Monthly Archives: July 2010

Why Won’t Andrew Witty Take the Dive? (Updated 7/30/10)

By Walter Armstrong | Published: July 29, 2010
AIDS: An epidemic without end. It’s mostly fallen off the front pages—who has time or money or compassion for a decades-old global health crisis when we’ve got our own global economic crisis?—except for every two years when the International AIDS Conference comes around. The one held in Vienna last week earned some ink, but the [...]
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Merck KGaA MS Drug on the Fast Track

By George Koroneos | Published: July 28, 2010
Merck KGaA received word July 25 that its application for the multiple sclerosis treatment Cladribine had received priority review status by FDA, decreasing the evaluation period from 10 months to six months, and closing the gap between Merck and the competition. “This is a critical milestone on the path to potential approval for short-course therapy with [...]
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Study: Future of Personalized Medicine

By Jeff Schindler | Published: July 27, 2010
An increased focus on targeted medicine has become a staple for all facets of healthcare, from drug developers to consumers to pharma companies. Gerson Lehrman and Bloomberg jointly commissioned a survey that gauged the reactions and predictions of this trend from 52 leading US physicians. The survey covered a number of topics to assess which [...]
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Europe: Resisting the Anticompetitive Crusade

By Julian Upton | Published: July 23, 2010
It’s been another rocky few weeks for pharma in Europe. Particularly for big brand name companies. But necessity is proving the mother of invention, says Pharm Exec’s Brussels correspondent, Reflector. AstraZeneca suffered a serious setback at the start of July when the European General Court ruled that it had illegally prevented generic competition. The case dates [...]
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Advisory Panel Rejects Avastin For Breast Cancer Treatment

By George Koroneos | Published: July 21, 2010
An FDA advisory panel on Tuesday voted 12–1 to discontinue Avastin (bevacizumab) as a treatment for advanced breast cancer due to post-market studies stating that the treatment does not to increase patient lifespan by any significant length of time. This is a huge problem for Roche who purchased the treatment as part of its merger with [...]
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