On the back of what one market analyst called a “nightmare” quarter, AstraZeneca announced April 26 that CEO David Brennan will step down June 1, to be replaced temporarily by CFO Simon Lowth. Now, industry observers will watch to see whether the change at the top means a major change in strategy, such as a new focus on major M&A activity, for AstraZeneca.
FDA is developing a guidance for industry on the development of new formulations of opioid medicines that make them more resistant to abuse. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg noted FDA activities to address opioid misuse at a government press briefing on the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
Watson lays out the pros of its acquisition of Actavis, which will make it the third largest generics drugmaker in the world.
FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting June 20 to discuss sanofi's semuloparin sodium injection for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients receiving chemotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic or lung cancer or for locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with a VTE risk score ≥ 3 and Onyx Pharmaceuticals' Kyprolis (carfilzomib) for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in patients who have received at least two prior lines of therapy that included a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.