Pharmaceutical Companies

Reno Jury Orders Wyeth to Pay $134 Million in Premarin Case
Pharmaceutical company Wyeth was ordered to pay three women about $43 million each, after a jury found the company liable for the women’s cancer.
Pharmaceutical Giant Pfizer Announces Job Cuts, Plant Closures
Pfizer said yesterday that the company is being forced to close several manufacturing and research operations and lay off thousands of workers due to increasing competition from rival drug manufacturers, development problems, and rapidly declining sales figures.
Schering-Plough Admits Lying To US Government
Proving that crime actually makes you pay, drug giant Schering-Plough plead guilty to conspiracy and must fork over $435 million in fines and settlement payouts.
Is Quality Control Outdated in the Pharmaceutical Sector?
Pharmaceutical companies are leaning toward the FDA’s Quality by Design Initiatives and away from batch processing and empirical product testing. What do these changes hold in store for quality control techniques and practices?
RFID Pharmaceutical services
RFID Technology also enters in the world of Pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and hospitals to discourage drug counterfeiting.
Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies Borrow From Limited IT Resource Pool
The onset of technologically advanced software and hardware platforms for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries has resulted in more than a few drug manufacturers enlisting the talents of information technology professionals.
Diseases of Rich Deprive Poor of Drugs
The world's poorest people are being denied access to drugs because pharmaceutical companies are focusing resources on diseases suffered by wealthy, middle-aged Americans according to a leading expert.
Novartis Makes £4.4bn Move Into Cut-price Drug Making
Swiss drugs firm Novartis has taken an unprecedented step into the usually hostile territory of generic pharmaceuticals with the £4.4bn purchase of copycat drug manufacturers Hexal and Eon Labs.
Investors Urge Drug Firms to Do More for World's Poor
Pharmaceutical companies will today be told by their shareholders to do more to help improve the health of the developing world. They will also be warned that they are not ready to face the coming demand for drugs for diseases other than Aids. The Pharmaceutical Shareowners...
Aventis Braced for €60bn Bid From Its Smaller Rival
Sanofi, the French pharmaceuticals group, is poised to launch a €60bn (£40bn) takeover bid for its bigger rival Aventis.
War on Cheap Drugs
The big US pharmaceuticals firms are using Australia's public medicine supply scheme for target practice, writes David Fickling.
Ruling Opens the Door for Cut-price Hiv Drugs
Pharmaceutical companies charging unfair prices for essential Aids medicines, says South African commission.
Pfizer spikes cactus drug deal
Phytopharm, the Cambridge drugs company, suffered a setback yesterday after US pharmaceuticals group Pfizer withdrew from a partnership deal to develop a new anti-obesity drug from a rare cactus.
Bio-techs merge to cut costs
Idec Pharmaceuticals yesterday agreed a $6.8bn (£4bn) deal to acquire Biogen, part of the continuing consolidation in the biotechnology industry.
Bayer 'put Asians in Danger of Hiv'
A division of pharmaceutical company Bayer knowingly sold blood-clotting agents infected with the human immunodeficiency virus to Asia and Latin America after withdrawing them from Europe and the US, a US newspaper claimed yesterday.
Glaxo Cuts Price of Aids Drugs in Poor Countries
GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical company, has slashed the price of its Aids drugs to sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world's poorest countries, it announces today. The cut almost halves the annual cost of treatment with its drug Combivir to £206 , which is within...
In the Time It Takes You to Read This Article Pfizer Will Make $250,000. So Does It Have a Duty to Provide Cheap Drugs to the Poor?
Shareholders will gather in Michigan today to hear about the soaring profits of the world's largest pharmaceutical company. But, report Sarah Boseley and Nils Pratley, it faces new pressure to do more for the world's poor.
Bayer insurance may not cover claims
Bayer, the German chemicals to pharmaceuticals group, yesterday admitted for the first time that its insurance cover might not be enough to meet claims over its recalled anti-cholesterol drug, Baycol.
Bayer denies it knew of drug risk before withdrawal
German health care and pharmaceuticals group Bayer yesterday hit back at reports that executives may have known about problems with its anti-cholestrol drug, Baycol, before it was withdrawn.
British drugs giant in Italian bribery investigation
Italian prosecutors are investigating the giving of perks given to Italian doctors by the British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline allegedly in return for prescribing more of their drugs.
Novartis raises its stake in rival drugs firm Roche
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis yesterday stepped up its challenge to the independence of rival Roche, revealing it had spent £2.1bn raising its stake in the company which invented valium tranquillisers by more than 50%.
Healing the East
Novartis, the Swiss drug giant announced Tuesday that it will unite its 14 brands of generic drugs under the Sandoz name, harking back to its origins as a manufacturer of affordable, off-patent, medication and raw materials ("active ingredients"). The rebranding will engulf the company's central and east European units, including Biochemie in Austria and Azupharma in Germany - but not Lek in Slovenia.
Elan looks outside lab to recruit new chief
Elan, the troubled Dublin-listed pharmaceuticals firm, has appointed a former Wall Street stockbroker with no experience of the drugs industry as chief executive.
US Drug Makers Accused of Bullying
The US government and the giant pharmaceutical companies are continuing to bully poor countries to tighten up their patent rules, hampering efforts to obtain cheap medicines for people with diseases such as HIV/Aids, according to a new report. One year after the historic Doha declaration...
Glaxo Cuts Aids Drug Prices in Africa
The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said yesterday that it was cutting the prices of Aids and malaria drugs in the poorest countries by up to a third.
Pfizer and Pharmacia set to create drugs giant
In a surprising blockbuster merger that would create the world's largest drug company, New York-based pharmaceuticals firm Pfizer, which makes the anti-impotence drug Viagra, has reportedly agreed to buy rival Pharmacia Corp for $60bn (£40bn) in stock.
Aids vaccine 'may be ready within five years'
An American pharmaceuticals company today claimed to be in the final stages of testing an Aids vaccine, possibly providing a working vaccine within five years.
Gates' Charity Shifts Policy
Bill Gates has invested $205m in nine large pharmaceutical companies.
Defiant Nigeria to import cheap copies of HIV drugs
Nigeria has defied pressure from multinational pharmaceutical companies by becoming the first African country to import cheap copies of patented Aids drugs in a move watched closely by other states on the continent worst hit by the disease. The groundbreaking decision will infuriate big...
Pharmaceutical companies are leaning toward the FDA’s Quality by Design Initiatives and away from batch processing and empirical product testing. What do these changes hold in store for quality control techniques and practices?
RFID Pharmaceutical services
RFID Technology also enters in the world of Pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and hospitals to discourage drug counterfeiting.
Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies Borrow From Limited IT Resource Pool
The onset of technologically advanced software and hardware platforms for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries has resulted in more than a few drug manufacturers enlisting the talents of information technology professionals.
Diseases of Rich Deprive Poor of Drugs
The world's poorest people are being denied access to drugs because pharmaceutical companies are focusing resources on diseases suffered by wealthy, middle-aged Americans according to a leading expert.
Novartis Makes £4.4bn Move Into Cut-price Drug Making
Swiss drugs firm Novartis has taken an unprecedented step into the usually hostile territory of generic pharmaceuticals with the £4.4bn purchase of copycat drug manufacturers Hexal and Eon Labs.
Investors Urge Drug Firms to Do More for World's Poor
Pharmaceutical companies will today be told by their shareholders to do more to help improve the health of the developing world. They will also be warned that they are not ready to face the coming demand for drugs for diseases other than Aids. The Pharmaceutical Shareowners...
Aventis Braced for €60bn Bid From Its Smaller Rival
Sanofi, the French pharmaceuticals group, is poised to launch a €60bn (£40bn) takeover bid for its bigger rival Aventis.
War on Cheap Drugs
The big US pharmaceuticals firms are using Australia's public medicine supply scheme for target practice, writes David Fickling.
Ruling Opens the Door for Cut-price Hiv Drugs
Pharmaceutical companies charging unfair prices for essential Aids medicines, says South African commission.
Pfizer spikes cactus drug deal
Phytopharm, the Cambridge drugs company, suffered a setback yesterday after US pharmaceuticals group Pfizer withdrew from a partnership deal to develop a new anti-obesity drug from a rare cactus.
Bio-techs merge to cut costs
Idec Pharmaceuticals yesterday agreed a $6.8bn (£4bn) deal to acquire Biogen, part of the continuing consolidation in the biotechnology industry.
Bayer 'put Asians in Danger of Hiv'
A division of pharmaceutical company Bayer knowingly sold blood-clotting agents infected with the human immunodeficiency virus to Asia and Latin America after withdrawing them from Europe and the US, a US newspaper claimed yesterday.
Glaxo Cuts Price of Aids Drugs in Poor Countries
GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceutical company, has slashed the price of its Aids drugs to sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world's poorest countries, it announces today. The cut almost halves the annual cost of treatment with its drug Combivir to £206 , which is within...
In the Time It Takes You to Read This Article Pfizer Will Make $250,000. So Does It Have a Duty to Provide Cheap Drugs to the Poor?
Shareholders will gather in Michigan today to hear about the soaring profits of the world's largest pharmaceutical company. But, report Sarah Boseley and Nils Pratley, it faces new pressure to do more for the world's poor.
Bayer insurance may not cover claims
Bayer, the German chemicals to pharmaceuticals group, yesterday admitted for the first time that its insurance cover might not be enough to meet claims over its recalled anti-cholesterol drug, Baycol.
Bayer denies it knew of drug risk before withdrawal
German health care and pharmaceuticals group Bayer yesterday hit back at reports that executives may have known about problems with its anti-cholestrol drug, Baycol, before it was withdrawn.
British drugs giant in Italian bribery investigation
Italian prosecutors are investigating the giving of perks given to Italian doctors by the British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline allegedly in return for prescribing more of their drugs.
Novartis raises its stake in rival drugs firm Roche
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis yesterday stepped up its challenge to the independence of rival Roche, revealing it had spent £2.1bn raising its stake in the company which invented valium tranquillisers by more than 50%.
Healing the East
Novartis, the Swiss drug giant announced Tuesday that it will unite its 14 brands of generic drugs under the Sandoz name, harking back to its origins as a manufacturer of affordable, off-patent, medication and raw materials ("active ingredients"). The rebranding will engulf the company's central and east European units, including Biochemie in Austria and Azupharma in Germany - but not Lek in Slovenia.
Elan looks outside lab to recruit new chief
Elan, the troubled Dublin-listed pharmaceuticals firm, has appointed a former Wall Street stockbroker with no experience of the drugs industry as chief executive.
US Drug Makers Accused of Bullying
The US government and the giant pharmaceutical companies are continuing to bully poor countries to tighten up their patent rules, hampering efforts to obtain cheap medicines for people with diseases such as HIV/Aids, according to a new report. One year after the historic Doha declaration...
Glaxo Cuts Aids Drug Prices in Africa
The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said yesterday that it was cutting the prices of Aids and malaria drugs in the poorest countries by up to a third.
Pfizer and Pharmacia set to create drugs giant
In a surprising blockbuster merger that would create the world's largest drug company, New York-based pharmaceuticals firm Pfizer, which makes the anti-impotence drug Viagra, has reportedly agreed to buy rival Pharmacia Corp for $60bn (£40bn) in stock.
Aids vaccine 'may be ready within five years'
An American pharmaceuticals company today claimed to be in the final stages of testing an Aids vaccine, possibly providing a working vaccine within five years.
Gates' Charity Shifts Policy
Bill Gates has invested $205m in nine large pharmaceutical companies.
Defiant Nigeria to import cheap copies of HIV drugs
Nigeria has defied pressure from multinational pharmaceutical companies by becoming the first African country to import cheap copies of patented Aids drugs in a move watched closely by other states on the continent worst hit by the disease. The groundbreaking decision will infuriate big...


