Today's News | Note: News feeds may no longer be available for the articles on this page.

Senate panel backs 12-year biotech drug shelter 2:42 AM 7/14/2009
Reuters - USA
Biotechnology drugs would be protected for 12 years before generic copies can win approval under a plan that cleared a US Senate committee. Generic drugmakers wanted a green light to raid these products in only five or seven years. ...

US FDA staff question J&J, Zeltia cancer drug data 3:35 PM 7/13/2009
Reuters - USA
Johnson & Johnson and Zeltia drug Yondelis may not provide enough benefit to justify its approval for women with ovarian cancer. ...

Baxter, Flamel sign hemophilia drug partnership 10:13 AM 7/13/2009
Boston Globe - United States
Baxter International will pay Flamel Technologies $3.5 million as part of development deal for longer acting blood-clotting drugs. ...

New Teva emergency contraceptive to expand market 5:03 AM 7/13/2009
Reuters - USA
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Richter Gedeon said the US FDA gave final approval to their Plan B One-Step "morning after" emergency contraception. A better name might be Plan B Step Two. ...

Study Endorses Longer Market Exclusivity For Drugmakers 4:27 PM 7/12/2009
Wall Street Journal - USA
The study says the cost of capital for early-stage biotech companies is over 20%, or about twice as high as policymakers have assumed. ...

Study may prompt rethink on schizophrenia drugs 4:17 PM 7/12/2009
Reuters - USA
Schizophrenia patients given clozapine generic are less likely to die prematurely than people on the newer treatment Seroquel. Wider use of clozapine is unlikely as most doctors prefer new drugs over safe ones. ...

FDA Approves Lilly's, Daiichi's Effient Blood Thinner 2:43 PM 7/10/2009
Wall Street Journal - USA
The US FDA approved the blood-thinning drug Effient (prasugrel) by co-developers Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo. Effient can cause significant and sometimes fatal bleeding. The required warning could reduce the drug's commercial potential. ...

Vertex wants to sell some rights to hepatitis C drug 6:16 AM 7/10/2009
Boston Globe - United States
Vertex Pharmaceuticals wants to sell the European rights to some of the future milestone payments tied to its promising hepatitis C drug candidate telaprevir from J&J unit. ...

Senate votes to permit drug imports from Canada 6:56 PM 7/9/2009
The Associated Press
People in the US could get lower-cost drugs from Canada over the Internet under a plan that has passed the Senate. Opponents of the idea say it will open the door to Internet scams. The FDA might chime in as Canadian drugs aren't approved for sale in the US. ...

Merck Acquires Rights to Anticoagulant 9:40 AM 7/9/2009
Wall Street Journal - USA
Merck & Co has obtained world-wide rights to co-develop and commercialize experimental drug betrixaban for $50 million from Portola Inc. Betrixaban is in Phase II clinical trials to prevent the formation of blood clots. ...

Drug helps monkeys, rabbits survive anthrax 5:09 PM 7/8/2009
Reuters - USA
Human Genome Sciences Inc's experimental antibody drug ABthrax (raxibacumab) helped rabbits and monkeys survive a deadly dose of anthrax bacteria and proved safe in humans. ...

Experts Keep Wary Eye on Tamiflu-Resistant Swine Flu 4:49 PM 7/8/2009
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
There is a potential for the novel H1 viruses to develop resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and for those resistant viruses to become widespread. ...

Transplant drug helps mice live longer 2:07 PM 7/8/2009
Reuters - USA
Antibiotic pill Rapamune (sirolimus) helps mice live longer and might offer a route to fighting age-related disease in humans. ...

Biogen Idec gets fast track status for MS drug 8:37 AM 7/8/2009
Boston Globe - United States
Biogen Idec said the US FDA granted fast track designation for its potential treatment BIIB017 (PEGylated interferon beta-1a) for relapsing multiple sclerosis. ...

EU warns of antitrust probes into major drug makers for stalling ... 6:02 AM 7/8/2009
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
The European Union warns of a wave of antitrust probes into major drug makers saying they were stalling generic versions of their drugs. ...

<- Day Earlier | Today's News