Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was refreshing and invigorating, since the usual routine of meetings, deadline and whatnot has now returned, despite the shortened week on this side of the pond, due to the impending holiday. After all, there is always much to be done. So time to get cracking. Grab a cup of stimulation, or a bottle of water, if you prefer, and dig in to the tidbits below. Hope you have a productive day and do keep us in mind when something interesting develops …
The Federal Trade Commission declined to say whether it is probing Mylan Pharmaceuticals for possible violations of antitrust law. But in a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez wrote that “while statutory and regulatory restrictions prevent me from discussing any matter that may be under review by the commission, please be assured that we are aware of the concerns that you and others have raised on this subject.”
Valeant Pharmaceuticals is having trouble following through on plans to sell assets, Bloomberg News writes. More than a year’s worth of searching for buyers has resulted in only very minor deals, and investors are losing patience with a seeming inability to close sales. Meanwhile, the amount of cash Valeant has actually managed to generate from asset sales so far is just $181 million.
GlaxoSmithKline filed its first application for its three-in-one treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the US, more than a year ahead of schedule, PMLive reports. The combination is a key element in efforts to return to growth in its respiratory business, which has been hit by pricing pressure in the US and stiffer competition to blockbuster product Seretide/Advair.
Repeated Food and Drug Administration actions against leading Indian drug makers, price controls, and adverse foreign exchange rates hurt sales and profits of the 30 largest companies in the first half of the current year, Pharmabiz reports. The sales growth as well as profits of several companies remained in single-digit territory or was negative. Sales of these 30 companies account for almost 75 percent of sales of 100 companies that were analyzed.
Novartis exercised an option to buy Selexys Pharmaceuticals and agreed to pay up to $665 million to expand its pipeline of medicines to combat blood diseases, Reuters tells us.
An Australian coroner is “alarmed” that warnings about Pfizer’s Chantix smoking cessation pill that appear in labeling in the US are not included in Australia, the Brisbane Times says.
ViiV Healthcare has begun two late-stage studies evaluating a potential new regimen to treat HIV-1 infection, according to PharmaTimes.
Sanofi will stop making a bladder-cancer treatment that was in short supply for several years because it is unable to restore full production at a Toronto plant that had contamination problems, the Wall Street Journal says.
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