Oct. 29, 2010 at 7:03 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Merck & Co. reported disappointing quarterly sales on Friday and took an almost $1 billion charge related to a previously disclosed U.S. government probe of its recalled Vioxx arthritis drug.
The drugmaker, which completed it $41 billion acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp in November 2009, said third quarter earnings fell 89 percent to $372 million, or 11 cents per share, reflecting charges related to the merger as well as the new $950 million Vioxx legal reserve. The company earned $3.46 billion, or $1.61 per share in the year earlier period. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 5:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals,
Policy
By Reuters
Vivus Inc.’s weight-loss drug candidate Qnexa failed to win over U.S. health regulators, who declined to approve the diet pill, asking for evidence related to heart risk and other information.
The Food and Drug Administration told Vivus on Thursday that its new drug application for Qnexa could not approved in its present form. Get the full story »
Oct. 28, 2010 at 4:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
A new kind of test that finds evidence of colon cancer in the stool can also detect pre-cancerous growths and could potentially be an alternative to colonoscopies, researchers reported Thursday.
Exact Sciences’ new test detected 87 percent of stage I, II and III colon tumors, which can be surgically removed, and found 64 percent of the biggest pre-cancerous growths, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Attorneys general in Illinois, Oregon and California said on Tuesday that Bayer AG agreed to a $3.3 million settlement over misleading claims that the drug maker’s vitamins reduced men’s risk of prostate cancer.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bayer cannot make claims that its One A Day Men’s multivitamins can prevent or cure prostate cancer or any other disease without scientific evidence, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.
“When manufacturers like Bayer make marketing claims with insufficient scientific proof behind them, they are misleading consumers,” she said. Get the full story »
Oct. 26, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts say British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC will pay $750 million to settle allegations that its subsidiary manufactured and sold adulterated drugs, including the popular antidepressant Paxil.
U.S. Atty. Carmen Ortiz on Tuesday announced that GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to settle civil and criminal charges related to the subsidiary in Puerto Rico. Get the full story »
Oct. 26, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Health care,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. posted a slight decline in third-quarter profit Tuesday as its restrained spending was offset by flat sales of its drugs, lower income from its partners and bigger discounts to government because of the health care overhaul.
By Bruce Japsen
Hospira Inc. chief executive officer Christopher Begley said this morning that the company’s board will be interviewing candidates to succeed him in the next two months from a newly-created “short list.”
Begley, the top executive of the Lake Forest-based generic drug and device maker, told Wall Street analysts on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that “several dozen” applicants for his job have been pared down to a “short list.” Get the full story »
Oct. 26, 2010 at 7:11 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals
By Bruce Japsen
Hospira Inc.’s third-quarter profit tumbled 40 percent largely due to the loss of U.S. sales of a generic cancer drug the company cannot sell due to a patent settlement that is keeping the cheaper version off the market.
The Lake Forest-based maker of generic injectable drugs and medication delivery devices said net income fell to $71.4 million, or 42 cents a share in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares to $116.2 million, or 71 cents in the third quarter of 2009. Get the full story »
Oct. 25, 2010 at 5:08 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals,
Retail
By Dow Jones Newswires
Drug store chain Walgreen has hired Bank of America to help auction its pharmacy benefits management business, Bloomberg reports, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. Get the full story »
Oct. 25, 2010 at 12:36 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Sam Waksal, the former chief executive of ImClone Systems Inc., whose insider trading scam sent him and Martha Stewart to prison, Monday announced an acquisition meant to catapult him back into the biotech game.
Waksal said that his drug company Kadmon Pharmaceuticals has bought the privately held Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals and that its treatments for hepatitis C, infections and cancer will be the backbone of his new enterprise. Get the full story »
Oct. 22, 2010 at 5:18 p.m.
Filed under:
International,
Investing,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Genzyme Corp. made its case for why it is worth more than Sanofi-Aventis’s $18.5 billion offer, forecasting 2011 profit above Wall Street estimates and sales of $3 billion for its experimental multiple sclerosis drug. Get the full story »
Oct. 21, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Baxter International Inc. reported third-quarter profits up 12 percent on improved sales of medication delivery devices.
The Deerfield-based medical product giant reported profits of $595 million, or $1.01 per share, compared to $530 million, or 87 cents a share in the third quarter of 2009. Revenues rose 3 percent to $3.2 billion. Get the full story »
Oct. 20, 2010 at 10:33 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Pharmaceuticals,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Abbott Laboratories reported third-quarter profits tumbled 40 percent thanks to the costs of withdrawing a diet drug from the U.S. market and global cost-cutting in the wake of its acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals.
The North Chicago-based drug and medical product giant reported earnings of $891 million, or 57 cents a share, compared to $1.5 billion, or 95 cents a share in the third quarter of 2009.
Net earnings included after-tax charges of $513 million, or 33 cents a share due to a major product withdrawal, a recall of infant formula in the U.S. and costs that Abbott said was primarily related to restructuring following the Solvay deal. Abbott last month said it would cut about 3,000 jobs worldwide or about 3 percent of the company’s global workforce to eliminate redundancies following the purchase. Get the full story »
Oct. 19, 2010 at 8:46 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Alejandra Cancino
Johnson & Johnson is recalling yet another lot of over-the-counter Tylenol because of a musty or moldy smell. McNeil Consumer Healthcare business says it is recalling lot BCM155, or about 128,000 bottles, of Tylenol 8 Hour caplets that come in bottles with 50 pills. Get the full story »
Oct. 19, 2010 at 5:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals,
Recalls
By Alejandra Cancino
An Illinois mother is requesting class-action status in a lawsuit she filed against Abbott Laboratories Inc. over the recall of millions of containers of its top-selling Similac powered infant formula, which she claims, sickened her child and thousands of other children.
Abbott recalled the products on Sept. 22, following two reports from consumers stating they had found beetles or larvae in the formula. The insects and larvae were also found during an inspection at the Sturgis plant in Michigan, where the products are made. Get the full story »
