Pfizer

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Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B
 Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B 

Pfizer Snaps Up Wyeth for $68B

Merger would be largest pharma deal since GlaxoWellcome-SmithKline 2000 merger

(Newser) - The world’s largest drugmaker, Pfizer, is poised to become even more gargantuan after it agreed early this morning to buy rival Wyeth for $68 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal. In the first major merger to hit Wall Street in months, Pfizer will borrow $22.5 billion from four...

Pfizer in Talks to Buy Wyeth
 Pfizer in Talks to Buy Wyeth  




Pfizer in Talks to Buy Wyeth

Sources say drug maker plans $60B acquisition of rival Wyeth

(Newser) - Pfizer is seeking to create a Big Pharma behemoth with the acquisition of rival Wyeth, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The deal, expected to be worth around $60 billion, would make Pfizer—already the world's biggest drug company—big enough to redraw the map of the industry, although sources...

Pfizer to Can 800 Researchers
 Pfizer to Can 800 Researchers 

Pfizer to Can 800 Researchers

Company must cut R&D spending ahead of Lipitor patent expiration

(Newser) - Pfizer will eliminate the jobs of up to 800 researchers in 2009, starting today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pharmaceutical giant is attempting to cut costs ahead of a $30 billion reduction in revenue expected in 2011 when its patent on the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor expires. But the...

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...

FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label
FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label

FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label

Anti-smoking drug linked to more seizures, accidents

(Newser) - The FDA may beef up its warning for the anti-smoking drug Chantix after an increase in the number of serious incidents linked to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reports. A drug-safety group tallied 1,001 reports of patients suffering seizures, blackouts, and loss of motor control—some while driving—...

Mixed News Keeps Gains Slim
 Mixed News Keeps Gains Slim 
MARKETS

Mixed News Keeps Gains Slim

Markets absorb gloomy Fed data and continued oil drop

(Newser) - The markets pared earlier gains to end just slightly positive today, amid mixed earnings reports and a gloomy-but-expected Federal Reserve data on the US economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow gained 29.88, closing at 11,632.38. The Nasdaq gained 21.92, settling at 2,325.88,...

Deal Delays Generic Lipitor Until 2011

Pact with Indian drug maker stands to net billions for Pfizer

(Newser) - Pfizer has struck a deal with an Indian generic drug maker to delay a cheaper version of Lipitor in the US until November 2011. The agreement limiting generic versions of the cholesterol-lowering drug will translate into billions more in profits for Pfizer, the New York Times reports. Lipitor, the world's...

Quit-Smoking Drug Linked to Heart Trouble, Dizziness

FAA bans pilots and air controllers from using Chantix after report

(Newser) - Pfizer smoking-cessation drug Chantix has been linked to nearly a thousand serious incidents in the last quarter of 2007, the Wall Street Journal reports. A report from a drug safety group found that some users of the drug—already linked to depression and suicide—suffered heart trouble, diabetes, or accidents...

Congress to Probe 'Misleading' Drug Ads

Cholesterol, anemia drugs in spotlight

(Newser) - A congressional panel will examine three ad campaigns as part of a move to tighten regulations on drug companies' direct-to-consumer marketing, the Wall Street Journal reports. The committee will focus on ads for cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Lipitor, and anemia drug Procrit, which has been promoted as an anti-fatigue drug...

Stocks Flat After Day in Red
 Stocks Flat After Day in Red 
MARKETS

Stocks Flat After Day in Red

Mixed data leads to seesaw after Wednesday's rally

(Newser) - The Dow ticked up 1.22 points to close at 12,620.49 today, after a flood of mixed earning reports mostly kept stocks down during the session. One analyst was impressed the market didn’t dip, saying it “seems to be holding up relatively well, especially after yesterday’...

'Little Blue Pill' is 10 Years Old

Viagra changed sexual landscape

(Newser) - The little blue pill that rescued the sex lives and saved marriages of couples worldwide is 10 years old this month. Viagra, which has been used by some 35 million men, moved the treatment of impotence out of the shadows to lead a multi-billion-dollar industry. The drug has also triggered...

Justices' Stock Portfolios Cripple Cases

Supreme Court left deadlocked by recusals amid calls to divest

(Newser) - The stock portfolios of Supreme Court justices have become a flash point this term, in which six cases could be affected by justices recusing themselves because they own financial stakes in companies involved. Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Stephen Bryer have bowed out of cases involving...

Pfizer Pulls Lipitor Ads After Probe

Critics accused pharma giant of inflating doctor's CV

(Newser) - Pfizer said today it will drop its ads for cholesterol drug Lipitor due to criticisms of the TV spots, the New York Times reports. US lawmakers recently probed whether the campaign had inflated the credentials of artificial heart developer Dr. Robert Jarvik. "The way in which we presented Dr....

Prices Jump for Top Drugs
Prices Jump for Top Drugs

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...

Epilepsy Drugs Increase Risk of Suicide: FDA

Latest warning on side effects appears certain to rattle big pharma

(Newser) - Taking epilepsy medication can double risk of suicidal behavior, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Results of a government study showed the increased risk for 11 specific drugs, including Pfizer’s Neurontin and Lyrica, but the Food and Drug Administration warned that the findings probably apply to all epilepsy medications. Labels...

Abortion Pill Maker in Tainted Drug Scandal

Paralyzing meds made by Chinese firm that sells all RU-486 in US

(Newser) - A Chinese pharmaceutical giant which exports the abortion pill RU-486 to the US is accused of producing tainted cancer medication and of attempting a cover-up.  Shanghai Hualian's tainted drugs left 200 Chinese leukemia patients hospitalized, some paralyzed, reports the New York Times. There's no indication US shipments of RU-486...

Antidepressant Studies Distort Drugs' Usefulness

New study says negative reports often go unpublished

(Newser) - Roughly half of the medical studies involving antidepressants that found little or no effect on patients have gone unpublished or had their findings mischaracterized as positive, a new study reveals. The emphasis on publishing only studies with glowing reviews gives patients and doctors a false sense of the effectiveness of...

New Drug Stirs Debate Over Disease's Existence

Widely advertised Lyrica treats fibromyalgia, but some docs raise red flags

(Newser) - The first drug approved by the FDA to treat fibromyalgia is raising questions, but not the typical ones about whether the medication works. They're questions about whether the disease even exists. Lyrica sales are up and climbing, but critics say giving a name to the chronic pain that characterizes fibromyalgia...

Big Pharma Faces Big Plunge
Big Pharma Faces Big Plunge

Big Pharma Faces Big Plunge

Profits will drop as patents expire, and chemical-based therapies are eclipsed by biotech

(Newser) - Patent protections on some of the pharmaceutical industry's best-selling drugs, like Lipitor, Plavix and Singulair, are due to expire in the next several years, and drug manufacturers have little in the pipeline to replace them. The drug companies will lose billions—as much as half their combined revenue—to generic...

Battle Brews in Pharma's Market
Battle Brews in Pharma's Market

Battle Brews in Pharma's Market

Pfizer launches attack on generic drug that threatens Lipitor's dominance

(Newser) - Pfizer is trying to stave off its own heart attack now that its flagship cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor faces stiff competition from a cheaper generic. Lipitor is still patent-protected, but a very similar drug called Zocor isn't, and since a generic version called simvastatin hit the market, many doctors and insurers...

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