TRENTON — A Congressman investigating wholesalers accused of jacking up prices of crucial prescription drugs in short supply on Tuesday introduced a bill meant to curb the problem. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., is proposing reforms meant to deter price-gouging and make the drug supply chain safer - issues that are part of the complex problem of shortages. For the past few years, record shortages of crucial medications heavily used by hospitals have been disrupting care, driving up costs and endangering patients, leading to some deaths. The problems have forced doctors to postpone chemotherapy and surgeries and provide some treatments that are less effective and have worse side effects. Patients have had to endure more pain, preventable complications and longer hospital stays. Most of the ... Continue reading →
By LINDA A. JOHNSON The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. — Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier told company shareholders on Tuesday that 2012 and 2013 will be difficult years, but he's confident the company can weather them. Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Frazier noted the drugmaker's top seller, asthma and allergy drug Singulair, gets U.S. generic competition soon. The Aug. 3 patent expiration will sharply reduce revenue from Singulair, which brought in $5.5 billion last year. "There's little doubt that the global economy will remain uncertain," Frazier added. But he said Merck has a history of overcoming big patent expirations by developing new medicines and increasing sales of existing ones. Merck did so when generic competition hit for two prior bestsellers, osteoporosis drug Fosamax ... Continue reading →
By LINDA A. JOHNSON The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. — Advisers to government health regulators on Thursday recommended that that they approve sales of what would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in the U.S. in more than a decade, despite concerns over cardiac risks. A panel of expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 18-4 to recommend approval of lorcaserin, developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. They concluded that its benefits "outweigh the potential risks when used long term" in overweight and obese people. One panel member abstained from voting. Lorcaserin is one of three experimental weight-loss drugs whose developers have been trying for a second time to win approval, after the FDA shot them all down in 2010 or early 2011 ... Continue reading →
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SALT LAKE CITY — Pfizer Inc. has settled a lawsuit filed by Brigham Young University over development of the blockbuster painkiller Celebrex for $450 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. Terms of the settlement weren't disclosed in an announcement by the drug company and the Mormon Church-owned school in Utah. However, Pfizer said in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was taking a $450 million charge against first-quarter earnings to settle the case. BYU and Pfizer battled for six years over the discovery of an enzyme that led to the development of Celebrex, a breakthrough in the treatment of arthritis and inflammation. A jury trial had been set to start May 29 in U.S. District Court in Salt ... Continue reading →
Generic competition for Pfizer Inc.'s blockbuster cholesterol pill Lipitor is starting to cut into the bottom line of the world's biggest drugmaker, as expected. The best-selling drug in the industry's history saw its U.S. patent expire on Nov. 30, ushering in a rival's generic version and an authorized one Pfizer markets with a partner. But brand-name Lipitor hung onto about a third of the market in the first quarter - far more than normally would be expected - thanks to Pfizer offering big insurer rebates and discounts to patients who stayed on its brand for now. With the first full quarter of generic competition to Lipitor and copycats of two smaller drugs reducing revenue by a combined $1.3 billion, Pfizer said Tuesday that its first-quarter ... Continue reading →
