Filtered By:
Specialty: Pharma Commentators

This page shows you your search results in order of date.

Order by Relevance | Date

Total 48 results found since Jan 2013.

Reuters Exclusive: Bayer, Novartis, others eye Merck's consumer health unit - sources
By Olivia Oran, Soyoung Kim and Anjuli DaviesNEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - A handful of consumer and healthcare companies including Bayer AG and Novartis are exploring a deal for Merck & Co Inc's consumer healthcare business, as they seek to gain scale in a fragmented industry, according to several people familiar with the matter.Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and Procter & Gamble Co are also among the parties that have held discussions with Merck about buying the unit, best known for Coppertone sunscreen and Claritin allergy medicine, the sources said this week.The Merck business, which also includes Dr. Scholl's ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 20, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Drug firms accused of holding back complete information on clinical trials
A review of 20 existing studies into Tamiflu by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded it 'did not reduce influenza-related lower respiratory tract complications'. Photograph: Clive Gee/PAClinical trial results are being routinely withheld from doctors, undermining their ability to make informed decisions about how to treat patients, an influential parliamentary committee has claimed.MPs have expressed "extreme concern" that drug manufacturers appear to only publish around 50% of completed trial results and warned that the practice has "ramifications for the whole of medicine".Their conclusions have emerged in a public accou...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 3, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Two former MedImmune execs out at AstraZeneca unit
AstraZeneca PLC has parted ways with Scott Carmer and Tim Gray, two formerMedImmune executives who most recently held top positions in AZ's newly created specialty care division, the pharmaceutical giant confirmed this week.Both Carmer and Gray left the company on Nov. 8, according to AstraZeneca spokeswoman Michele Meixell. She declined to elaborate on the circumstances of their exit and would not say whether or not they were let go.The two departures are the latest in ongoing structural changes at the Gaithersburg biotech, but are no less complex to explain. London-based AstraZeneca acq...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 20, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and refreshing because, as you know, the drumbeat of meetings and deadlines has now returned. This was expected, of course. Just the same, the moment calls for a cup or more of stimulation. After all, the nerves could use a little fortification. So please join us. We like to think that we do not drink alone. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits, as always. Hope you have a grand day and drop us a line if you run across something fascinating... Ranbaxy Hopes To Sell Generics In Japan (BioSpectrum Asia) Princeton May Use Novartis...
Source: Pharmalot - November 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs

Dr James LeFanu writes
There is rather more than is immediately apparent in the recent grudging acknowledgement that the swine flu vaccine increased the risk of the serious sleeping disorder narcolepsy fourteen-fold – and that those affected (mainly children) are entitled to compensation.As many will recall, the threatened swine flu “pandemic” of 2009 proved something of a non-event, with only 10 per cent of the predicted number of cases and a miniscule mortality rate of 0.0005 per cent.This discrepancy between the dire warnings and what turned out to be among the mildest flu outbreaks of the past 100 years prompted an inquiry by...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

The antibiotics crisis
Why are antibiotics so important?Without them, modern medicine would not be possible. Arguably the most important factor in the 30-year jump in American life expectancy in the 20th century, these "wonder drugs" allow us to fight the whole gamut of bacterial illness, from everyday ear infections to diseases such as syphilis, typhoid, and tuberculosis that used to kill millions of people. Their discovery about 100 years ago also revolutionized the world of surgery: As antibiotics drastically reduced the number of post-operative infections, standard operations that used to be considered perilous — such as appendix removals ...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Are Farm Veterinarians Pushing Too Many Antibiotics? - NPR
Enlarge imageCattle crowd inside a feedlot operated by JBS Five Rivers Colorado Beef in Wiley, Colo.John Moore/Getty ImagesIn a barn outside Manhattan, Kan., researchers from Kansas State University are trying to solve the riddle of bovine respiratory disease. They're sticking plastic rods down the noses of 6-month old calves, collecting samples of bacteria."This bacteria, Mannheimia haemolytica, lives in most cattle," explains Mike Apley, one of the research leaders. Sometimes, for reasons that aren't well understood, those bacteria make cattle sick. When that happens, or when it just seems likely to happen, cat...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. How is everything going so far? Busy as usual, we imagine. The Pharmalot corporate campus, of course, is no exception, where the to-do list is growing longer and there is never enough time. We trust you can relate. So why not cope as we do and reach for a cup or three of stimulation? Nothing like a little kick in the morning. In any event, time now to get cracking. So here are some tidbits. Have a smashing day and drop us a line if you run across anything intriguing... Glaxo Sales In China Drop 61 Percent Due To Scandal (Reuters) Flu Shots Tied To Lower Risk Of...
Source: Pharmalot - October 23, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs

Why Big Pharma is bad for your health
Just take one and you’ll feel better. Promise (Image from shutterstock).On Wednesday I came down with a stinking cold. Loaded up with all the cold and ‘flu medication I could find on the pharmacist’s shelves I headed into the office where I found on my desk a pre-ordered copy of Ben Goldacre’s new book Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients.I had read and enjoyed Goldacre’s previous book ‘Bad Science‘, an accessible and entertaining exploration of the world of medicine. I have not touched a homeopathic sugar pill or written an ill-informed scientific article since. Not that...
Source: PharmaGossip - September 22, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Good morning, folks, and how are you today? We are just fine, thank you, although running a little behind schedule as we cope with assorted short people and their continued transition to the school year. This may become a perennial challenge. In any event, there is work to do. So please join us as we grab a cup of stimulation and attack the lengthening to-do list. And as always, here are some tidbits to get you started. Have a grand day and let us know if you hear something fascinating... Quadrivalent Flu Vaccines Offer A Promise Of Greater Profits (Reuters) BioMarin Stock Climbs On Speculation Of A Roche Bid (Bloomberg Ne...
Source: Pharmalot - September 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs

Of pigs and penicillin
Extended Withdrawal Needed to Avoid Penicillin G ResiduesNewsUS - A minimum 51-day withdrawal is necessary if penicillin G is used in pigs destined for processing, according to the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV).The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently validated its testing methodology to enable the identification of penicillin G procaine in edible tissues at processing, according to Dr Harry Snelson of the AASV. This has resulted in an increase in penicillin residue violations in cull sows. These violations raised the concern of pork producers and veterinarians because many ...
Source: PharmaGossip - September 4, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? Another balmy midsummer's day is unfolding here on the Pharmalot corporate campus, where the dogs are fertilizing our weed collection, various types of birds are singing an unrecognizable tune and a mandatory cup of stimulation is brewing on the hot plate. This is a glorious start to what is exected to be another busy day. We trust you relate. So here are some interesting items to help you along. By the way, we will be off tomorrow, so we will wish you a pleasant weekend now. Meanwhile, have a great few days... Pfizer Must Pay $1.8M In Punitive Damages In Prempro Case (Bloombe...
Source: Pharmalot - August 8, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs

FDA toughens malaria drug labeling because sometimes it makes you crazy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising the public about strengthened and updated warnings regarding neurologic and psychiatric side effects associated with the antimalarial drug mefloquine hydrochloride.A boxed warning, the most serious kind of warning about these potential problems, has been added to the drug label.  FDA has revised the patient Medication Guide dispensed with each prescription and wallet card to include this information and the possibility that the neurologic side effects may persist or become permanent. The neurologic side effects can include dizziness, loss of balance, or ringing i...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Sharing data from clinical trials: where we are and what lies ahead -BMJ
BMJ 2013; 347 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f4794 (Published 30 July 2013)Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f4794Elizabeth Loder, associate editorAuthor Affiliationseloder@bmj.comThe drive to make clinical trial data more accessible has garnered widespread international support, but rearguard actions by the drug industry could delay substantial change. Elizabeth Loder looks at international developments in the sharing of clinical trial dataAlmost a decade ago an Italian scientist, Alessandro Liberati, wrote an impassioned Personal View in the BMJ. He had developed myeloma and need...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Antimalarial Drug Linked to Sgt. Robert Bales Massacre - By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is facing sentencing by a military court for killing 16 civilians on a rampage in Afghanistan last year, might have faced a perfect storm of stress, which included the use of mefloquine hydrochloride, an antimalarial drug given routinely to soldiers in that part of the world. Mefloquine was developed by the U.S. military and has been used for more than three decades by the government to prevent and to treat malaria among soldiers and Peace Corps workers. But the drug can cause varying neurological side effects 5 to 10 percent of the time, according to Dr. David Sullivan, an infectiou...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 23, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs