Archived Pharmacology/Biotech News Headlines
We have been archiving all OBR daily news stories since March 2008. Use the box below to search our archives for specific articles and content.
Please note: we do not "host" news articles on our website. When a media source removes an article from their website the link becomes inactive, and you will only be able to see the date, title, first sentence and media source that published the article.
Glaxo, Archemix in $1.4 Billion Arthritis Drugs Deal
(Bloomberg) Dec 23, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc bought rights to develop drugs for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis using Archemix Corp.’s technology in a partnership valued at as much as $1.4 billion.
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Emory Professor Steps Down
(Wall Street Journal) Dec 22, 2008 - Charles Nemeroff, a prominent researcher in clinical depression, has agreed to step down from his long-time position as chairman of Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, following an investigation by the university into allegations of possible conflicts of interests by the medical professor.
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GlaxoSmithKline Stops Corporate Political Contributions
(CNNMoney.com) Dec 22, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Monday it would no longer use corporate funds to make political contributions, as part of an effort to improve transparency.
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FDA Delays Approval of Amag's Ferumoxytol
(TheStreet.com) Dec 23, 2008 - Unresolved manufacturing issues have contributed to a delay in the approval of Amag Pharmaceuticals' injectable iron replacement therapy, the company announced Monday night.
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AstraZeneca May Join Rush to Develop Generic Biological Drugs
(Bloomberg) Dec 23, 2008 - AstraZeneca Plc is looking to widen its share of the $94 billion market for biotechnology drugs by developing generic versions of those therapies, following U.S. rivals Merck & Co. and Eli Lilly & Co.
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FDA Approves More Drugs, Still Misses Deadlines
(Washington Post) Dec 19, 2008 - The number of new drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration has ticked upward in 2008, even as regulators failed to meet review deadlines on more than a dozen drugs.
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4 Top Science Advisers Are Named by Obama
(New York Times) Dec 20, 2008 - In his selection of four top scientific advisers, President-elect Barack Obama has signaled what are likely to be significant changes in policies governing global warming, ocean protections and stem cell research.
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USP Prof: ‘I’ve Never Seen Such a Sea Change’ in Pharma
(Philadelphia Business Journal) Dec 19, 2008 - Big Pharma will be under pressure to do more with less as large-scale layoffs at the nation’s largest drug developers, including several with a major presence in this region, rocked the industry this year.
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Advocates for New FDA Chief Overlook Independence from Industry
(Wall Street Journal Blog) Dec 18, 2008 - Some of the names reportedly on the Obama transition team’s short list for FDA commissioner have led a coalition of worried patient and research groups to seek a friendlier hand to run the agency in the new administration.
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Matthew Herper On Health Care
(Forbes.com) Dec 18, 2008 - Creative destruction. Drug companies, health insurers and hospitals have all been talking about changing the way they do business. Now they actually have to or else. Catalyzed by the economic crisis and impending Obamacare, the health industry is entering a dramatic period of experimentation where there will be lots of losers and only a few winners.
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Do Patients Trust Doctors Too Much?
(New York Times) Dec 18, 2008 - When a doctor friend of mine recently heard a radio ad for a Web site where patients could rate their doctors, he almost drove off the road.
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Biogen Idec: Rituxan Study Meets End Point
(The Boston Globe) Dec 19, 2008 - Genentech Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc. said that a clinical study showed that Rituxan decreased the progression of joint damage in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis.
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Galapagos Extends Drug Discovery Collaboration with Amgen into 2010
(MarketWatch.com) Dec 19, 2008 - Galapagos NV announced today that its service division BioFocus DPI has extended its longstanding drug discovery collaboration with Amgen through 2009 and 2010.
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Advocates Weigh In on FDA Leader
(Wall Street Journal) Dec 18, 2008 - Health groups, some backed by the drug industry, have joined the heated lobbying battle in Washington over the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, sending a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle urging him to pick a person familiar with the industry.
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Doctors Plead for 10% Medicare Bonus in Stimulus Package
(Wall Street Journal Health Blog) Dec 18, 2008 - These days, the name of the game for getting government money is arguing that your well-being is vital to the nation’s economic recovery. Enter primary care doctors, hat in hand.
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Medicare to Pay Doctors to Embrace E-Prescribing
(New York Times) Dec 17, 2008 - The future has arrived for U.S. doctors when it comes to prescribing medications.
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FDA Raises the Bar for New Diabetes Drugs
(NJ.com) Dec 17, 2008 - New drugs to treat an epidemic of diabetes will have to be screened more closely for heart risks, federal health officials said Wednesday.
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Glaxo Bets Big on Drug for Clogged Arteries
(Reuters) Dec 18, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc placed a big bet on a new type of medicine for clogged arteries on Thursday by launching a costly three-year clinical trial involving more than 15,000 patients worldwide.
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Myriad Genetics' Meldrum Is Best In Biotech
(TheStreet.com) Dec 17, 2008 - How many times do you see a drug company's stock price go up after a phase III clinical trial fails? Answer: Not very often. With Myriad's genetics diagnostics base business doing very well, the stock has returned about 35% this year.
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Bristol-Myers to Cut 10 Percent of Workforce
(CNNMoney.com) Dec 16, 2008 - Bristol-Myers to pare work force by 10 percent through 2010; 800 jobs to go by end of year.
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Nobel Laureate Calls for Public Funding of Drug Trials
(Wall Street Journal Health Blog) Dec 16, 2008 - We want new drugs to fight diseases, but we also want to control the rise in spending on prescription drugs — a thorny dilemma that would take, say, the brains of a Nobel Laureate to resolve. As it happens, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz weighs in today on how to accomplish both of these goals at once.
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Study Finds Much of Private-Sector Consumer Medication Information Not Consistently Useful
(FDA) Dec 16, 2008 - A study released today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that the printed consumer medication information (CMI) voluntarily provided with new prescriptions by retail pharmacies does not consistently provide easy-to-read, understandable information about the use and risks of medications.
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Dynavax In Deal With GlaxoSmithKline Worth Up To $800M
(San Francisco Business Times) Dec 17, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline has signed a drug development deal with Dynavax Technologies Corp. that could be worth as much as $800 million.
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Medicare Plans Draw Criticism on Drug Pricing
(Wall Street Journal) Dec 15, 2008 - Figuring out which Medicare drug-insurance plan is right for you is confusing enough. Now, complaints are mounting about an obscure drug-pricing system that can force many older Americans to pay stiff penalties when they opt for brand-name drugs instead of a generic.
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US FDA Chief to Leave Post When Obama Takes Office
(Reuters) Dec 16, 2008 - U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach has told staff he will leave the agency on Jan. 20, the day Barack Obama becomes president.
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