ChronicleMIDWEEK
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ATTENTION, BIG PHARMA: SURRENDER YOUR PATENTS, AND YOU MIGHT JUST WIN CASH AND BIG PRIZES
US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS yesterday (11/13) introduced a detailed scheme for inciting stateside-based drugmakers to relocate their HQ to Dubai. Edwards, who is well behind the leaders in recent polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, offered up an outside-the-box vision during a campaign stop at Dartmouth University’s medical school. Said he: “We’d offer a cash prize for the research and development of these drugs, but they don’t get a patent. So we eliminate the monopoly. The idea is you’ve got to give the financial incentive for the companies to do it but on the flip side you get the products to the market quicker, available quickly and at a much lower cost.” Sounds like he’s getting his advice from Alec Baldwin, reprising his famous role from Glengarry Glen Ross. What would the second-place winner receive, a nice set of steak-knives? More info =>
LET NURSES DO MORE PRESCRIBING? UM, MAYBE NOT, SAYS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PREXY
HEALTH-POLICY ADVISORS in Ontario may recommend that prescribing and Rx dispensing authority be extended to nurses, reports the Canadian Press. A source tells the news agency: “The question is what range of drugs should they have the ability to prescribe and in what circumstances.” Not so fast, says Ontario Medical Association prexy Janice Willett: “They’re asking for the right to dispense medication. Even physicians have an extremely limited scope of practice on that. That’s why we have pharmacists.” Health Minister George Smitherman will receive recommendations this March, from the grandly-named Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council. More info =>
ACTION MAY SHIFT BEHIND THE COUNTER, AS FDA CONSIDERS SWITCHES
UNLIKE CANADA AND THE UK, the behind-the-counter classification is little-known in the US, but the FDA may be about to reconsider the role of BTC products. The agency will begin hearing about switching products from Rx to BTC status, a prospect that should appeal to patients, an observer tells the CNN television network: “It gives [drugs] a reputation of being more powerful, or being more medically relevant.” Currently, the only product to move from prescription to BTC is Plan B, the emergency contraceptive marketed in the US by Barr Pharmaceuticals. OTC products containing pseudoephedrine are often kept BTC by some retail pharmacies, because they are used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamines. More info=>
$135 MILLION SOOTHES NEKTAR’S SORE FEELINGS IN AFTERMATH OF EXUBERA MISUNDERSTANDING
WEEKS AFTER BLINDSIDING his licensing partner with the seemingly spontaneous news that Pfizer plans to ditch inhalable insulin Exubera, company kingpin Jeffrey Kindler said yesterday (11/13) he’ll pay Nektar Therapeutics an exit fee of US$135 million. As part of the agreement, Pfizer will hand Nektar all rights to the Tx, in the event they can find another marketing partner. Kindler and Nektar helmer Howard Robin issued the following joint statement: “This agreement demonstrates the industry leadership of Pfizer and the company’s desire to work with world-class biotechnology partners like Nektar.” No doubt, that’s much nicer than what Robin was saying right after he learned about Kindler’s decision from a press release. More info =>
GENENTECH TAKING HEAT FROM OPHTHALMOLOGISTS OVER LUCENTIS PRICING
GENENTECH’S prexy of product development was verbally mugged by a group of ophthalmologists over her company’s decision not to sell bevacizumab to compounding pharmacists. The Rx is marketed as oncology Rx Avastin and in an ophthalmic formulation as Lucentis (ranibizumab) for wet macular degeneration. The issue is pricing: In a news release, the American Academy of Ophthalmology says Lucentis is 44 times more expensive than Avastin, once reimbursement issues are factored in. Genentech’s Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann took her message to a medical meeting that Lucentis sells for “a good price.” Dr. George Williams responded that Avastin’s stateside costs after co-pays are less than $50 per injection, while Lucentis goes for $2,030.92 a pop. More info =>
PHYSICIANS UNDER MORE PRESSURE THAN PET-WALKERS, AND OTHER NEW STATS CAN FINDINGS
AROUND TWO OUT OF THREE Canadian GPs and specialists describe themselves as stressed — and that’s more than double the average national rate for all occupation groups, according to Statistics Canada data distributed yesterday (11/13.) We’d be investigating the one out of three who says he isn’t feeling the pressure: Either he hasn’t gotten around to reading his mail yet, or else he’s been dipping into the samples drawer. More info =>
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