This week marked another setback for Pfizer ( PFE ), albeit an expected one. Less than three months after it stopped the enrollment of new patients in a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental lung-cancer drug figitumumab, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday that it had halted the trial altogether. Continue reading Pfizer Halts Trial of Once-Promising Lung Cancer Drug Pfizer Halts Trial of Once-Promising Lung Cancer Drug originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:05:00. Filed Under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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With each passing day, old-line drug company Pfizer ( PFE ), the name behind cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor and erectile-dysfunction treatment Viagra, is acting increasingly like a young biotech firm. The latest development? New York-based Pfizer is licensing a new stem cell therapy for inflammatory bowel disease biotech firm Athersys ( ATHX ), the Cleveland, Ohio-based company said. Continue reading Pfizer Branches Out with Stem Cell Therapy Investment Pfizer Branches Out with Stem Cell Therapy Investment originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:45:00. Filed Under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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For Pfizer ( PFE ), most of the news lately on the legal front has been bad. The pharmaceutical giant has faced setbacks in and out of courtrooms across the nation, and in September agreed to pay a record $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges in a case about off-label drug promotion. But this week, Pfizer got a bit of good news regarding some of the hormone replacement therapy cases against it. A New York judge dismissed at least 23 lawsuits against Pfizer units Wyeth and Pharmacia & Upjohn, as well as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ( TEVA ), filed by women who claimed that the menopause drugs Prempro, Premarin and Provera had caused their breast cancers. Continue reading Pfizer Wins Dismissal of 23 Prempro Lawsuits Pfizer Wins Dismissal of 23 Prempro Lawsuits originally appeared on DailyFinance on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:40:00. Filed Under: Healthcare , Pfizer Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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Pfizer Wins Dismissal of 23 Prempro Lawsuits

Filed under: Healthcare Hollywood has long made light of premature ejaculation. Jason Biggs’s scene in the teen movie American Pie is pretty typical: guy finally gets girl in bed for sex, only to pull the trigger before the long-awaited act even begins. While funny, perhaps, for movie audiences, these moments are no laughing matter for the estimated 20% to 30% of men of all ages — not just teenage virgins — who suffer from the problem. But if a new drug passes regulatory muster, guys with a short sexual fuse may be able to last a bit longer. Sciele Pharma says results of a late-stage clinical trial show that men who used its topical spray PSD502 were able to delay ejaculation five times longer than those who used a placebo, or dummy treatment. “If the results hold up in larger clinical trials, I think it will have a great future in the treatment of premature ejaculation,” says Ira Sharlip, a spokesman for the American Urological Association. Continue reading For guys with a short sexual fuse, a new spray may help delay the grand finale For guys with a short sexual fuse, a new spray may help delay the grand finale originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer , Merck It seems that for Pfizer ( PFE ), the saga of Prempro is just beginning. Barely a month after the world’s largest pharmaceutical company lost a case related to Wyeth’s Prempro hormone replacement therapy drug and was ordered to pay punitive damages on top of earlier compensatory damages, it lost the second pending case in the matter in Philadelphia on Monday. Initially, Pfizer was ordered in September to pay $3.75 million in compensatory damages. The punitive damages amount awarded a month later was sealed pending another verdict in a second similar case in the same courthouse. On Monday, the court revealed that Pfizer has been ordered to pay a total of $103 million in punitive damages in the two cases. The jury found the hormone drugs the two plaintiffs used for years contributed to their breast cancer. Including three other cases, so far Pfizer has been ordered to pay $165 million in punitive damages. Continue reading Prempro lawsuits: Pfizer hit with $103 million more in punitive damages Prempro lawsuits: Pfizer hit with $103 million more in punitive damages originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer , Sanofi Aventis On NBC’s hit series The Biggest Loser, obese contestants must huff and puff through weeks of endless push-ups, sit-ups and treadmill sprints in hopes of shedding more pounds than their rivals. But with all the sweat and tears required to go from fat to fabulous, many other plus-sized people are holding out for a safe diet pill that could get the same jaw-dropping results without all the effort. Now, there may finally be some real options on the horizon. Arena Pharmaceuticals ( ARNA ) said Tuesday a late-stage trial of lorcaserin shows its experimental obesity drug improves patients’ body composition such as body mass index and waist circumference. Meanwhile, rivals Vivus ( VVUS ) and Orexigen Therapeutics ( OREX ) are developing similar drugs. All three are racing to be the first to provide a safe drug that really works in a market potentially worth billions of dollars. Continue reading Diet pills: Vivus, Arena and Orexigen in race to market safe weight-loss drugs Diet pills: Vivus, Arena and Orexigen in race to market safe weight-loss drugs originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Earnings Visa Inc. on Tuesday posted a profit for its fiscal fourth quarter, reversing a year-ago loss, as cost reductions and growing debit card use made up for a decline in payment volume reflecting consumer spending cutbacks. The payments processor posted profit of $514 million, or 69 cents per share, on revenue of $1.87 billion. Adjusted for restructuring charges and other items, the company said it earned 74 cents per share. That compares with a year-ago loss of $356 million, or 45 cents per share, on revenue of $1.71 billion. Continue reading Visa posts 4Q profits on debit card use and cost cuts Visa posts 4Q profits on debit card use and cost cuts originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( PFE ) sure is no stranger to finding itself in court. The pharmaceutical giant is constantly defending its practices and drugs, often ending up paying millions if not billions in damages — even admitting to felony criminal charges . Pfizer has also inherited lawsuits with some of the companies it has purchased. It’s recent $68 billion mega acquisition of Wyeth is no different. On Monday, a Philadelphia jury, which had earlier found a link between a woman’s breast cancer and the hormone-replacement drug she was taking, also found that Wyeth hid and ignored evidence of the drug’s potential cancer risk. The jury awarded Connie Barton an undisclosed amount of punitive-damages . Continue reading Pfizer in court again, this time for Wyeth’s menopause treatment Prempro Pfizer in court again, this time for Wyeth’s menopause treatment Prempro originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Company News If the story of Pfizer ( PFE )’s Neurontin epilepsy and anti-seizure drug doesn’t read like a Hollywood script for the next George Clooney movie, I don’t know what does. From shady company practices to law suits to a mystery donation to a media battle between lawyers and Pfizer’s CEO to a former CIA agent allegedly getting his hands dirty in the name of Big Pharma. Neurontin’s saga began over a decade ago, but in 2004, when Warner-Lambert (which Pfizer acquired in 2000) paid a $430 million fine for promoting it off-label as a painkiller, many assumed Pfizer’s own headache over. They were wrong. It’s 2009 and just recently, on July 27, the first of 1,200 cases relating to Neurontin began. Continue reading Pfizer’s Neurontin: Epilepsy meds have never been this sexy Pfizer’s Neurontin: Epilepsy meds have never been this sexy originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Company News , Healthcare The pharmaceutical industry had entered a long slowdown that is supposed to culminate in 2012-2013, when the industry reaches a patent expiration cliff. Up until recently, it didn’t look like the new drug pipeline was going to replace the losses from the patent expiration and the increased generic competition. In the past few months, however, more approvals and positive clinical trials have changed the overall picture. For example, Amgen Inc. ( AMGN ) posted positive results on its experimental denosumab bone drug. While today an advisory panel review at the FDA will likely center on safety , a decision is supposed to be reached by October 19 (but will likely be delayed, as is usual for the FDA). The drug is expected to be a blockbuster, with sales of over $1 billion a year, if not a mega-blockbuster. Continue reading Pharma drug pipeline suddenly looking a lot healthier Pharma drug pipeline suddenly looking a lot healthier originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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