Pharmaceutical News

‘Australian drugs firm Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd. reported a 27 percent rise in underlying annual profit, as expected, boosted by its takeover of Arrow, and reaffirmed its outlook for the year ahead.

Drugs manufacturer and distributor Sigma snared Arrow for its pipeline of generic drugs, a high margin business seen as a hot source of growth in the Australian market, where the government wants to curb growth in its spending on prescription drug subsidies.

It said it remained confident of achieving underlying profit growth of about 15 percent, excluding a one-off tax benefit and facilities closures tied to the takeover of Arrow.

The result and outlook were in line with expectations, and following a small run-up over the past two weeks Sigma’s shares traded flat in a firmer market after the result.’

Read more at Sigma Pharmaceuticals year profit rises 27 pct

”Come to South Africa and use our people as cheap guinea pigs for drugs trials,” says an international pharmaceutical testing company.

Even as a young South African backpacker is battling to recover in a London hospital after a drug trial gone horribly wrong, a senior employee at the pharmaceutical company that ran the drug trial is touting South Africa and its people as the perfect location for drug companies to find medical test subjects.

Dr Herman Scholtz, the SA-educated head of Parexel International Clinical Pharmacology, said on a clinical trials website that in South Africa, international drug companies would have “ready access to large numbers of potential subjects of which a significant portion is treatment naive”. ‘

Read more at SA citizens cheap drug guinea pigs

‘Two men critically ill following the drug-tests disaster could remain in a coma for up to a year.

They are among six men still in intensive care at a London hospital after suffering horrendous reactions to injections in private clinical trials for a German pharmaceutical company.

The four others are believed to have started communicating by making signs, with a relative saying at least one of them was able to speak.’

Read more at Two drugs test victims face a year in coma

‘Drug dealers were once favorite movie bad guys. These days, it’s drug companies. That Hollywood can manufacture a plausible storyline in which a major drug firm commits all manner of corruption and even murder, speaks volumes about the American public’s already deep mistrust of drugmakers.

A 2005 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 7 in 10 Americans believe the drug industry “puts profits ahead of people.” It wasn’t always this way. As recent as 1997, nearly 80 percent of respondents to Harris Interactive’s industry reputation poll said they believed Big Pharma did a good job serving the needs of consumers.’

Read more at Can drug companies improve their reputation?

‘Pfizer Inc. said 2006 net income will rise 40 percent as the world’s largest drugmaker enters the second year of a $4 billion cost-cutting plan.

Earnings this year will rise to $11.4 billion to $11.7 billion, or $1.52 to $1.56 a share, from $8.09 billion, or $1.09, in 2005, Pfizer said today in a statement as executives met with analysts at a meeting in New York. Profit excluding depreciation and expenses related to cost cutting will be about $2 a share, compared with this year’s $2.02.’

Read more at Pfizer Sees 40 Percent Rise in 2006 Net on Cost Cuts

‘Pfizer (PFE:NYSE - news - research - Cramer’s Take) said Friday that 2006 will yield flat sales and slightly lower earnings per share, but the drug giant indicated that its top-line growth should resume in 2007 as new drugs more than offset the loss of patents on its existing medications.

The company is looking for what it calls an adjusted profit of about $2 a share this year, excluding items, or $1.52 to $1.56 when calculated using generally accepted accounting principles. Pfizer’s projection that revenue in 2006 will be “comparable” to last year implies overall sales of about $51.3 billion. The consensus Wall Street estimate is just under $51.6 billion.’

Read more at Pfizer’s Forecast Disappoints

‘Analysts had been optimistic about the potential of using RFID technology to track pharmaceuticals, thereby curbing theft and counterfeiting while encouraging supply chain efficiency.

In fact, last year technology market research firm ABI Research estimated that the shipments of life sciences RFID transponders would more than triple by the end of this year.

But new state legislation has thrown a wrench into the mechanics of these predications; recently ABI dramatically re-evaluated their expectations. Now they anticipate that only about 10 prescription drugs will be tagged with RFID transponders on a large scale this year.’

Read more at Pharmaceutical RFID Adoption Stalls

‘Diabetes is fast becoming a serious global problem. No surprise, then, that a lot of folks cheered after learning that a new drug option — the first inhaled form of insulin — will soon hit pharmacy shelves.

The drug, called Exubera, provides an option for diabetes patients who are supposed to inject themselves with insulin three to six times a day.

The discomfort and inconvenience that come with injections cause many diabetics to inject themselves fewer times than is recommended.’

Read more at Inhalable Drug Might Bring Sigh Of Relief To Diabetes Patients

‘GlaxoSmithKline sought to reassure investors yesterday by announcing it would file its potential blockbuster cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix, for approval in the US before the end of the year.

The news came after the British pharmaceuticals giant unveiled its best annual performance since 2000 when it was formed from the merger of SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome. Strong sales of the asthma drug Advair propelled sales to £21.7bn last year, up 8 per cent. With pre-tax profits rising to £6.7bn, earnings per share were up 21 per cent to 82.6p, better than City expectations.’

Read more at GlaxoSmithKline unveils best results since merger

‘Pfizer Inc. has filed a patent infringement suit against generic drug makers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Sandoz Inc. concerning generic versions of the antibiotic Zithromax.

Representatives from Sandoz, based in Princeton, N.J., and Teva, based in Israel, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In a press release Wednesday, Pfizer also said it filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, claiming Teva’s and Sandoz’s azithromycin product labels do not accurately describe the drug’s active ingredients. ‘

Read more at Pfizer Sues Teva, Sandoz Over Zithromax