Pharma News

Pharmaceutical sector back in the EU antitrust spotlight

Home/Pharma News | Posted 12/11/2009

The raids on 6 October 2009 on the premises of several pharmaceutical companies show that the European competition authorities are serious about taking action against suspected anticompetitive behaviour in the EU generics market.

Johnson & Johnson ‘buys’ to fight generic competition

Home/Pharma News | Posted 10/11/2009

Johnson & Johnson reported on 13 October 2009 that third-quarter revenue from pharmaceuticals fell 14.1% to US$5.3 billion (Euros 3.59 billion) compared to the prior-year period, due to generic competition and the negative impact of currency exchange. Net income for the three-month period increased 1.1% to US$3.3 billion (Euros 2.23 billion), due in part to reduced costs from job reductions and the consolidation of the company's management structure.

EU warns pharmaceutical industry of new competition probes

Home/Pharma News | Posted 26/10/2009

The European Commission warned the pharmaceutical industry yesterday to “look out for” new antitrust investigations over the coming months.

Pharma tempted into generics in emerging markets

Home/Pharma News | Posted 22/10/2009

With many western generics markets showing sluggish growth, the lure of big emerging economies such as India is proving irresistible to pharmaceutical companies looking for promising new outlets – and not only generics firms.

GlaxoSmithKline may eye five percent stake in Dr Reddy's

Home/Pharma News | Posted 15/10/2009

There is speculation that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is in talks to buy a 5% stake in Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in a deal likely to be valued at US$150 million (Euros 101.47 million), an Indian newspaper reported on 18 September 2009.

European patent will make medicines cheaper

Home/Pharma News | Posted 06/10/2009

Big pharmaceutical concerns manage to keep out cheaper medicines, even if the patents have expired. These firms would not be so good at this if a European patent would exist, says Mr André den Exter of the Institute of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam/Erasmus Observatory on Health Law at Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

Big Pharma chiefs warn of ‘sea change’ in drug industry

Home/Pharma News | Posted 04/09/2009

Product pipelines are under serious pressure as pharmaceutical companies face competition from generic rivals and smaller biotechnology groups are struggling to secure backing from venture capitalists because of the recession. The industry has seen a string of so-called mega-mergers, including Pfizer's US$68 billion (Euros 48.66 billion) deal for Wyeth, but AstraZeneca CEO Mr David Brennan will reiterate his opposition to this type of deal and claim collaborations are essential to boosting drug development.

Radical treatments for difficult times

Home/Pharma News | Posted 30/07/2009

The economic downturn is only one of many factors forcing the drug industry to rethink its strategy reported Financial Times pharmaceuticals correspondent Mr Andrew Jack in the British Medical Journal. According to him, large drug makers such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Pfizer are being forced to adapt at an increasing pace to a range of growing pressures.

API opportunities in biologicals, biosimilars and generics

Home/Pharma News | Posted 29/07/2009

The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) market, traditionally dominated by small-molecule drugs, is currently witnessing a rapid shift towards biopharmaceuticals. At the same time, the manufacturing volume outsourced to contract manufacturing firms is on the rise. As plain vanilla generics continue to get highly competitive, API manufacturers are searching for newer avenues such as the production of high-potency APIs to differentiate themselves from competition.