“Dainippon to buy U.S. drug firm Sepracor for $2.6 billion” (Reuters)
“Algeta and Bayer sign deal worth over 560 million euros” (PharmaLive)
“Pfizer settles illegal marketing case for massive $2.3 billion” (PharmaLive)
“Merck Mixes and Matches Execs” (Pharmaceutical Executive Blog)
“Brilinta’s North America Anomaly Stymies AstraZeneca, Worries Analysts” (The Pink Sheet)
Questions surrounding a subanalysis of PLATO data showing that AstraZeneca’s experimental antiplatelet drug Brilinta (ticagrelor) apparently didn’t help North American acute coronary syndrome patients center not on whether the observation is valid but on what FDA’s reaction will be.
The consensus seems to be that FDA will look hard at the data but the drug’s overwhelming efficacy and safety profile will win out in the end, and the agency will chalk the anomaly up to chance. Alternatively, regulators could require a confirmatory trial in North American patients.
This is copyright protected information, to receive the full article, please click here to sign up and register.
“Claritin 12-Hour Takes Aim At Shorter-Duration Allergy Drugs” (The Tan Sheet)
Schering-Plough extends the Claritin line into the 12-hour allergy relief niche in an effort to go after first-generation antihistamines with shorter durations.
The company announced Sept. 1 the launch of Claritin 12-Hour RediTabs , calling it “the only 12-hour allergy medicine found in the allergy aisle.”
This is copyright protected information, to receive the full article, please click here to sign up and register.
“Ticagrelor Shows Strong Antiplatelet Profile In Pivotal ACS Trial” (Elsevier Global Medical News)
Ticagrelor, a new type of oral antiplatelet drug, showed impressive efficacy and safety in a pivotal, head-to-head comparison with clopidogrel in 18,000 acute coronary syndrome patients.
With results this good in a study this large, ticagrelor seems headed to soon become a new antiplatelet alternative to the ones already on the U.S. market–clopidogrel ( Plavix ) and prasugrel ( Effient ). And ticagrelor is not another thienopyridine. Ticagrelor features fast reversibility, no activation step, a more potent cardiovascular-disease effect than clopidogrel with similar bleeding safety, and the added ability to boost total patient survival as well as cardiovascular-disease survival.
This is copyright protected information, to receive the full article, please click here to sign up and register.
“Discovery Holds Promise For New Effective Cancer Therapies” (ScienceDaily)
“Gene Contributes To Two Different, Common Neurological Movement Disorders” (ScienceDaily)
“FDA Panel: More Data Needed for Two Cancer Drugs” (MedPage Today)
SUBSCRIBE