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NEWS ABOUT: GlaxoSmithKline

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Disgraced Doctors Land at Big Pharma

Hundreds of pitchmen found to have blemished records

(Newser) - Pharmaceutical companies say they hire highly respected doctors as their white-coat sales force, peddling their drugs to other physicians. But a Pro Publica investigation has discovered that hundreds of these pitchmen have been accused of professional misconduct, been disciplined by state boards, or lacked credentials. Medical board records in the... More »

FDA Restricts Diabetes Drug Over Heart Risk

But regulators stop short of an outright ban on Avandia

(Newser) - The FDA today put severe restrictions on Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline’s embattled diabetes drug, but stopped short of banning it outright. The once-popular drug will now only be available only as a last resort to type 2 diabetes patients who can’t control their glucose levels with any other medication, the... More »

FDA Panel: Keep Avandia on Market

But it may get warning label on heart risks

(AP) - A majority of federal health experts has voted to keep the controversial diabetes pill Avandia on the market despite evidence that it increases the risk of heart attack. A panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 20-12 against withdrawing GlaxoSmithKline's once-blockbuster drug. The agency is not required to follow... More »

Avandia Woes Mount Ahead of FDA Hearing

Agency flags flawed study, may ban diabetes drug

(Newser) - As the FDA prepares to consider whether to ban Avandia, agency scientists have discovered another problem with the diabetes drug: flaws that disqualify a clinical study sponsored by its maker. The trial, organized by GlaxoSmithKline, sought to evaluate the relative heart risks of Avandia and two other diabetes drugs, but... More »

Diabetes Drug Linked to Heart Woes Again; FDA Weighs Ban

Avandia less safe than alternatives; FDA weighs action

(Newser) - The mountain of evidence against diabetes drug Avandia grew a bit bigger today, with two major studies linking the medication to heart disease and stroke, the LA Times reports. An FDA panel will meet next month to discuss recalling the drug, which has been on the agency's radar at least... More »

Drug for Enlarged Prostate Cuts Cancer Risk, Too

Tumors stop growing or even shrink in study

(Newser) - A drug designed to shrink enlarged prostates may also be able to reduce the risk that at-risk men will develop prostate cancer, according to a new study. The drug dutasteride, sold under the brand name Avodart, was found to reduce the risk of cancer by roughly 25%. Researchers report seeing... More »

Feds Further Link Avandia to Heart Risk

FDA, Senate reports lambaste GlaxoSmithKline, want to yank drug

(Newser) - Some 800 people every month suffer heart attacks or heart failure because of the diabetes medication Avandia, according to government reports obtained by the New York Times . Under fire since 2007, the GlaxoSmithKline drug was linked to 304 deaths in the final quarter of last year and hundreds of thousands... More »

Glaxo Offers Free Access to Malaria Research

Company makes vast database public to help science find a cure

(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline has opened up its database of compounds with the potential to cure malaria to any scientists who wants to take up the challenge. The move—unheard of in the pharmaceutical industry—comes after company scientists spent a year screening all 2 million compounds in the company's library for those... More »

Antidepressants Don't Work for 70% of Patients

Little better than placebos in all but the most severe cases

(Newser) - Antidepressants are little better than a placebo for all but the most severe cases of depression, according to a new analysis of recent studies. “For patients with very severe depression, the medication did have a potent effect,” the study’s lead author tells WebMD . But the effects “... More »

Anti-Smoking Chantix, Zyban Pose Suicide Risk: FDA

Smokers with mental illnesses should avoid them, agency says

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is warning smokers about serious mental-illness risks of two smoking-cessation drugs, as reported suicides among their users increase. Chantix and Zyban must now carry the agency’s strongest warning label, the New York Times reports. The FDA isn’t trying to scare patients, an official... More »

Swiss Pharma Won't Donate Swine Flu Vaccine to Poor

Novartis defies WHO calls to give free doses to poor

(Newser) - Swiss pharma giant Novartis is defying the World Health Organization by refusing to donate swine flu vaccines to the world's poor, despite the designation of H1N1 as the first pandemic in 40 years, reports the Financial Times. Last week the WHO's director general called on drug companies to show "... More »

Pharma Pushes Dow Down 83

Sandisk gains after earnings beating expectations

(Newser) - Stocks were mixed today as pharmaceuticals declined but tech saw gains, the Wall Street Journal reports. GlaxoSmithKline reported a 13% drop in first-quarter earnings; GSK, Merck and Pfizer shares dropped. Yahoo and Sandisk were up despite posting quarterly losses. The Dow fell 82.99 to close at 7,886.57.... More »

Glaxo to Cut Drug Prices in Developing World

No. 2 pharma firm will open 'patent pool' to outside scientists

(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline’s new boss has proposed a radical rethinking of big pharma in developing countries: He plans to cut prices, offer portions of profits to hospitals, and loosen his firm’s grip on patents that keep prices up, the Guardian reports. “I think it's absolutely the kind of thing... More »

Watershed Vaccine May End Malaria Toll

If trials work as expected, shots could save millions of children

(Newser) - Scientists have developed a promising vaccine against malaria, a devastating disease that kills a milion people a year, most of them young children. Trials of the breakthrough vaccine enter the final phase next year and it could be widely available by 2012, reports the Los Angeles Times. Successful trials have... More »

Ailing Biotech Firms Need Shot in the Arm

Flatlining economy threatens breakthrough medical research

(Newser) - For the first time in years, the biotech industry is in desperate need of a lifeline, Bloomberg reports, as the economic crisis threatens to shove companies into bankruptcy and derail the development of potentially life-saving drugs. “I’m looking down the barrel of a gun,” admitted one CEO.... More »

Big Pharma Seeks Big Profits in Developing Nations

Drug Makers See Future in New Markets

(Newser) - The pharmaceutical industry is turning away from the US shores that helped fill its pockets and toward the developing world, the Economist reports. Massive growth has made markets like India and China too attractive to ignore, despite lower income levels and weaker patent laws. And many companies fear Barack Obama's... More »

Serious Side Effects Linked to Avandia, Fosamax

Heart trouble, brittle bones tied to drugs

(Newser) - Two new studies have linked the popular prescription drugs Fosamax and Avandia to serious side effects, Reuters reports. Fosamax, prescribed for osteoporosis, has been tied to a type of abnormal heartbeat that can cause dizziness and fatigue. Another study links Avandia, used to treat diabetes, to a double or even... More »

Antidepressants Mostly Useless, Study Finds

Prozac and others make a difference only in most extreme cases

(Newser) - Big Pharma swallowed a bitter pill yesterday as Prozac and other antidepressants were found in a UK study to be largely ineffectual in all but the most extreme cases of depression. The meta-analysis of 47 clinical trials submitted to the FDA with licensing applications for six popular antidepressants concluded that... More »

Prices Jump for Top Drugs

Drug giants collect now against expected future losses

(Newser) - Drug companies have slapped a series of huge price hikes on some prescription drugs ahead of drug patent expirations, the Wall Street Journal reports. GlaxoSmithKline has raised the price of antidepressant Wellbutrin 44.5%, while Sanofi-Aventis hiked Ambien's price 70%. Wholesale prices for the top 50 drugs increased an average... More »

Puerto Rican Drug Plants Shipped Tainted Pills: FDA

Quality control a problem at factories producing US' top-selling drugs

(Newser) - The Caribbean island that produces 13 of the 20 best-selling drugs in the US has sold tainted pills and is struggling with quality control at its pharmaceutical plants, AP reports.  FDA inspections of 13 Puerto Rican plants between 2003 and 2007 revealed problems such as machinery pins left in... More »

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