Lifecycle management

Actavis moves towards Japanese generics market

17-Mar-2009 -  Actavis’ JV with Japan’s Aska Pharmaceuticals opens up the non-branded sector of the world’s second largest drug market  

Merck moves for Schering in $41bn mega-merger

10-Mar-2009 -  The year of the mega-merger continues with Merck & Co’s move to buy Schering-Plough for $41.1bn, with the intention of boosting its pipeline, entering new markets and creating a “powerful...

US approvals provide some respite for Ranbaxy

09-Mar-2009 - Two approvals in a week for drugs made at Ranbaxy’s New Jersey OHM Laboratories subsidiary have eased the generics firm’s North American regulatory woes and strengthened its position in the...

Piramal won’t “dilute ownership,” or comment on Sanofi rumours

04-Mar-2009 -  Indian generics firm Piramal Healthcare says it "has no intention to dilute current ownership levels," but has not commented on rumours that it is in talks with French firm Sanofi...

Pfizer pulls plug on two Ph III drugs

25-Feb-2009 -  Pfizer’s primary care business unit has dropped two Phase III candidates, further reducing the drug giant’s product pipeline and raising more questions about its R&D decisions. ...

SAFC's Q4 hit by lack of visibility in drug sector

16-Feb-2009 -  SAFC’s fourth quarter performance was hurt by dip in demand from big pharma in the US and Europe combined with lower sales to the chemical industry, according to parent company...

King feels pain of Skelaxin defeat and Remoxy delays

05-Feb-2009 -  King Pharmaceuticals has unveiled plans to reduce its workforce by 22 per cent in a bid to further reduce costs after the US District Court decision to invalidate patents protecting...

Adventrx cuts its workforce again

13-Jan-2009 -  US drugmaker Adventrx Pharmaceuticals is reducing its workforce to just 14 employees in a bid to preserve cash and refocus efforts on bioequivalence programmes for its lead candidates. 

Orion tightens its belt with 205 job cuts

08-Jan-2009 -  Finnish drugmaker Orion is to follow through on plans to cut its R&D workforce and shed 205 employees to sure up operations as generic pressure mounts on its leading Parkinson’s...

Santa not the only person with the sack this Christmas

17-Dec-2008 -  Festive cheer is a scarce commodity in the drug industry this December as B-MS, Jazz and Arpida cut jobs, falling into step with Pfizer and Elan which each announced a...

GSK to cut 200 jobs ahead of generic Zofran

03-Dec-2008 -  UK drug giant GSK is to shed 200 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Barnard Castle, County Durham to cut costs ahead of generic competition for products made at the...

JAMA study reignites branded versus generic debate

03-Dec-2008 -  A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) claiming there is no evidence that brandname cardiovascular drugs are superior to their generic counterparts, despite claims to the...

Big Pharma’s generic delaying tactics costs patients €3bn, says EC

01-Dec-2008 -  Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said that some drugmakers operating in the EU are deliberately stalling the introduction of generics, costing European patients around €3bn ($3.87bn) a year more to buy...

New software to ease regulatory document burden

01-Oct-2008 -  Good Products and Adlib Software have teamed up to create a streamlined and compliant regulatory document management system for the pharmaceutical industry.

Drugmakers within EC's REACH, says SAFC

08-Sep-2008 -  Despite a decade-long build up, drugmakers are yet to wake up to the “no data, no market” mantra of the EC’s REACH legislation, according to SAFC’s marketing director Amanda Halford. ...

Conformia’s platform combined with IBM system

19-Aug-2008 - Conformia says that the integration of its SOA data platform into IBM’s system will provide drugmakers with robust management architecture for the entire lifecycle of a product.

Pfizer to lose top spot by 2014

12-Aug-2008 -  A new report predicts that current global sales leader Pfizer will relinquish its position by 2014 leaving European pharmaceutical producers like Roche and Sanofi-Aventis free to vie for the top...

ISPE says quality programme starts to bear fruit

02-Jun-2008 - The International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers has reported the first findings of a five-year new programme aimed at working tackling one of the toughest problems in pharma manufacturing at present...

Generic Plavix opens door for API manufacturers

13-May-2008 - Switzerland-based Schweizerhall appears to have circumnavigated patent law, with approval of its generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BSM) and Sanofi-Aventis' Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) in Germany "expected shortly".

US District finds for GSK in patent amendments case

07-Apr-2008 - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has scored a decisive victory in its efforts to head off new US patent rules that would strike at the heart of the way the drug industry goes...

Health Canada issues draft rules for subsequent entry biologics

26-Mar-2008 - Drug regulator Health Canada has published its draft guidelines for pharmaceutical firms seeking to gain approval for biosimilars or "subsequent entry biologics."

New US biosimilars bill a disappointing distraction, says GPhA

26-Mar-2008 - The generic pharmaceutical industry has given short shrift to the latest congressional attempt to construct a viable approval pathway for biosimilars in the US.

Weekly Comment

Warding off the generic attack

07-Jan-2008 - A recent report has detailed the challenges facing the pharma industry as the generic flood gates open, with the constant advice to start planning early still apparently not heeded by...

Weekly Comment

Pharma must 'reinvent' itself to survive

02-Nov-2007 - With IMS Health's annual forecast for the pharma industry predicting slower approvals, more black box warnings and the continuation of the 'wave of genericization,' the shift by pharma firms to...

US dragging its heels on biosimilars, says report

16-Oct-2007 - The US is woefully lagging behind the EU when it comes to approving biosimilars, a new report says.