In the midst of recent high-profile R&D failures that have sent the major drug companies scrambling to purchase biotech firms to replenish their cobweb-filled pipelines, I stop and ask myself, “Where has all the innovation gone?” After all, American citizens are the ones who pay ridiculously inflated prices in order to give incentive for […]

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A series of recent high-profile drug failures has AstraZeneca’s chief executive David Brennan in search of new drugs for his pipeline. The London Times states,
As well as being costly, the failures have left the group dangerously exposed, with just a few products left in its late-stage pipeline and with patents on its existing line […]

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I guess Big Pharma’s advertising is getting a little out of hand. According to MedsAbroad.com, a recent GAO (General Accountability Office) report stated,
the FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) [said] a bottleneck … had formed when the DDMAC was told by Health and Human Services (HHS - the authority which oversees […]

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According to Medical News Today, drug company Eli Lilly has been accused of promoting its anti-psycotic drug olanzapine (branded as Zyprexa) to treat dementia. Zyprexa has been approved by the FDA to treat schizophrenia and, in some circumstances, bipolar disorder.
Medical News Today says:
It has been reported that a US lawyer handling the lawsuits of mentally […]

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Here’s a classic parody of the U.S. pharma industry — with a quick shout-out to lower-cost Canadian drugs near the end.

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The Kaiser Network reports:
The Raleigh News & Observer on Wednesday examined how the expected congressional approval in 2007 of a bill that would renew the FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act has “pharmaceutical and biotech executives worried” over unrelated provisions that Democrats might attach to the legislation. According to the News & Observer, Democrats, who […]

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From PharmaGossip:
Kent Skepowitz writes in Slate:
My drug-company habit started innocently enough—a pen here, a lunch there. But soon I hit the harder stuff: a trip to Italy in exchange for attending a symposium, tickets to a Mets game for my sons and me (and a chatty drug rep). Et cetera. There’s a moment when each […]

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Reuters reports on grieving family members who are petitioning the FDA for new strong warnings on antidepressant drugs, arguing that the increased risk of suicidal behavior seen in children also applies to adults.
Many psychiatrists oppose these new warnings, afraid that the stronger warnings could scare away potential users from effectively treating their depression. As eCanada […]

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If you didn’t know:
The Weblog Awards are the world’s largest blog competition, with over 1 million votes cast in the last three years for nearly 1,000 blogs. This year’s edition is the biggest ever with 45 categories to choose from. Nominations ended November 24, and voting began December 7 and will end December 15.
In the […]

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Damian Trouse of the Houston Chronicle writes:
Licensing deals between pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies is the norm for the industry, giving development stage companies the money to continue developing products, while larger companies get a chance to bolster their product pipelines.
But with more large companies facing pipeline holes, biotech companies are seeing more money being […]

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