BMS to sell off ConvaTec – Drug developer Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Friday it will sell its would therapy and surgical care unit for $4.1 billion to two private equity firms…more
Big cutback/merger action at J&J – sales and marketing for Ortho Biotech and Centocor to join, 400 jobs to go – Johnson & Johnson yesterday notified employees it will consolidate the sales and marketing operations of two subsidiaries, Ortho Biotech and Centocor, leading to roughly 400 job cuts nationwide…more, and Pharmalot’s take here.
Big layoffs at Wyeth: another 1,200 – The drugmaker last Friday notified employees that still more jobs are going, a Wyeth spokesman confirms. This follows an announcement last month that 1,240 sales positions would be eliminated as part of what Wyeth execs are calling ‘Project Impact.’…more
Big expansion at FDA – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration aims to hire more than 1,300 biologists, chemists, pharmacologists and other staff members by October as part of a major expansion, the agency said on Wednesday…more
Pfizer makes a deal on some Bextra/Celebrex lawsuits – The drugmaker reached tentative settlements with some groups of plaintiffs who allege the painkillers caused heart attacks and strokes, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing lawyers at three firms involved in the litigation…more
Takeda’s Amitiza get IBS-C indication – The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the first U.S. drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) in adult women, a medicine made by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc…more (this allows Amitiza to step into the void left by the withdrawal of Novartis’ Zelnorm last year)
Merck’s experimental cholesterol drug stumbles at FDA – U.S. health regulators have rejected Merck & Co Inc‘s new drug designed to raise the level of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, the company said on Monday, sending its shares down 5 percent…more
Wyeth bowel drug wins approval – Wyeth and Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc won U.S. approval to sell a new drug to relieve the constipation that often occurs with use of morphine or other opioid painkillers, regulators said…more
Interesting potential avenue for HIV treatment – Researchers have pinpointed a protein in a key human immune system cells needed for the AIDS virus to infect them, and found that turning it off can greatly slow down the deadly virus…more
Wow. Just saw this (hat tip: Kevin MD). A doctor who gives up his practice in California to help people in Tanzania. Very moving. I know someone who recently gave up his practice in Michigan to do medical mission work in Togo, and the stories are similar…
