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Two studies released Monday reported serious heart risks with GlaxoSmithKline Plc diabetes pill Avandia as U.S. regulators decide whether the drug should stay on the market.
An analysis of 56 clinical trials found Avandia increased the chances of a heart attack by 28 percent to 39 percent, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio reported in an update to a 2007 study that sparked intense debate about the drug. Get the full story »
BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today it has been added to the broad-market Russell 3000 Index as part of Russell Investments’ recent reconstitution of its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes after market close Friday. Get the full story »
A jury in New York on Friday awarded $8 million in damages in a product-liability case over Merck & Co.’s (MRK) osteoporosis drug Fosamax.
The verdict is the first loss for the Whitehouse Station, N.J., drug maker as it faces hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal court over allegations Fosamax can cause a jaw-destroying condition known as osteonecrosis. Get the full story »
Drug and device maker Abbott Laboratories said Thursday it received U.S. regulatory approval for its Freestyle Lite blood sugar testing strips.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the products to test for levels of glucose, a type of blood sugar, in patients with type 2 diabetes. People with the disease have trouble breaking down carbohydrates because their bodies have become resistant to a protein used in metabolism. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories and its Massachusetts biotech partner have launched a final-stage clinical trial of their experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis.
The first patient — out of 1,500 needed worldwide — was enrolled last month in the U.S. The drug, daclizumab, is being developed for monthly injection under the patient’s skin by North Chicago-based Abbott and Cambridge-based Biogen Idec. Get the full story »
Boston Scientific Corp. said on Wednesday it completed the refinancing of its debt due to mature in 2011 with new $3-billion bank facilities. It also arranged a $1-billion three-year term loan which will be used to prepay its $900 million term loan due to Abbott Laboratories Inc. in April 2011.
The Postal Regulatory Commission heard testimony Monday from businesses that oppose an end to mail delivery on Saturdays, a move the postal service says would save more than $3 billion annually.
Among them, CVS Caremark Co. said a five-day delivery service would impede the growth of mail-order pharmaceuticals and keep vital medications from patients. Get the full story »
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. is pulling a decade-old leukemia medicine off the U.S. market after a study found a higher death rate and no benefit for patients.
Mylotarg won approval under an abbreviated process to help bring treatments for serious diseases to patients more quickly. Medicines cleared in that way must pass follow-up tests to confirm they work. Get the full story »
Abbott Labs said the FDA today approved its new diagnostic test that allows for earlier detection of HIV. Get the full story »
It turns out Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. need each other after all.
After months of contract negotiations, punctuated by a two-week public brawl, the two drug store giants announced Friday that they have settled a dispute that threatened to prevent thousands of people from getting their prescriptions filled at Walgreens stores.
At issue: How Caremark, one of the nation’s biggest prescription plan operators, prices discounts for prescriptions filled at Walgreens pharmacies, which often compete fiercely with CVS stores on nearby street corners around the United States. Get the full story »
From CNBC | Drug and medical device maker Hospira Inc. said Thursday it is again extending its buyout offer for Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. even as the companies prepare to go to court over the terms of the $145 million deal.
Get the full story: cnbc.com.
From the Press-Enterprise | Abbott Labs has laid off 120 workers in its Abbott Vascular unit. The majority working at an Abbott manufacturing plant in Temecula, Calif. The company said it was part of a regular review process.
Get the full story: pe.com
Dow Jones Newswires | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
extended its review of Merck & Co.’s application to broaden
use of cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil to include older women.
Merck expects to hear back from the FDA by the end of the year, said
spokeswoman Pam Eisele. The Whitehouse Station, N.J., drug maker had
expected a response from FDA before next week’s meeting of a vaccine
advisory committee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control &
Prevention.
Associated Press | Federal health experts meet this week to
review the first pill designed to boost the female sex drive, more than
a decade after Pfizer’s drug Viagra sparked the search for a female
counterpart.
