BioPharma Today

Latest News from "The Pink Sheet" DAILY - Salix's Xifaxan Advisory Panel Review

Salix's Xifaxan Draws Ambivalent Recommendation From Advisory Panel

Salix's Xifaxan for hepatic encephalopathy passed advisory committee review, but members expressed unease about lingering safety concerns and called for additional studies. read_more_>

Latest News from "The Pink Sheet" DAILY

Prescription Drug Spending Rose 5.2% To $246.3 Billion In 2009, CMS Estimates

Latest News from "The Pink Sheet" DAILY

DoJ Claims J&J Paid Kickbacks To Pharmacy To Boost Risperdal Use In Nursing Homes

The complaint says J&J paid Omnicare rebates to intervene in physician prescribing and sought to keep "best prices" down by substituting rebate payments for the purchase of Omnicare data.   read more

Coming in Friday's "The Pink Sheet" DAILY

Pharma industry is providing aid to Haiti: Abbott is contributing $1 million in grant funding and donations of pharmaceutical and nutritional products and Amgen is donating $2 million. Johnson & Johnson immediately shipped large quantities of its products and Lilly and Pfizer are among others providing medicines and financial assistance.

Latest News from "The Pink Sheet" DAILY

AstraZeneca Submits Brilinta To FDA, But Review Could Be Lengthy

Coming in Thursday's "The Pink Sheet" DAILY

GlaxoSmithKline has ambitious plans to build on its heritage in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma despite challenging regulatory hurdles; Phase III HORIZON program for a new combination drug has begun.

 

Roche will test a foreign-discovered drug in a first-in-man clinical trial in China in the next two years, according to one of the firm’s top R&D officials in that country, speaking at the PharmAsia Summit in San Francisco. Move would mark a shift in attitude at China’s pharmaceutical regulatory agency.  

 

FDA warning letter to Sanofi-Aventis cites a lack of up-to-date labeling information in promotional materials for the benign hyperplasia drug Uroxatral extended release tablets.

 

Medicare is dropping plans to change reimbursement coding for Roche/Genentech’s Avastin when used off-label to treat macular degeneration. Critics said the change would have pushed ophthalmologists towards using the firm’s more expensive Lucentis.

 

Contract research organization PPD is spinning out its compound partnering business as a separate business unit. PPD will remain a CRO, while the unnamed new company will be capitalized with $100 million and several compounds.

Direct from India: Fortis Acquires Hospitals from Wockhardt

In the latest move to divest parts of its business in the wake of a financing crisis, India’s Wockhardt has sold ten hospitals to Fortis Healthcare. For in-depth analysis of this deal, see today’s interview on CNBC TV-18 with PharmAsia News India Bureau Chief Vikas Dandekar.

For background on Wockhardt’s recent financial struggles, see the PharmAsia News story, below, from July 29 analyzing Wockhardt’s recent deal with Abbott. Read more here...