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Woman Loses Sick-Leave Benefits for Depression Thanks to Facebook PicsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Quebec woman Nathalie Blanchard poses on the beach in a Facebook photograph that convinced her insurance company that she was no longer depressed.Can you really determine someone’s mental state by looking at a photograph? Manulife, a Canadian-based financial services company, apparently thinks so. Nathalie Blanchard, a 29-year-old IBM employee from Quebec, took a long-term sick leave from her job after being diagnosed with major depression. Her doctor told her to try & have fun, and to take a sunny vacation to get away from her problems. She did just that while she received monthly sick-leave benefits from Manuli...
Source: World of Psychology - November 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Summer Beretsky Tags: Depression Disorders General Health-related Industrial and Workplace Mental Health and Wellness Amp Beach Photograph Birthday Party Blanchard Facebook Financial Services Company Having A Good Time Health Insurance Health Insura Source Type: blogs

New Endometriosis Fertility Scoring System Predicts Fertility: Exclusive Podcast With AuthorEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In a docinthemachine exclusive first I am excited to share with you a new endometriosis scoring staging system that is the first ever to predict a patients chance of getting pregnant without IVF. The EFI or endometriosis fertility index was just presented by Dr David Adamson, a fertility specialist at the 38th annual Global Congress on Gynecologic Minimally Invasive Surgery– the annual meeting of the AAGL in Florida. As a fertility specialist and surgeon myself it was starred on my agenda not to miss as a highlight of the entire congress. Here’s all the details of his presentation and the scoring system. He...
Source: docinthemachine - November 20, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: info at docinthemachine.com (Steven F Palter, MD)Steven F. Palter, MD Tags: Endoscopic Surgery Medical Societies Medicine-general & other Podcasts Women's Health infertility medical literature Source Type: blogs

Following Fred: How Hassan Will Spend His TimeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Now that Fred Hassan is no longer the chief executive of Schering-Plough - or any other drugmaker - since Merck finally scooped up its rival, Fred has been busy accepting invitations to join the boards of various other corporations. Apparently, his experience selling drugmakers - don’t forget his time running Pharmacia - is seen as invaluable to others who want to increase their stock prices. Last week, for instance, Fred joined the Warbug Pincus private equity firm as a senior advisor (please look here) and joined the board of Bausch & Lomb, which makes eye products (see here). And late last month, he became a ...
Source: Pharmalot - November 18, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Avon Products Bausch & Lomb Fred Hassan Schering Plough Time Warner Warburg Pincus Source Type: blogs

Bristol Readies Baby-Formula Business to Walk on Its OwnEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Bristol-Myers Squibb filed plans with the SEC this morning to split off its Mead Johnson baby-formula unit to concentrate on its core pharmaceuticals business. While other big drug makers are busy diversifying in an effort to reduce the risks at the core of developing new drugs, Bristol is raising its pharmaceutical bet by disposing of Mead Johnson. The company has signaled that it’s interesting in buying or partnering with smaller drug makers. You will recall that trading in Mead Johnson shares started off to a fast start earlier this year after Bristol-Myers did a partial public offering while retaining majority co...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 16, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: James A. White Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

What Pfizer, KKR and Goldman (Reportedly) Want: Generics!Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Ratiopharm is up for sale, and it sounds like there are lots of interested buyers. The German company is a big, family-owned generic drug maker, and the generics business is popular these days — lots of blockbusters are going off patent in the next few years, and cost pressures in health care are creating a growing push to have patients take generic drugs when that’s an option. Dow Jones Newswires reports this morning that private-equity shops TPG, Permira and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts have put in offers, as has Pfizer. According to reports from Bloomberg News and the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs’s priva...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 12, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Generics M&A Source Type: blogs

DITM Podcast on Future of Video for Entertainment & Medicine With Sony ExecEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have been getting great feedback on my DITM medical technology podcast which starts the podcast series I’ll be doing regularly. Several people wrote to ask if I could post a version with just the interview since they loved it so much and wanted to share that segment. The original podcast starts with FDA approvals then has an interview with Sony Exec Bob Ott on the future of video technology in entertainment and medicine that we did a the NAB broadcast meeting in Vegas. Here’s an edit version with just the interview enjoy and share with your friends! addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fdocinthemachine.com%...
Source: docinthemachine - November 12, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: info at docinthemachine.com (Steven F Palter, MD)Steven F. Palter, MD Tags: Augmented Abilities Device Company Endoscopic Surgery HDTV Medical Devices Medicine-general & other Podcasts Technology Visualization Women's Health camera fluorescence future vision video Source Type: blogs

Sanofi’s Research Shift: Billion-Dollar Deal, Venture Capital FundEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Chris Viehbacher, the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis, told the Health Blog a while back that he planned to shift a big chunk of research funding away from Sanofi’s internal labs and toward external partnerships with smaller, more nimble biotech shops. That strategy was in evidence yesterday, in a few ways. Sanofi said it would fund more than $1 billion in research at a biotech shop called Regeneron. The funding will be spread over eight years, and expands on an existing partnership between the two companies, the WSJ reports. The company is also likely to create a venture capital fund, Viehbacher said Tuesday. He was in Camb...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 11, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Research Source Type: blogs

Which R&D Sites Is Pfizer Closing?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
More news today on the cutbacks at Pfizer following the merger with Wyeth. Pfizer just sent out the list of research sites it’ll be shrinking and, in some cases, closing. Here’s the key paragraph: The company will move a number of functions from Collegeville, Pa.; Pearl River, N.Y.; and St. Louis to other locations and will discontinue R&D operations in Princeton, N.J.; Chazy, Rouses Point and Plattsburgh, N.Y.; Sanford and Research Triangle Park, N.C.; and Gosport, Slough/Taplow, U.K. In addition, Pfizer will consolidate R&D functions from its New London, Conn., site to its nearby research facility i...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 9, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

FDA Posts New Draft Guidance on Computer-Assisted Detection Devices Applied to Radiological Images and Radiological Data (CADe)Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It may be helpful to compare these new guidances with the pending MDDS rule, discussed here, in which the proposed rule defines an MDDS as Class I, the class with the lowest FDA scrutiny. Unlike MDDS, in the current case these CADe devices are not newly defined. However the FDA does acknowledge that the terminology may not widely known or used. A CADe system is not in the same class as an MDDS, and therefore is not an MDDS, because of the degree to which it analyzes medical device data. The Federal Register posting defines CADe’s as “computerized systems that incorporate pattern recognition and data analyses capabiliti...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - November 9, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: William Hyman Tags: Standards & Regulatory Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… G’Morning, LuvEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Another day, another deadline. That is our motto. And many of you probably relate. Nonetheless, we are happy to greet the morning and look forward to a busy day. We hope things go well for you today. And to help you along, here are a few developments…. CVS/Caremark Reports Higher Profit (Reuters) King Pharmaceuticals Profits Fall (MarketWatch) Astellas Cuts Outlook On Generic Competition (Reuters) J&J To Close Two Philly-Area Sites (philly.com) Merck Will Keep Schering-Plough HQ (Bloomberg) FDA To Fight Avoidable Harm From Meds (Reuters) Coffee courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons chichcacha (Source: Pharmalot)
Source: Pharmalot - November 5, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Drug Safety FDA Johnson & Johnson Merck Schering Plough Source Type: blogs

Merck CEO ‘Actively Looking’ for Biotech DealsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A day after closing Merck’s $41 billion takeover of Schering-Plough, Merck CEO Dick Clark showed that his appetite for deal-making hasn’t been sated. Clark told us today that the newly combined company is “actively looking” for biotechs to buy or partner with. For the moment, Clark said doing another mega-deal was “off the table right now” because the company needs to concentrate on combining Merck with Schering-Plough. But Merck is certainly interested in smaller deals, in the “single-digit billions” of dollars, the CEO said, without being more specific. Executives at the &...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 4, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jonathan D. Rockoff Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Still Waiting for Details on Merck’s 16,000 Job CutsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Now that the Merck merger with Schering-Plough is done, when can we expect details on the company’s plans to cut some 16,000 jobs? Not in the next few days, Merck’s CEO told Dow Jones Newswires today. The plans “aren’t finalized,” Dick Clark said. “We want to make the right decisions with talent.” We do know this much: The former Schering headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., will remain an “important site,” the company says, as will Merck’s Rahway, N.J., site. The company will keep its headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. The cuts, which will reduce the combined...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 4, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Antipsychotic Drugs, Elderly Patients and Omnicare’s SettlementEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
So Omnicare, a big pharmacy that specializes in providing drugs to nursing-home patients, will pay $98 million to settle allegations that the company “solicited or paid a variety of kickbacks,” according to this statement from the feds. The WSJ story gets into all the details, but one wrinkle in particular caught our eye: Omnicare was accused of soliciting and receiving kickbacks from J&J in exchange for recommending the company’s antipsychotic drug Risperdal. This touches on the broader issue of the widespread use of antipsychotic drugs among nursing home patients. Risperdal, like other drugs in its...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - November 4, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs J&J Legal Mental Health Source Type: blogs

Omnicare & Ivax Pay $112M Over Kickback ChargesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy will pay $98 million and the drugmaker will pay $14 million to resolve allegations that Omnicare engaged in kickback schemes with several parties, including Ivax, according to the US Justice Department. About $68.5 million will go to the US, while $43.5 million will cover Medicaid program claims by participating states. Among the infractions: The DOJ alleged that Omnicare solicited, and Ivax paid, $8 million in kickbacks in exchange for Omnicare’s agreement to purchase $50 million in drugs from Ivax, which is now a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals (here is the Omnicare s...
Source: Pharmalot - November 3, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Ivax Pharmaceuticals Johnson & Johnson OmniCare Risperdal Teva Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs

Weldon Pays $8.5M For Florida Lots As J&J Cuts JobsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Just a week before announcing that Johnson & Johnson will cut some 8,000 jobs, J&J chair and chief executive Bill Weldon plunked down $8.45 million for two adjacent vacant waterfront lots in North Palm Beach, Fl., and he bought them from former General Electric chair and chief executive Jack Welch, according to The Palm Beach Daily News and brought to our attention by Bnet. The properties are listed as 1264 Lake Worth Lane in Lost Tree Village with 113 feet of water frontage for $2.975 million and 1284 Lake Worth Lane, with 111 feet of frontage, for $5 million, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office r...
Source: Pharmalot - November 3, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Bill Weldon Jack Welch Johnson & Johnson North Palm Beach Source Type: blogs

J&J To Cut 7 Percent Of Jobs In RestructuringEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Another day, another reorganization. This time, the venerable health care giant expects to save anywhere from $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion by 2011 as it cuts 7 percent of its workforce, which numbers about 118,700 employees. Most of the savings are expected to come next year, when Johnson & Johnson hopes to pocket up to $900 million. How? The official statement contains mostly generalities, as to be expected. There are references to reducing layers of management, increasing “individual spans of control,” and simplifying business structures and processes across global operations. But J&J insists layoff...
Source: Pharmalot - November 3, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized jobs Johnson & Johnson Layoffs Source Type: blogs

Amgen Sued By 15 States Over Aranesp KickbacksEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The lawsuit charges Amgen - along with a specialty group purchasing organization known as International Nephrology Network and the ASD Healthcare wholesaler - with offering kickbacks to medical providers to increase sales of its Aranesp anemia drug, Aranesp. The multi-state suit, by the way, joins a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2006 by Amgen sales reps. The companies encouraged health care providers to bill third-party payers such as Medicaid for free Aranesp in hopes of taking business away from Johnson & Johnson’s Procrit. Amgen also conspired with INN and ASD Healthcare to provide sham consultant agreements...
Source: Pharmalot - October 30, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Amgen Andrew Cuomo Aranesp Johnson & Johnson Procrit Whistleblower Source Type: blogs

Sanofi CEO: Animal-Biz Combo With Merck ‘More Likely Than Not’Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We have known Merck sold its half of an animal-health venture to partner Sanofi-Aventis partly to avoid antitrust concerns arising from Merck’s pending takeover of Schering-Plough. The problem: Schering-Plough is bringing its own leading animal-health business to the Merck deal, and combining the two would create a juggernaut, with more than a quarter of the world market. Understandably, Merck didn’t want to give up its stake. Treating cats and dogs for ticks or vaccinating livestock is, well, a cash cow for beleaguered drug makers. Together, the Sanofi-Merck-Schering animal-health businesses would both treat ...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 30, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jonathan D. Rockoff Tags: Global M&A Source Type: blogs

J&J Sales Rep Told Docs To Use Risperdal Off-LabelEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The admission came from Matt Thompson, a sales rep for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit, who testified in a trial over claims by a former co-worker. In 2002, he said he pushed docs to consider prescribing Risperdal in combination with other drugs, even though this wasn’t approved by the FDA, and he noted that Jannsen’s training didn’t include any specific prohibitions against such promotions. “I’m not saying the company tried to hide it, but we didn’t think about augmentation in the realm of on-label or off- label at that time,” Thompson said. He said he was “probably” aware that promot...
Source: Pharmalot - October 29, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Bipolar Disorder Jannsen Pharmaceutica Johnson & Johnson Lynn Powell Risperdal Schizophrenia Source Type: blogs

Pfizer Execs Get Million-Dollar Merger BonusesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Hey guys, thanks for the great work on that merger. Here’s a million bucks! Pfizer is giving an extra $1.2 million to Frank D’Amelio, the company’s CFO, and $1 million to Ian Read, who runs Pfizer’s biopharmaceutical business. The board’s compensation committee decided the men “devoted extraordinary efforts and made extraordinary contributions” to the Pfizer-Wyeth merger, according to yesterday’s SEC filing disclosing the awards. The execs got half in cash and half in equity awards. They have to repay the cash if they quit or get fired before October 30, 2010. A company spok...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 29, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Where GSK Is Cutting Sales Reps, and Where It’s Adding ThemEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
For a clue to where GlaxoSmithKline is cutting back on sales reps, and where the company is staffing up, take a look at the company’s third-quarter earnings announcement, out this morning: Sales were up 25% in emerging markets and 19% in Japan — and down 8% in the U.S. Now that you know what the answer’s going to be, you can watch GSK CEO Andrew Witty give you the news via Web video. The part we’re talking about is just before the end, when he says: Just over the last year or so we’ve reduced by around 2,200 the number of sales personnel in our established Western markets, and we’ve inc...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 28, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs Global M&A Source Type: blogs

Did Vivus Hide Some Data About Its Fat Pill?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We report data consistent with FDA practice,” Morris tells TheStreet, “and there was no intention to selectively disclose.” (Source: Pharmalot)
Source: Pharmalot - October 28, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Fat Pill Ian Sanderson Johnson & Johnson Obesity Obesity Society Topamax Vivus Source Type: blogs

Kids On Zyprexa Gained How Much Weight?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Anywhere from 10 to 19 pounds on the Lilly pill. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found kids’ weight zoomed in the first three months on antipsychotics, often leading to elevated cholesterol and triglycerides levels. Weight gain is a known side effect but, as Forbes reminds us, the results are noteworthy because there were far greater increases than seen in many previous trials. Researchers tracked 272 children between the ages of 4 and 19 who started taking various brand-name antipsychotic drugs for the first time between 2001 and 2007. They found weight gains varied by drug but appeared to...
Source: Pharmalot - October 27, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Abilify Antipsychotics AstraZeneca Bristol Myers Squibb Eli Lilly Johnson & Johnson Risperdal Seroquel Zyprexa Source Type: blogs

Generic Savings Vs. Patent Deadlines: A Reader PollEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
At a time when saving big bucks on health care is such a hot issue, should Congress alter patent laws to save a company a lot of money from generic competition because it missed a basic, but crucial filing deadline by one day? Tim Carney at The Washington Examiner raises the case of The Medicines Company, which makes Angiomax, an anti-coagulant drug that helps prevent a second heart attack. In early 2001, MDCO applied for a standard extension to its patent, which would have been approved, except the company’s lawyers filed the application 61 days after initial FDA approval, missing the statutory deadline by one day. ...
Source: Pharmalot - October 26, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Angiomax Patents The Medicines Company US Patent & Trademark Office USPTO Source Type: blogs

J&J CEO’s Lower-Risk Alternative to AcquisitionsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Johnson & Johnson has long had a habit of buying companies, then letting them continue to run at arm’s length from the home office. Lately, though, the company has taken a different tack: Partnering with other companies without buying them outright. J&J CEO Bill Weldon explains the shift to the Financial Times: “The cost of developing compounds has become so high and become so risky that we are looking to share the risks and opportunities and find more and more partnerships.” In the past few months, J&J bought minority stakes in Elan and Crucell and signed a development deal with Gilead. M...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 26, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs J&J M&A Pfizer Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good MorningEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Welcome to the working week. How was the weekend, everyone? Ours was busier than usual, since one of the short people had a birthday party. As a result, today gives us a chance to collect our thoughts and, of course, look for interesting items. Here are a few to help you get started. Hope the days goes well… Johnson & Johnson Wants More Risk-Sharing Deals (FT) Prempro Trial Goes To Jury In Philadelphia (Bloomberg) Lilly Pays $45M To Settle Zyprexa Suit With So. Carolina (Associated Press) Pfizer Threatens Phillipine Pharmacies Over Generic Lipitor (Phillipine Daily Inquirer) (Source: Pharmalot)
Source: Pharmalot - October 26, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Eli Lilly Johnson & Johnson Prempro Rituxan Roche South Carolina Wyeth Zyprexa Source Type: blogs

Impact of Modifying FDA Regulated DevicesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Off Label Use In a previous post, Medical Device System Network Install Issues, I suggested that when health care providers don’t follow medical device manufacturer’s specifications when installing medical device systems they were using the system “off label.” This site’s latest contributing author, William Hyman, provides an alternative perspective: My interpretation of off-label use has been that it pertains to the actual use of the medical device, not the way it is set-up. Thus it isn’t off-label use until it is actually used, and use here is with respect to the Indications for Use, w...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - October 25, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: Standards & Regulatory FDA modification off label use Source Type: blogs

General Motors Will Move to High-Deductible Insurance PlansEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
General Motors, once famous for its top-notch, cradle-to-grave benefits, will offer only high-deductible health insurance to its salaried workers starting next year, Business Insurance reports. Besides setting up the inevitable joke (”Cadillac workers won’t get Cadillac insurance”) and carrying the inevitable symbolic resonance that goes with everything GM does, the shift is the latest sign of the way employers are looking to shift some of the burden of rising health costs to workers. One recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of employers plan to shift more of the cost of care to workers and their fa...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 23, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Doctors Drugs Infectious disease M&A Source Type: blogs

Up And Down The Ladder… Job ChangesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone? Johnson & Johnson added Xerox chairman Anne Mulcahy to its board; Digestive Care added Winston Kirton and Patrick Ronan to its sr mgmt team; Jiangbo Pharmaceuticals says Haibo Xu resigned as chief oper...
Source: Pharmalot - October 23, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Digestive Care Epizyme Jiangbo Pharmaceuticals Johnson & Johnson NGM Pharmaceuticals Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Seaside Therapeutics Warner-Chilcott Source Type: blogs

Buy! Sell! More Wheeling, Dealing from Bristol-Myers CEOEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
If you’re running a little biotech shop with tons of promise but not much capital, here’s a tip: Jim Cornelius has a billion dollars burning a hole in his pocket. Cornelius is the CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb; on the company’s earnings call today he said that even after Bristol’s recent $2.1 billion Medarex deal, the company’s net cash position is $1.3 billion. And Bristol will “continue to aggressively pursue acquisitions, licensing deals and other partnerships,” he said. Bristol may get even more cash — another $1.7 billion or so — when Mead Johnson, a former Bristol ...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 22, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Earnings Call Is a Requiem for Schering-PloughEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Quarterly earnings reports are usually more dull than emotional. But things got a little bit touchy-feely on Schering-Plough’s conference call with analysts this morning. The report was likely Schering-Plough’s last, if rival Merck’s take-over of the drug maker closes by year’s end as expected. And so the earnings call’s invariable bleating about operational sales growth and foreign exchange impact came with notes of nostalgia. For the record, Schering-Plough said its third-quarter profit fell 16% due to charges, but earnings per share of 40 cents beat Wall Street’s consensus. Analysts o...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 22, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jonathan D. Rockoff Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

How Many Jobs Has Pfizer Cut This Year?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
When the Pfizer-Wyeth deal was announced earlier this year, Pfizer said it would cut about 15% of the combined companies’ work-force — just under 20,000 jobs. That figure included 8,000 jobs that Pfizer had already said it planned to cut. When we checked in with Pfizer last week, after the deal closed, a spokesman told us those cuts had already begun on the Pfizer side — but didn’t tell us how many jobs had been eliminated so far. Pfizer’s third-quarter earnings announcement, released this morning, provides an answer. The company says its workforce was 75,400 at the end of the third quarter. P...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 20, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Icarus in Wiretap Magazine: College Mental Health: A Different DiagnosisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Annie Robinson's article "College Mental Health: A Different Diagnosis" is in Wiretap Magazine, a leading online youth activist website: School health providers are supposed to act in the best interests of the student. But who it is that gets to define these "best interests" is a subject for debate among students and counseling staff.read more (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness)
Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness - October 16, 2009 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Icarus Project Tags: advocacy, rights & amp; politics alternative treatments campus organizing icarus organizational icarus press local groups mad science mainstream treatments Source Type: blogs

Genentech Surges in U.S. — At Least in NameEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
When Roche bought the balance of Genentech for nearly $50 billion, sentimental souls lamented that the Genentech name, which went way back to the 1970s and dawn of the biotech era, might disappear. Instead, it’s the name “Roche” that will start to vanish, at least in the U.S. — to be replaced with a blue Genentech logo. Roche is rebranding all its medicines in the U.S. as Genentech. That includes non-biotech drugs like Boniva, the osteoporosis drug pitched by Sally Field. The drugs’ individual Web sites will eventually transfer over as well. The move excludes Tamiflu until after the flu season...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 16, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Gryta Tags: Biotech Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Pfizer-Wyeth: Which Sites Are Closing, Which Are Staying Open?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Pfizer-Wyeth deal closed yesterday with lots of uncertainty about how thousands of planned job cuts would shake out. But a few details about what’s staying open and what’s closing have started emerging from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, where the companies have assorted labs and offices. Wyeth’s facility in Great Valley, Pennsylvania will close, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Some 900 people work there; workers leaving the plant yesterday told the Inquirer they expect to learn their fates by the end of the month. Wyeth’s pharmaceutical headquarters in Collegeville, Pennsylvania ...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 16, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Pfizer-Wyeth Deal Wraps Up; Layoffs to FollowEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The feds greenlighted the Pfizer-Wyeth deal yesterday, and the transaction is likely to be wrapped up today. Next question: Where will the synergy axe fall? Pfizer has said it would cut about 15% of the companies’ combined workforce. That’s just under 20,000 jobs. That figure includes roughly 8,000 jobs that Pfizer pledged in January to eliminate; the company said the cuts would “span sales, manufacturing, research and development, and administrative organizations.” Those cuts within Pfizer have already begun, a Pfizer spokesman told the Health Blog yesterday. But the full picture of who will be hit...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - October 15, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Canada Posts “Medical Device Data System” RuleEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
On August 31, 2009 Health Canada, Canada’s medical device regulatory authority, posted classification information for Patient Management Software (pdf). This action is similar to the FDA’s proposed rule for the regulation of Medical Device Data Systems (MDDS), nearing finalization. The Canadian announcement begins with a reminder of its definition of “medical device” which is similar to although not identical to the U.S definition. This definition includes Patient Management Software as a medical device. In addition, Canada defines an “active” device as one that requires an energy source, and “active diagnost...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - October 14, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: William Hyman Tags: Standards & Regulatory FDA MDDS Source Type: blogs

Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning, AgainEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Top of the morning, everyone. Today marks the start of the earnings season for drug makers - Johnson & Johnson is reporting - and voting starts on healthcare reform. So lots to keep an eye on. Hope your day goes well…. Pfizer Slow To Address Chantix Side Effects in Korea (Korea Times) Glaxo, UK & Wellcome Trust Offer Space To Biotechs (Reuters) Pfizer Criticized Over Worker Safety (The Korea Times) Johnson & Johnson Third-Quarter Earnings (Press Release) Glaxo Strikes Deal For Four Muscular Dystrophy Drugs (Bloomberg) Vanda License Schizo Drug To Novartis (MarketWatch) (Source: Pharmalot)
Source: Pharmalot - October 13, 2009 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Chantix GlaxoSmithKline Johnson & Johnson Korea Novartis Pfizer Vanda Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs

Do Czech Teens Lie Online?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Do Czech teens lie about themselves and their lives on their blogs? A new research study suggests the answer may surprise you — generally, “No.” In a survey of 113 teens, ages 13 to 17 years old, researchers discovered that when presenting personal information such as their age, gender, and place of residence, teens were generally pretty truthful in their blogs: Generally, the level of dishonesty was low, with young adolescents tending to lie more often about their interests. Public topics (school and life) had the most truthful answers, whereas the least truthful answers concerned intimate topics (famil...
Source: World of Psychology - October 7, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: John M Grohol PsyD Tags: Brain and Behavior Children and Teens General Relationships Technology 17 Years Adolescent Adolescent Behavior Ahead Amp Blogs Cultures Cyberpsychology Czech Teens Demographic Information Dishonesty Doi Flies Mary Ann L Source Type: blogs

Sanofi CEO Still Shopping, But Big Merger Is ‘Highly Unlikely’Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Sanofi-Aventis has spent some $9 billion on acquisitions this year, but there’s “more shopping on the horizon,” CEO Chris Viehbacher tells Bloomberg News. Among other things, Viehbacher is interested in deals that would expand Sanofi’s vaccine business — a popular trend among big pharma companies (including Merck, Abbott and J&J) these days. The market for vaccines is expected to double in the next five years, and they’re tough for would-be competitors to manufacture, Viehbacher told Bloomberg. The company may also use acquisitions to expand its biotech and over-the-counter business...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 30, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Vaccines Source Type: blogs

Boston Scientific, J&J Deal is Latest Sign of Stent Suit DetenteEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
After years of bitter legal fights, peace could be rearing its ugly head in the stent world. Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson today announced a $716 million settlement involving more than a dozen stent-related patent lawsuits. In July, Medtronic said it would pay Abbott $400 million to settle their patent battles over stents. Medtronic also reached a deal earlier this year to resolve stent-patent disputes with both Boston Scientific and J&J. The latest settlement put to rest a 12-year old patent suit over claims related to J&Js Palmaz stent and Boston Scientifics NIR stent. Several other U.S. and...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 29, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: James A. White Tags: J&J Legal Medical devices Stents Source Type: blogs

It’s Hard to Make Vaccines. Sometimes That’s a Good Thing.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the shorthand of the drug business, biotech is sexy and vaccines are boring. But both fields, broadly considered, are “biologicals” — products created with living organisms, as opposed to the mere chemicals that make up traditional drugs. Manufacturing biologicals is much more complicated than manufacturing traditional drugs. That can sometimes be a headache for manufacturers (as Merck’s rash of vaccine manufacturing troubles reminded us a while back). But for those already in the business, it can also be a useful barrier to entry against new competition — particularly in an era when aggre...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 29, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Biotech Global M&A Vaccines Source Type: blogs

Abbott, J&J Deals to Improve Access to Vaccine MarketEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There are two trans-Atlantic developments to mention in the Big Pharma game of consolidation, and both involve vaccines: As had been expected, Abbott will pay about $7 billion to acquire the drug unit of Solvay, a Belgium conglomerate. Here’s more on that deal from the WSJ. In a release this morning, the U.S. company says the acquisition of the Solvay unit “complements Abbott’s presence and expertise in specialty markets such as cardiovascular disease, neuroscience and gastroenterology” and will allow Abbott to get into the global vaccines market. Abbott and Solvay sell the cholesterol lowering dru...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 28, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Shirley S. Wang Tags: Drugs Global M&A Vaccines Source Type: blogs

FCC Seeks Comment (Again) on MBANsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Some semi recent news on Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs) from GE Research and the FCC. It starts with GE’s September 1, 2009 press release (pdf), where they announced: …an intiative aimed to develop wireless medical monitoring systems, or body sensor networks (BSN), which would replace the traditional tangle of bedside caables used to capture a patient’s vital signs. GE’s vision for the systems would enable wireless monitoring from anywhere in the hospital — or even remotely at home. For the past couple years, GE’s been pushing for the allocation of spectrum for MBANs. The press relea...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - September 24, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: Standards & Regulatory Wireless Medical Devices Source Type: blogs

Will Pharma Spinoffs Follow Pharma Mergers?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Remember all that pharma M&A action from the first half of the year? Pfizer-Wyeth! Merck-Schering! Roche-Genentech! But with things rather quiet at the moment on the pharma megamerger front, let’s pause to consider what might may be in store: Pharma spinoffs. “The industry will go through more cycles of consolidation, but eventually these very large companies will break up again into smaller businesses,” Wyeth’s head of business development Thomas Hofstaetter said at a conference yesterday, according to Dow Jones Newswires reporter Peter Loftus. Hofstaetter said some of those independent operat...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 23, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jacob Goldstein Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Medical Device System Network Install IssuesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Last week there was an interesting discussion on the Biomed Listserv about network installation for patient monitoring systems. Emphasis highlighting key issues and best practices are mine. The discussion started with a question from Scott Skinner: I’m curious if anyone has been successful using their own vendors to pull cables for monitoring installations. With the monitoring OEM we work with, they simply get a local subcontractor to do the cable pulls. So this would involve breaking future monitoring packages up into two quotes: one for the actual technology itself (and associated installation and implementatio...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - September 23, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: Healthcare IT Standards & Regulatory Uncategorized Wireless Medical Devices Source Type: blogs

Medical Device System Networking IssuesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Last week there was an interesting discussion on the Biomed Listserv about network installation for patient monitoring systems. Emphasis highlighting key issues and best practices are mine. The discussion started with a question from Scott Skinner: I’m curious if anyone has been successful using their own vendors to pull cables for monitoring installations. With the monitoring OEM we work with, they simply get a local subcontractor to do the cable pulls. So this would involve breaking future monitoring packages up into two quotes: one for the actual technology itself (and associated installation and implementatio...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - September 22, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: Healthcare IT Standards & Regulatory Uncategorized Wireless Medical Devices Source Type: blogs

Fred Hassan, Pharma Fixture and Now, Health BloggerEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Ever since Merck announced it was taking over rival Schering-Plough, inquiring minds have wanted to know: What will Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan do next? Perhaps now we have a clue: Hassan is joining us bloggers, at least for some of his time. In a Huffington Post piece, Hassan weighed in yesterday on the health-care debate, arguing that the discussion has unwisely ignored serious and long-term threats such as Alzheimer’s disease. Hassan encouraged accelerating research into the disease and its detection. And he recommended a bunch of changes in how Alzheimer’s patients are cared for that echo revisions to m...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 16, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jonathan D. Rockoff Tags: Drugs M&A Source Type: blogs

Running Medical Device Software on Shared ComputersEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The following question came up on the biomed listserv: Has anybody wrestled with the idea of placing patient-care applications on the laptop COWs (Computers on Wheels) in Hospitals? There is a new series of USB-connected Ultrasound transducers that can do many ultrasound procedures, including Bladder Scanner functions. It operates on any laptop, when loaded with the manufacturer’s software. I can foresee many other patient-care functions vying to share the computers already in the patient vicinity. Any guidance on this subject? Here’s my reply: As others have pointed out, you are right to be concerned about...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - September 7, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: Patient Safety Product Development Standards & Regulatory Source Type: blogs

J&J and Elan Hear Ticking Sound After Tysabri Court RulingEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The clock is ticking for Elan and Johnson & Johnson after a federal judge in New York yesterday ruled that the companies have until Sept. 26 to revamp a deal involving the multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri or Elan runs the risk of losing all rights to the medicine. The dispute centers on J&Js July agreement to buy 18.4% of Elan. That deal also gave J&J an option to finance the Irish biotech’s purchase of marketing rights to Tysabri held by Biogen Idec if Biogen were to be acquired at some point. Elan and Biogen co-market Tysabri, which generates nearly $1 billion in annual sales. Biogen cried fou...
Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog - September 4, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: James A. White Tags: Alzheimer's J&J M&A Mulitple Sclerosis Source Type: blogs