Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... Good Morning

Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We hope the weekend was relaxing and refreshing, because the time has come to resume that challenging routine of meetings and deadlines. This may be an abbreviated week on this side of the pond, but still, there is much to do. So fire up your kettle and join us for a needed cup of stimulation - Pumpkin Spice is in vogue - and peruse a few tidbits. Hope your day is smashing and drop us a line if you hear something interesting...

Regeneron Wins Lawsuit Over Property Tax Refund (Albany Times-Union)

Feds Probe FedEx And UPS Over Online Drug Shipments (Associated Press)

Pfizer's Lyrica Fails To Meet Once-Daily Study Goal (Reuters)

Bristol-Myers Manager Murdered At HIV Conference (Bangkok Post)

CALPERS Sues Pfizer As Opt Out From Class Action (Reuters)

Catalent Lays Off 40 Workers At UK Facility (Swindon Advertiser)

Roche's Avastin Shows Mixed Results In Glioblastoma (Pharma Times)

Pharma Is Cutting Back On B2B Events (Conference & Incentive Travel)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please check this post for updates

sunrise pic thx to benimoto on flickr

3 Comments

Nov 19, 2012 - 8:45am
-AIDS meds are largely inaccessible in Thailand due to high cost;

-The murdered Pharma manager was from the HIV meds division.

Does anyone see a connection?

Nov 19, 2012 - 9:59am
http://rt.com/usa/news/drug-shortage-us-morphine-014/

Lost control of "manufacturing" and "distribution" of opium products to the street gangs?

In regards to "Roche's Avastin Shows Mixed Results In Glioblastoma," as with most "targeted" therapy drugs, Avastin does not necessarily benefit every patient and it is expensive. Until now, there were no diagnostic tests that existed to show reliably who would benefit from anti-angiogenic agents. There has been a biomarker assay developed for microvascular viability to identify potential responders to Avastin, as well as Nexavar, Sutent, and other anti-angiogenic drugs. It was discovered that endothelial cells are present in tumor microclusters and it appears that drug effect upon these cells can be assessed in the new microvascular viability assay.