Pharmaceutical News Harvest ™
2/9 If You Can't Beat'em Join'em: The Viagra Story
Pfizer to sell Viagra in Israel via Internet …  legally and completely officially on the Internet … prescription will still be required, but there will be no need to go physically to a pharmacist …[Globes Online; Israel]

2/9 Crestor Wins Statin Superbowl; Use In Healthy People Green Lighted
FDA Okays Statin for Primary Prevention … first time that a drug label will include an indication based on the biomarker highly-sensitive C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker …[MedpageToday]
US FDA Approves New Indication for CRESTOR(R) (rosuvastatin calcium) … reduce risk of stroke, heart attack and arterial revascularization procedures in individuals without coronary heart disease but with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease … men greater than or equal to 50 and women greater than or equal to 60, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) greater than or equal to 2 mg/L, and the presence of at least one additional CVD risk factor, such as hypertension, low HDL-C, smoking, or a family history of premature coronary heart disease …[AstraZeneca Press Release]
FDA Approves Wider Use For Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Crestor … substantially boost sales of the product, which totaled $ 3.6 billion in 2008, as up to 6 million additional patients could qualify for treatment …[NASDAQ]
See Also: Similar Report From Reuters

2/9 Big Changes Whether ObamaCare Passes Or Not
Overhaul's Failure Will Ignite U.S. Health Mergers … industry will seek its own answers to a push by government and the private sector to rein in costs … Insurers, drugmakers and hospitals will likely slash costs and merge companies to maneuver…[Bloomberg]

2/9 Leukemia: FDA Staffers Question Omapro Efficacy
ChemGenex Cancer Drug Helped Few Patients, FDA Says …report posted today on the agency's Web site, questioned the clinical significance of the medicine's benefits ...works differently from to Novartis AG's Gleevec and Tasigna and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Sprycel …[Bloomberg]

2/9 Paroxetine + Tamoxifen; Breast Cancer Patients More Likely To Die
Popular antidepressant interferes with cancer drug … Paxil while taking tamoxifen at the same time were more likely to die of their breast cancer … 91 percent risk for the women who took tamoxifen and Paxil together for 75 percent of the time…[Reuters]

2/9 Lilly CEO Gets 54% Whopper Raise
Lechleiter pay rises in 1st full year as Lilly CEO … package valued at $16.4 million for 2009, up 54 percent from 2008, the year he became the drug maker's chief executive … 2009 was his first full year as CEO …[AP]
Editor's Note: Adds analysts' dire predictions regarding pipeline and Effient's weak performance.

2/9 Pfizer Likes Drug Coupons In Emerging Markets
Pfizer Pushes Discount Cards in Emerging Markets … card that patients can present at the pharmacy to get a discount on their drugs. The card also allows the company to study patient behavior, and to remind patients to pick up their prescriptions …[Wall Street Journal; FREE]
Pfizer launches e-payment system … discounts of up to 50 per cent to patients on the pharmacy price, the move may help boost access to expensive drugs by making them more affordable …[FT.com]
See Also:  Coupon for generic drugs; prescription buying group.

2/9  Accent Health, Sanjay Gupta,  Get Dose Of Competition
Healthy Advice to mount flat screens in doc's offices … 1,800 LCD screens in the back office area of a physician's practice ...will be mounted "near the nurse's station," and will deliver medical news and information in real-time from over 40 medical journals, as well as customized pharma advertising …[MM&M]
Editor's Note: I feel sorry for the staff; they see that same 1 hour DVD every hour on the hour every work day for an entire month.  I remember when I was a drug rep, I used the Accent Health video as an hour glass to mark the time I spent in the waiting room LOL.

2/9 Dimebon; Pfizer Experimental Alzheimer's Drug May Also Help Huntington's Patients
Pfizer, Medivation Drug May Help Huntington's Disease Patients ...e findings are encouraging because there are no treatments for the psychological effects of Huntington's which affects about 25,000 people in North America…[Bloomberg]

2/9 MM&M: Online Video Effective Tactic
Online video big in health searches … three quarters of those watching health videos as part of their searches performed additional research afterwards, suggesting that the videos spur action …[MM&M]

2/9 We Gobbled Down 1/4 Trillion Worth Of Pills
Spending On Prescription Drugs Rose 5.2% In 2009 … By 2011, drug spending growth is expected to accelerate to 5.6 percent. In 2012 and 2013, there will be a pause as big-selling meds lose patent protection

2/9 Internet Drug News Miscellaneous Short Takes:
Lupin Gets Nod For Generic Lotrel
Lupin Press Release
Antibodies: Roche licenses new flu-fighting technology
Reuters
Denosumab Demonstrated Superiority Over Zometa(R)
Amgen Press Release
Large Pharma and Small Biotech Deals Expected to Increase in 2010
Seeking Alpha
Laquinimod: Teva, Active extend pact on oral MS therapy
MarketWatch
Boehringer Hires Woman NASCAR Jock, Others To Hype COPD
MM&M
Crowded PPI Market: NEW Nexium DTCFocuses On Nighttime Relief
MM&M
Minnesota: Pharma Marketing Dead Zone
MM&M

2/8 Bristol Myers: Sorry, No Raise This Year
Bristol-Myers Squibb to freeze salaries in 2010 … does not apply to bonuses … as it prepares for a drop in sales of its blockbuster blood thinner Plavix … …[AP]
See Also: BMS sales rep message board (Café Pharma)

2/8 MM&M: Novo Reps Focus On Weight Loss To Sell Victoza
Novo reps to spotlight weight loss for Victoza launch … drug is "really about getting A1C under control, so patients can also get the benefit of weight loss - that's what is key about Victoza. …[MM&M]
Disclaimer: Victoza is not indicated for weight loss; Victoza is indicated for as an
adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

2/8 Proposed Tax On Offshore Profits Will Wallop Big Pharma
Stalled Health Care Bill Leaves Drug Makers in Regulatory Limbo … Pfizer, for example, which has said that 88 percent of its $56 billion in income from 2004 through 2008 originated overseas, could be subject to the corporate 35 percent tax rate on at least some of its foreign profit …[NY Times]

2/8 Crestor For Normal Cholesterol Levels But Elevated CRP:
Big Decision Due Today
FDA Decision Due On Wider Use For Crestor … . If the FDA grants an approval that covers people wth high CRP but low LDL, it could make between 7 million and 12 million new patients eligible for statin therapy …[Forbes]

2/8 Artificial Pancreas For Type I Diabetics
Test of "artificial pancreas" offers diabetes hope … system of pumps and monitors to improve blood sugar control in diabetes patients in the first study to show the new device works better than conventional treatment.… kept blood sugar normal 60 pct of time… [Reuters]

2/8 Analyst: Abbott, Novartis Have Minimal Patent Loss Liability
Abbott And Novartis Looking Good … Abbott is a company that has very, very minimal patent exposure … will have double-digit bottom-line growth … Novartis is relatively clean as far as patent losses…. Besides the Diovan patent expiration in 2012 ... [Forbes]

2/8 Should Tysabri Be Reserved Only Last Chance Use?
Biogen Plans First Study For Earlier Use Of MS Drug Tysabri … goal of the Surpass trial is to get physicians to use Tysabri when patients aren't responding to their current therapy, rather than switching them to more mainstream therapies.… [Wall Street Journal]

2/8 FDA On Tysabri: Benefits Outweigh Risks
Tysabri safety update posted … Based on the available information, FDA believes that the clinical benefits of Tysabri continue to outweigh the potential risks,'' the regulatory agency said in its safety update yesterday …[Boston Globe]

2/8 When Bad For Big Pharma = Good For Drugstores
CVS May Get Earnings 'Windfall' From Lipitor Generics … average gross margins of 48 percent on generics compared with 8.9 percent for branded drugs …[Bloomberg]
See Also: Why Pharma's Patent Cliff Is Good News for Pharmacies …[Wall Street Journal FREE]

2/8 Hand Straightening Drug Straightens Penis Too
Penis-Straightening Drug Xiaflex May Provide Relief for Peyronie's … new drug for claw hand, a condition that causes bent fingers, may serve double-duty as a penis-straightener. Pfizer's drug Xiaflex was not approved for this, but it may provide much needed relief for those suffering from Peyronie's Disease …[ABC]

2/8 Internet Drug News Fast Takes
FDA Not Ready To Approve Zuplenz  (Par Nausea Drug)
Reuters
Ranbaxy Asked to Review Plants by US Regulator, E. Times Says
Bloomberg
Men who eat soy may have lower lung cancer risk
Reuters
Mylan Confirms Pfizer Lawsuit Over Generic Caduet Tablets
Mylan Press Release
Teva Pays $315 Mln Fine To Settle Charges It Cheated Medicaid
Reuters
Pfizer Plans to Cut Research Spending By Up To $3B
Wall Street Journal
Allergan's Looking Real Pretty Right Now
CNBC
Merck Delays Return Of ProQuad Childhood Vaccine
NASDAQ
Too Little Vitamin D May Worsen Asthma
HealthDay

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