Dear Pharmalot friends,

This is my long goodbye.

For two glorious years, I have had the privilege and good fortune to run this site. Now, though, the time has come to walk away. This was a difficult decision, but one that is rooted in the turmoil engulfing the newspaper business. Let me explain.

Three years ago, I suggested a site that could somehow become a go-to destination for news and discussion concerning the pharmaceutical industry. As someone who had covered pharma for a decade, but was itching to do something different, a web site represented not only a next step in gathering and disseminating information, but also an opportunity to get ahead of the curve and move on to another stage in my career.

Happily, the notion was backed by Jim Willse, the editor of The Star-Ledger of New Jersey, which owns Pharmalot and is the flagship in the Newhouse chain of newspapers. After the usual planning and tinkering, Pharmalot launched exactly two years ago. And since then, the site has become popular and well-known – as of last month, we notched about 11,000 unique daily visitors and some 330,000 monthly pageviews on a 30-day rolling basis. There were accolades from The Financial Times and the Association of Health Care Journalists. I was regularly asked to speak at dinners and conferences.

Meanwhile, as you know, the newspaper business has been declining rapidly and, last summer, the Ledger offered generous buyouts, sufficiently generous that I was tempted to consider the package. And for various personal reasons, that is what I have chosen to do. Yes, there were discussions to continue with Pharmalot – the Ledger, particularly Willse, recognizes the potential for the site and I thoroughly enjoy the work. The long hours and intense routine may be grueling, but Pharmalot has been an extremely challenging and satisfying preoccupation. In the end, though, we were unable to find a path forward.

And so, I am now moving on. But before I go, I want to thank each of you for stopping by. Without your interest, support and, in many cases, participation, Pharmalot would have not have worked as well as it has. Yes, my experience and instinct guided me in deciding how to do certain things, but without your input and feedback, Pharmalot would not have had the same appeal. That’s because this was not just another site for information or the equivalent of a morning newspaper, but also a place where people could meet to discuss and debate all sorts of issues concerning the pharmaceutical industry. In short, we developed a community together.

And what a community. Some of you angrily attacked pharma. Some of you vociferously defended it. So often, there were many different perspectives on any number of topics. Whatever the point of view, the discussions were extremely informative. Certainly, for me. Thanks to the thousands and thousands of comments posted here, I have learned a great deal about the business, science and policy issues that shape and confront this industry. Hopefully, many of you feel the same way. After all, no one has cornered the market on knowledge, try as we may.

There are too many of you to list by name, but really, you know who you are. I am truly grateful for the prodding, the praise, the criticism, the reminders, the ideas, the corrections, the tips, and, most of all, the encouragement. No matter what you wrote, the fact that you did so at all meant that Pharmalot mattered enough for you to take the time to reach out. Somehow, the site was working, something I could not have accomplished alone.

On that note, I would like to thank a few people by name. As I mentioned, Jim Willse offered unwavering support from the start. Without an editor who has vision and conviction, very little can get done. So thanks, Jim, for allowing Pharmalot to get this far. Then, there’s John Hassell, who was the editor with whom I worked most closely these past two years and who gave me the space to try whatever I thought needed to be done. And Hassan Hodges, who fielded way too many late-night and early morning calls and e-mails when the site exploded or I simply had no idea what I was doing, Without his technical prowess, Pharmalot may have been a blank screen many days.

Last, but not least, I owe a tremendous debt to Mrs. Pharmalot and The Short People, one of whom is not so short anymore. My kids learned that when Dad had the laptop open – which was most of the time, eight days a week – he generally had to be left alone. Somehow, I managed to be attentive, but their understanding was above and beyond. And my wife, well, she put up with me working at home – otherwise known as the Pharmalot corporate campus – which is no small thing. Not only that, she brought me at least one cup of coffee each morning, no matter what. Thanks, sweetie, for being such a good sport.

So again, thank you all for making this such an enjoyable experience. For those of you who want to reach me, you either have my e-mail address or you can simply click on the ‘anonymous tip’ button on the top of the screen and send me a note (but do it soon). I will write back. Meanwhile, I would like to leave you with this reminder from the former Morning Mayor, otherwise known as Harry Harrison, a disc jockey on WCBS in New York, who would often say: ‘Every brand new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift.’ Yes, these are hard times, but somehow, we will get through it all. So please don’t lose sight. And finally, there is this, a refrain from a song that speaks of hope and endurance…

‘May the good lord shine a light on you,
Make every song you sing, your favorite tune.
May the good lord shine a light on you…warm, like an evening sun.’

So long, folks….

Hard to believe, yes? But even we take a few days off now and then. While we have our laptop with us and will, periodically, check on interesting developments, regular posting will not occur this week. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we promised Mrs. Pharmalot and The Short People (that famous, non-existent ’60’s group) that we would focus on their desires. Have a great time, everyone…

Could this be considered an unapproved use? A 60-year-old Afghan tribal chief with four younger wives was given a few of the Pfizer impotence pills by a CIA officer, who returned a few days later to find a smiling man ready to divulge info about the Taliban. Wotta deal, eh?

While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country’s roughest neighborhoods, according to The Washington Post.

In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, CIA operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the paper writes.

“Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people - whether it’s building a school or handing out Viagra,” one agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours tells the Post.

The key is to to meet an informant’s personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace. “You’re trying to bridge a gap between people living in the 18th century and people coming in from the 21st century,” Jamie Smith, a veteran of CIA covert operations in Afghanistan and now ceo of SCG International, a private security and intelligence firm, tells the Post. “So you look for those common things in the form of material aid that motivate people everywhere.”

We apologize for the belated greetings - we know Hanukah began a few nights ago and that Christmas Eve is well under way. But we have had a scattered day and were actually to begin our own vacation earlier this week. Oh, well, things happen.

In any event, we wish you all a very happy holiday - whatever you celebrate - and a good start to the New Year. As for us, we will be off for several days - a hard-earned and much-needed break. In the interim, we hope you will have a chance to catch up on some fun things and enjoy life.

At least 2 million older Americans are taking a combo of drugs or supplements that can be a risky mix - from blood thinners and cholesterol pills to aspirin and ginkgo capsules - a new study warns. And among older men, the numbers are particularly alarming - one in 10 are taking potentially harmful combinations, the Associated Press writes.

The report showing just how many older people are using risky combinations comes from a study of nearly 3,000 interviews with people aged 57 to 85. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and University of Chicago, appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association (look here).

Ninety-one percent in this age group use at least one medication, often for heart disease and related problems. That translates to more than 50 million people, the AP writes. More than half use at least five remedies, including prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines or supplements.

Read more »

The state’s Ethics Commission imposed the fine on a former top economic development aide to Governor Deval Patrick for secretly pursuing the presidency of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council last year while using his state job to help develop tax breaks and other incentives that were crucial to the industry trade group, The Boston Globe reports.

The investigation found that Robert Coughlin, a former state representative, began lusting after the $350,000-a-year Mass Biotech job just a few weeks after the governor hired him as undersecretary of business development. He then spent the next five months secretly seeking the private-sector job without telling his superiors in Patrick’s administration and without removing himself from policy decisions affecting his future employer, as required by state law, the Ethics Commission said.

Coughlin was a key Patrick administration official involved in developing the governor’s $1 billion biotech industry stimulus, which included tax incentives and development grants for companies in Massachusetts, the Globe writes. The Ethics Commission, in finding Coughlin violated state ethics law, said his actions created an appearance that the Mass Biotechnology Council “could unduly enjoy his favor in the performance of his official duties.”

Despite the fine, the Biotechnology Council said yesterday that it would take no action against Coughlin and planned to keep him in the high-profile post, in which he serves as the public face of the state’s huge and influential biopharmaceutical industry.

Read more »

A judge has convicted a former state pharmacist on felony conflict of interest charges for taking payments from drugmakers and pocketing money for supervising pharmacy interns from Duquesne University, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Steven Fiorello, 61, could face up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines for each of two felony convictions. His lawyer says an appeal has not been decided.

Fiorello was director of pharmacy for the Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Mental Health, Substance and Abuse Services and was secretary of a committee that approved Medicaid-paid drugs in state hospitals, prisons and juvenile centers. He paid more than $27,000 in civil fines after the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission cited him for state ethics violations in connection with the same allegations in 2005.

Attorney General Tom Corbett filed criminal charges against Fiorello a year later, accusing him of accepting money from drugmakers for consulting work, honorariums and trips between 1998 and 2003, while he was the secretary of a panel that oversaw Medicaid drug guidelines for state hospitals.

The complaint said Fiorello accepted perks from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, which were promoting the use of psychiatric drugs in state hospitals. And he used his position to pocket $2,400 from Duquesne University for supervising pharmacy interns at state hospitals between 2000 and 2003, prosecutors said.

Read more »

Nothing like a drying pipeline to spur an acquisition, or an alliance, or a licensing deal. And there were certainly enough in 2008, given the dire straits confronting many large drugmakers. But which deal was truly clever, captivating and, most of all, potentially lucrative?

What about the tie-up between Pfizer and Ranbaxy? Pfizer walked away with extra 20 months of Lipitor patent exclusivity and Ranbaxy got the right to sell generic versions in November 2011 in the US, and sell generics in some other countries. How about Lilly scooping up ImClone Systems? Or the Novartis diversification move to pay $11 billion for 25 percent of Alcon?

Well, the In Vivo blog, which tracks such things closely all year long, is running a poll. So you can decide for yourselves right here. And no, only consummated deals count, even if the Roche move to buy the rest of Genentech does offer some interesting drama.

As the holidays settle in, the week has slowed considerably. Nonetheless, we thought it would be still be fun and useful to pass along a few interesting items. The world has not exactly stopped spinning, after all. So here you go….

FDA Wants More Seroquel Depression Data (Associated Press)

Takeda Diabetes Drug Faces Delay (Bloomberg News)

Abbott Downplayed Risk In Humira Ad (Reuters)

Dr. Reddy’s Settles Patent Dispute Over Clarinex (Associated Press)

Merck Groundwater Pollution Probed (The Modesto Bee)

The drugmaker reached a deal with 50 state attorneys general after being accused of violating court orders in two earlier lawsuits, in which it settled state charges of unlawfully depriving consumer of cheaper generic versions of its Buspar and Taxol drugs.

Under those deals, Bristol paid the states $150 million, and also agreed to avoid any similar anti-competitive conduct, to notify the states of any patent litigation settlements with generic drug rivals and to provide the states with yearly compliance reports (see statement from the Kentucky attorney general).

Some background: In March 2006, the drugmaker reached a settlement with Apotex, a generic rival, in a patent infringement lawsuit involving its Plavix bloodthinner. The deal triggered notification obligations under the earlier court orders in the Buspar and Taxol cases and was subject to state approval.

But according to the states, the Plavix settlement the drugmaker provided was inaccurate and incomplete, as were its 2007 and 2008 compliance reports, because Bristol failed to disclose non-documented, “side” arrangements that a Bristol official made with Apotex. The states contended the failure to inform them of the secret arrangements violated the Buspar and Taxol court orders.