles.
September 1, 2003... The USA's Epimmune has reported near-flat losses for the second quarter of 2003 but the firm's cash pile declined $1.7 million over the like, year-earlier period to just $5.9 million, forcing the company to concede that it needs to raise...

NicOx signs deal with Merck & Co.
September 1, 2003... France's NicOx has formed a collaboration with Merck & Co to evaluate its nitric oxide-donating compounds. Under the agreement, NicOx will provide Merck with selected proprietary NO-donating agents for preclinical evaluation in an undisclosed...

Astex and Fujisawa enter collaboration.
September 1, 2003... UK-based Astex Technology has revealed that it has signed a structure-based drug discovery agreement with Japan's Fujisawa. Under the collaboration, Astex will utilize its proprietary X-ray crystallography technologies to obtain crystal...

Healthpoint licenses IsoTis' Allox.
September 1, 2003... Healthpoint, an operating company of DFB Pharmaceuticals has obtained an exclusive, worldwide license for Allox, IsoTis' lead cell-based product with potential utility for the treatment of chronic skin wounds. Under the terms of the deal,...

Retail drug sales up 7% in year to June.
September 1, 2003... Drug sales through retail pharmacies in 13 major markets grew 7% overall at constant exchange rates or 12% in US$ terms in the 12 months to June 2003, to total $293.33 billion, reports IMS Health's Retail Drug Monitor. The fastest-growing...

NGOs "set to demand unprofitable drugs".
September 1, 2003... Fresh from their success in winning HIV/AIDS drug price concessions, non-governmental organizations and lobbyists are gearing up for a new assault in which they will attempt to force drug firms to make medicines for diseases prevalent in...

US drugs for Tajikistan.
September 1, 2003... US firms were due to deliver drugs and medical supplies worth $16 million to Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, in late-August, reports the Asia-Plus Information Agency. The USA will also supply 45,000 doses of vaccine to the Tajik Health Ministry...

Vietnam drug price listing to proceed.
September 1, 2003... Vietnam is to go ahead with new regulations requiring drugmakers, importers and distributors to list their products' prices from October 1, despite companies saying this is unworkable, reports the Vietnamese News Agency. The aim of...

French health service directorate head fired.
September 1, 2003... French Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei has been forced into a major hospital reorganization in the wake of the health care crisis for understaffed hospitals created by soaring summer temperatures, which are now estimated to have killed...

Life scientists view print ads.
September 1, 2003... 55% of more than 1,450 life scientists polled in a recent survey agreed that print advertising helps them understand and discuss their lab's needs with suppliers and also that ads help drive product development and lower prices by spurring...

Indonesian govt urged to boost generics.
September 1, 2003... Indonesia's government and Ministry of Health should step up the promotion of generic drugs, Posma Tobing, chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives' Commission VII for health and population affairs, has said. He is quoted by the...

Mexican opposition rejects VAT on drugs.
September 1, 2003... Roberto Madrazo, head of Mexico's opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, says he will not back President Vicente Fox' plan for value-added tax on drugs and food. Pres Fox' planned fundamental tax reforms are being held up by...

Chinese drug sales "to rise 16% this year".
September 1, 2003... Chinese pharmaceutical industry turnover rose 14.1% in the first quarter of 2003 over the like, year-earlier period, and full-year growth is expected to be 16%, say Chinese health officials and industry spokesmen. Examining the effects on...

Pharma/biotech set to boost Beijing economy.
September 1, 2003... China's capital of Beijing is set to become the center for the nation's production of pharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicines and biotechnology products, and these sectors will drive the Beijing economy, say industry forecasts. ...

R&D deal a welcome boost for NicOx.
September 1, 2003... French start-up company NicOx has seen its shares soar on the Paris bourse after the company signed an R&D agreement with the USA's Merck & Co relating to nitric oxide-donating compounds (see page 22). News of the deal, which could lead...

NIZHFARM sales soar.
September 1, 2003... The Russian drugmaker NIZHFARM has reported a 41.7% leap in sales for the first half of 2003 to $19.6 million. Gross profits vaulted 59% to $10.4 million over the like, year-earlier period.

ALLIANZ increases contributions.
September 1, 2003... The health insurance division of Germany's ALLIANZ increased its contributions volume in the first half of 2003 to 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 million), buoyed by price rises. Meantime, the number of clients fully insured fell slightly to 788,240...

Promising preliminary Phase Ib/II data for Genentech's Lucentis as AMD therapy.
September 1, 2003... Genentech has released encouraging preliminary results from an open-label Phase Ib/II trial evaluating its anti-angiogenic product, Lucentis (ranibizumab), as a therapy for the wet form of age-related macular degeneration. These data were...

Alcon's Retaane has long-term use for AMD.
September 1, 2003... At the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists in New York, positive findings were presented for the long-term use of Alcon's Retaane (anecortave acetate for depot suspension) in the treatment of the wet form of age-related...

NIH to look at benefits of soy supplements.
September 1, 2003... The US National Institutes of Health has announced that it is to set up a study to evaluate the dietary benefits of soy for women with menopausal problems. The trial will be conducted by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and will involve...

Antioxidant supp cuts cancers and death risk.
September 1, 2003... Results from a study conducted in France have demonstrated that men who took a vitamin and mineral antioxidant supplement daily over 7.5 years had a reduction in their risk of cancer and death, compared with those not taking supplements. ...

Cholesterol-lowering effect of green tea.
September 1, 2003... Positive findings have been reported from a trial examining the potential cholesterol-lowering effect of a theaflavin-enriched green tea extract. The results were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The double-blind,...

New drugs added to Israel's NHI basket.
September 1, 2003... Eight new treatments are to be added to the basket of drugs and medical technologies which may be provided under Israel's National Health Insurance Law during 2003-4. The cost of providing them is put at NI$60 million ($13.5 million), the...

South African drug price panel named.
September 1, 2003... University of Cape Town health economist Diane McIntyre will chair the first pricing committee created by South Africa's Medicines Control Amendment Act, which took effect in May. Other members include advocates Basheer Vally (private...

Israel: first-half 2003 foreign pharma trade.
September 1, 2003... Israel imported pharmaceuticals and medical products worth $378 million in first-half 2003, up from $351 million in the same period of 2002, and its exports of these products rose from $400 million to $456 million, says the Central Bureau of...

Belarus Rx facility for South Africa.
September 1, 2003... Drugmakers Belbiofarm and Belmedpreparaty of Belarus are to set up a pharmaceutical production facility in South Africa, under a scientific technologies agreement between the two governments, reports the RIA Novosti news agency. No further...

Merck & Co spins out Medco Solutions.
September 1, 2003... US drug major Merck & Co has finally spun out its pharmacy benefit manager arm Medco Health Solutions, in a deal which saw the former's shareholders gain around one share in Medco for every eight they hold in Merck. Medco began trading on the...

Kos and Onyx in cholesterol drugs deal.
September 1, 2003... Nasdaq-listed Kos Pharmaceuticals and Canada's Onyx have entered into a development and commercialization agreement on two of the former's cholesterol-lowering products, Niaspan (niacin XL) and Advicor (niacin/ lovastatin XL), which sees the...

UPDATE- Novartis enters omeprazole battlefield in USA; competitors' shares slide.
September 1, 2003... Switzerland's Novartis says that it has launched a generic version of AstraZeneca's former top-selling antiulcerant Prilosec (omeprazole) in the USA. The move comes after US drugmaker Mylan rolled out its copy-cat version of the product in the...

Celltech beats expectations but new strategy gets luke warm reception from market.
September 1, 2003... Leading UK biotechnology concern Celltech has posted a better-than-expected performance for the first half of 2003, as underlying growth outperformed analysts' forecast, although an eagerly-anticipated strategic review from newly-appointed...

Euro patients "do not reject chemotherapy".
September 1, 2003... Many European doctors feel their older cancer patients are more likely to reject chemotherapy than such patients in the USA, but a study published in the September issue of the journal of Clinical Oncology says this is not the case. A...

German health funds' HRT Rxing concern.
September 1, 2003... Germany's federation of local health funds, the AOK, has welcomed the sharpening-up of warnings on patient package information supplied with hormone replacement therapy products, but is concerned that prescribing of controversial HRT products...

Lithuanian drug price deal "will save $11.3M".
September 1, 2003... Lithuanian Health Minister Juozas Olekas says that a deal under which producers of subsidized drugs cut their prices in August will save the country $11.3 million over the next 12 months, reports Baltic Business News. Lithuania's pharmaceutical...

Russian drugmakers plan to boost output.
September 1, 2003... Russia's Ministry of Industry says drug and chemical firms plan to increase their production at least 4% this year over 2002's levels, reports the Interfax news agency. First-half 2003 production by companies such as Nizhfarm,...

Latvian Rx imports set to boom ahead of VAT.
September 1, 2003... Latvian drug stores' medicine sales totaled $75.8 million in first-half 2003, a year-on-year rise of 20.3%, reports Baltic Business News. Wholesalers are expected to import large volumes in the second half of the year, prior to value-added tax...

UPDATE- Elan pays for further noteholder waivers.
September 1, 2003... Irish drugmaker Elan has secured yet another waiver relating to its repayment obligations from noteholders of two of its off-balance-sheet investment vehicles, EPIL II and EPIL III, as the firm continues to buy time ahead of filing its delayed...

S-P introduces cost cutting measures.
September 1, 2003... US drug major Schering-Plough has introduced cost-cutting measures that will see around 1,000 jobs go at the firm and warned that profits in second-half 2003 and full-year 2004 will likely come in lower than expected. The Thomson First Call...

Zila settles swab dispute.
September 1, 2003... Nasdaq-listed Zila says that it has settled claims brought against the firm by Matrixx Initiatives which alleged the former breached certain obligations by failing to produce requested levels of swabs for the latter and by raising its prices....

Pfizer's Viagra faces competion as FDA approves GSK/Bayer's Levitra.
September 1, 2003... The US Food and Drug Administration has granted marketing authorization for the use of Bayer AG/GlaxoSmithKline's Levitra (vardenafil) for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The agent, which is expected to be available within the next few...

Antigenics surges on positive new data.
September 1, 2003... USA-based Antigenics has released promising results from a Phase II trial of its personalized cancer vaccine, Oncophage (HSPPC-96), in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The study involved 29 stage IV colorectal cancer patients who...

FDA five-part strategic plan to "protect and advance America's health".
September 1, 2003... The US Food and Drug Administration has presented its Strategic Action Plan for the 21st Century, outlining how it is taking new steps to protect and advance public health. The plan, which sets some new specific actions and performance measures...

Pharmaco breaks $1 billion stock valuation.
September 1, 2003... Icelandic generics maker Pharmaco has become the first company in the country's history to be valued at over $1 billion on the domestic stock exchange. Since the beginning of last year, the firm's shares have risen by an whopping 160% compared...

Acusphere hopes to raise $49-59M via IPO.
September 1, 2003... USA-based specialty drugmaker Acusphere says that it hopes to raise $49-$59 million through an initial public offering of some 3.8 million shares of its common stock, at $13-$15 per share. Proceeds from the transaction are to be used for both...

Clinical trials: Central Europe set to boom?
September 1, 2003... The number of multicenter clinical trials conducted in Central and Eastern Europe has been increasing 30% per year on average over the last decade and could rise even further, says clinical research organization Chiltern International. Noting a...

Norwegian pharma imports up slightly.
September 1, 2003... Norway imported pharmaceuticals worth 4.42 billion kroner ($578.5 million) in the first seven months of 2003, up from a value of 4.25 billion kroner in the same period of 2002, Statistics Norway has reported.

Pharma patents: "UK's second most valuable".
September 1, 2003... UK pharmaceutical companies ranked in second place after the country's aerospace industry in a league table of valuable patents issued in the USA last year, a survey of 2.8 million patents conducted by US research firm CHI has found. Chemical...

UK pharma "failing to protect IPR".
September 1, 2003... While 77% of UK pharmaceutical companies say that they believe it is very important for the success of their business that new ideas and creativity are exploited for commercial gain, only 36% have a budget dedicated to capturing their ideas and...

UK NICE: glitazones in type 2 diabetes.
September 1, 2003... The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has updated its guidance for general practitioners in England and Wales on the use of Takeda/Eli Lilly's Actos (pioglitazone) and GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia (rosiglitazone) in the treatment of type...

J&J's $700M payments from stent dispute.
September 1, 2003... US health care major Johnson & Johnson says that it will receive almost $700 million in payments from Minneapolis-headquartered Medtronic and Indianapolis-based Guidant after announcing two key patent victories for the firm. J&J said in a...

Biovail faces heart drug kickback inquiry.
September 1, 2003... Canadian drugmaker Biovail is facing an inquiry from the US Office of the Inspector General of Health and Human Services into claims that the company paid thousands of doctors to prescribe its calcium channel blocker Cardizem LA (diltiazem)....

US majors rein in German R&D spend.
September 1, 2003... Following a number of health care reforms which have made the country a less attractive proposition in which to invest (Marketletters passim), Merck & Co and Pfizer say they have now reined in plans to carry out further R&D in Germany. ...

Tokyo pharma stocks - week to August 25.
September 1, 2003... Tokyo saw a surprisingly robust rally in the two weeks ended August 25, with the Nikkei 225 surging 8.3% to close at 10,276.64. On August 18, the index closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time since August 26, 2002, and maintained the...