This subject has been off the collective radar screen for awhile, but a recently unearthed court document reminded us of a passionate controversy that’s played out for the past two decades ago over the use of a blood-clotting medicine that was blamed for infecting hemophiliacs with HIV in Asia and Latin America, while a newer, [...]

The suit was brought by Laurie Simpson, a former Bayer strategic research analyst who joined the drugmaker just after the controversial cholesterol pill was launched in 1998, and she accuses Bayer of violating the federal and state False Claims Act. The suit was initially filed in 2006 in US District Court in Newark, New Jersey, [...]

Another mild, sunny day is starting to envelope the Pharmalot corporate campus. We know that deadlines and meetings await, so we have gathered yet again a few items to help you get started. So grab your cup of stimulation or your water bottle and dig in. We hope your day goes smoothly…
Wyeth Profit Falls, But [...]

C is for contraction. C is also for convulsion. Both describe what pharma is experiencing these days. And the number of jobs being cut makes it all too clear. The trend - whether one calls it layoffs, restructuring, downsizing or reorganization - was under way a few years ago, of course, when Merck began eliminating [...]

Last November, Bayer suspended marketing of its troubled med, which is used to control bleeding during heart surgery, after a Canadian study suggested an increased risk for death. Then, we learned the FDA received 235 reports noting death in patients who received Trasylol, although a conclusive link wasn’t established. None of this, however, deterred Bayer [...]

Rise and shine. As the morning mayor used to say: Every brand new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift. So no matter how many deadlines and meetings you must conquer, take heart. And to help you on your way, we have uncovered a few items. Grab your stimulant or water bottle, and get [...]

Big drugmakers are ponying up over the AWP, or average wholesale price scandal, according to a statement by attorneys who filed the case. For those unfamiliar, the stated AWP is used to set the price paid by consumers making Medicare Part B co-payments, as well as Medicare, insurers and other third-party payors that shell out [...]

There’s nothing like irony, is there? Last September, Peter Smith stood before an FDA advisory committee and attested to the safety and effectiveness of Trasylol, the controversial med that was approved in the US in 1993 to reduce transfusions and bleeding during open-heart surgery, but was later linked to kidney failure and death. Smith, the [...]

‘Tis the middle of the week and that can only mean one thing - a lot to do. For instance, Pfizer will brief Wall Street on its progress, or lack thereof, but more on that later. For now, let’s all grab a cup of something hot, or a bottle of water if you prefer, and [...]

You know the old saying: Just when you think things can’t get worse…they do. The latest malady confronting the drugmaker is a ruling by a federal judge that invalidated a patent on its Yasmin contraceptive pill, which gives Barr Laboratories a chance to sell a generic before the patent was set to expire in 2020. [...]