As the ‘Zubillaga newsletter affair’ unfolds, various memos are surfacing. The latest example was purportedly distributed in January to sales reps and makes comparisons between AstraZeneca’s Arimidex breast-cancer treatment and a Novartis rival called Femara. Such comparisons violate company policy, since there was no head-to-head study of these drugs.

For those who haven’t kept up, anonymous employees calling themselves the Gang of Seven have circulated the memos to various blogs, including Pharmalot. To date, the allegations in each of the memos remain unfounded, although a spokesman for the HHS Office of Inspector General confirms the agency is “aware” of this ongoing drama, but wouldn’t confirm or deny any probe. The drugmaker signed a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the OIG in 2003.

In any event, an attempt was made earlier today to contact the brand manager who allegedly authored this particular memo, but there was no reply. Since then, the memo has appeared on two other blogs, which chose to identify this person. The document, which was received today, is not on any letterhead, so the AstraZeneca employee shall remain nameless for now.

The complete memo discusses a medical journal article comparing two drugs other than Arimidex. Here are some excerpts:

“This reprint is being provided to you for YOUR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ONLY and is not for proactive distribution or discussion outside of AstraZeneca…

Happy New Year! …Our friends at Novartis have just poured gasoline on that fire that we all stoked…..IMAGINE THAT!…

…To be clear, the paper is for background use only and we don’t advocate anyone using this publication to sell Arimidex but attached are a couple thoughts on how this paper relates to our Arimidex messaging…

(At this point, the memo refers to data in a study comparing Femara, or letrozole, with a third drug, tamoxifen. The comparisons include the rate of discontinuation due to adverse events, the actual rate of any type of adverse event and life-threatening or fatal adverse events. By pointing to such data, the implication is that Arimidex would supposedly look better than Femara).

..Arimidex – The only AI with a 5-year consistent, and well established safety profile…Although the overall incidence of cardiac adverse events did not differ significantly between the two treatments, a trend for higher grade cardiac events on letrozole compared with tamoxifen was seen…

…While there is no single comment overtly called out in this paper I would put under this message, I would remind you to be proud of all the things we do to support women with breast cancer and the doctors who care for these people. We do it in a way that is not deceiving and in a way that puts patient’s health first…

…Ladies and gentlemen, this is the time to capitalize on what may very well be the biggest opportunity in 2007 for Arimidex…It is our job to behave like the market leader we are because ARIMIDEX has nothing to hide, and in fact, has answers to the questions people will want to ask. Patients and providers alike deserve to know just how good ARIMIDEX is at times like this!

For those interested in reading the brief, two-page memo, go here or here.[tags]Arimidex, AstraZeneca, Mike Zubillaga[/tags]