Device industry being asked to contribute to health-care reform July 28, 2009

Two weeks ago, it was the pharmaceutical industry CEO’s in Washington being asked to help fund the government’s health reform efforts by making financial sacrifices.  This week, it’s the device sector’s turn at the donation booth.
Companies such as J&J, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, St. Jude and the industry’s trade organization, AdvaMed, are leading participants in a [...]

First cord blood, now baby teeth? July 27, 2009

It’s been five years since the National Institutes of Health announced early findings that banking your child’s baby teeth may be an easier and more affordable alternative to saving your child’s umbilical cord blood.
Years ago, scientists discovered that blood stem cells taken from the umbilical cord could be used to treat a host of [...]

J&J takes all that’s worth taking from Elan July 24, 2009

When the J&J/Elan deal went down a few weeks ago, many in the industry were scratching their head.  Remember, Elan’s lead Alzheimer’s drug was last seen taking a step back not forward in terms of its potential patient population due to some unforeseen clinical results.
While the neurology business at Elan has always been one of [...]

Who’s buying Solvay? July 23, 2009

Solvay’s pharmaceutical business has been on the block since early this summer. Now, the process of selling the division seems to be coming to a close.
Rumored finalists include Nycomed, Abbott Labs & an unnamed Japanese drugmaker.
Each are in the process for different reasons. Abbott only wants to extract certain assets, like it has [...]

Biogenerics take center stage on Capitol Hill July 15, 2009

Biogenerics, otherwise known as biosimilars or follow-on biologics, have taken center stage during the healthcare reform debate. There is a number of ‘factions’ arguing their position as to how these generic variations of biologic therapies should be protected by patent exclusivity.
BIO, National Venture Capital Association, American Enterprise Institute and the [...]

Heal your sunburn, don’t forget about H1N1 July 15, 2009

While those of us in the U.S. & Europe are all enjoying the traditional summer vices of sunshine, the beach and vacation holidays, an epidemic that gripped our attention this past spring still remains.
The World Health Organization said today that the swine flu is proving unstoppable. Even worse, the virus is [...]

A tempered victory for Lilly? July 14, 2009

Late last week, the FDA announced it had (finally) approved Lilly’s new blood thinning drug, Effient (prasugrel).
Since last summer & fall, many across the industry have been wondering when Lilly’s day would come for this drug. After repeated delays & resetting of expectations, the product can now finally be commercialized, albeit with a [...]

Wyeth, J&J and Novartis unknowingly distribute anti-aging drugs? July 10, 2009

All the media world was talking about a little known drug from Wyeth this morning called rapamycin.
It seems that a study published in Nature magazine found mice treated with rapamycin had a longer lifespan than those that did not.
The Wall Street Journal and NY Times quickly picked up on the story and the WSJ Health [...]

Times, they are a changin’ at the FDA July 2, 2009

Is it me or is President Obama’s version of the FDA all of a sudden a much, much more active and engaged federal agency in the past few months?
Since Dr. Margaret Hamburg & Joshua Sharfstein took office recently, the FDA has been making headlines on a very regular basis.   Today’s news about Chantix & Zyban [...]

The stem cell industry grows up July 1, 2009

The average person doesn’t understand stem cells.  And with all the confusion provided by the mainstream media, it’s no wonder.
But with some recent events, the stem cell industry is beginning to show signs of maturity.  Contrary to popular belief, the short term gains are not to be had in reversing the effects of spinal cord [...]