[1]mikequozl/flickrcreativecommons
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? A bright, shiny sun is enveloping the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots are snoozing, a cool breeze is rustling the leafy trees and we are brewing more cups of needed stimulation. As always, we invite you to join us. Remember, a prescription is not required. While you think this over, please enjoy the menu of interesting items below. Have a smashing day and keep in touch…
Several pharma and biotech chief executives are slated to meet with President Obama today to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement at the White House, which requested the meeting and launches an all-out effort to attract support for the trade deal, BioCentury [2] reports. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton told PBS Newshour [3] she opposes thedeal over concerns the pharmaceutical industry may have gotten more benefits than consumers.
Martin Shkreli, who was vilified on social media and became the symbol for price gouging after his company raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750, wants to rehabilitate his image, Reuters [4] writes, citing a research report. “Yes, we have a plan. Very expensive, well articulated,” Shkreli told Activist Shorts Research founder Adam Kommel. “Every media advisor is on our payroll.”
The placebo effect is getting stronger and perhaps prescription drug advertising is to blame, according to Nature [5], which cites new research that studied clinical trials for painkillers. The analysis of trial data found that responses to sham treatments have become stronger over time, making it harder to prove a drug’s advantage over placebo. Interestingly, the change in response to placebo treatments for pain only holds true for US clinical trials.
A third trial is getting under way over claims that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn that its Risperdal antipsychotic could cause gynecomastia, which is abnormal development of breasts in males. An attorney for the man who brought the case says he hopes to cross exam J&J ceo Alex Gorsky about his role years ago in overseeing marketing of the drug. The latest trial is taking place in Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia
For years, Hong Kong was where Chinese shoppers picked up the newest fashions from luxury retailers. Now, prescription drugs are also an attraction, Bloomberg News [6] writes. The cross-border trade highlights problems facing China’s prescription drug market, which hit $157 billion in sales last year and is expected to double by 2019. Even as regulators apply pressure to lower costs, mainland Chinese patients pay some of the highest prices in the world.
In response to rising costs, more US oncologists are increasingly declining to prescribe medicines that have scant or no effect, even as a last resort, according to Reuters [7], which queried several doctors.
Drug makers are emerging as the latest pocket of sorrow in the beleaguered junk-bond market as a renewed public debate on drug-pricing tactics unnerves investors, Bloomberg News [8] tells us.
India’s Delhi High Court barred Glenmark Pharmaceuticals from selling generic versions of Januvia, the widely used Merck diabetes drug, The Wall Street Journal [10] reports.
Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim launched a direct-to-consumer ad campaign for Jardiance as they seek to differentiate their Type 2 diabetes drug, Medical Marketing & Media [11] notes.
Fresh analysis of data on Novartis’ Gilenya and Sanofi’s Lemtrada back their long-term efficacy in keeping multiple sclerosis at bay, Pharma Times [12] writes.
Sanofi confirmed reports that it plans to sell a Kansas City facility where it makes the Allegra allergy drug, according to InPharma Technologist [13].