Pharmaceutical News and Discussions

Bextra, the COX-2 inhibitor painkiller, manufactured by Pfizer was pulled from the market last Thursday due to FDA concerns over increased risk of heart attack and stroke, along with a rare but possibly life threatening skin condition. The FDA and it's European counterpart requested that Pfizer stop all sales in US and Europe. The FDA also ordered that 19 other popular prescription competitors, from Celebrex to high-dose naproxen are to be labeled with tough new warnings of elevated risk of heart attack and stoke.

Rumors are abound that pharmaceutical giant Merck may need to file bankruptcy in the near future. Due to the large influx of lawsuits concerning safety issues with Vioxx, Merck may have to pay some large settlements.

In an interview with Marketwatch, Chairman and Chief Executive Raymond Gilmartin claimed that there is absolutely no truth to the rumors that Merck is in any trouble. He said Merck has plenty of cash available and that they are continuing with their stock buy back program.

What will happen with Merck? Only time will tell. It all depends on how the lawsuits go. The lawsuits may go badly for Merck since there is some evidence that the company knew about safety issues as early as 1999 and with held that info.

Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, recently announced that they would not negotiate with wholesalers such as Cardinal Health Inc. to pay fees for
distributing medicines. According to Pfizer's filing with the SEC ``Wholesalers purchase and resell products for their own account and not as a service to Pfizer as a manufacturer"

This approach makes obvious business sense for a company such as Pfizer. Why would Pfizer want to pay fees to a wholesaler to distribute their product, which the wholesaler would mark up to make an even greater profit? It is a quick and easy way for wholesalers to increase their profits that ultimately ends up costing the consumer by raising the costs of medications.

Recently an FDA advisory panel voted 20 to 3 to not allow Merck to sell it’s cholesterol-lowering statin, named Mevacor, as an over-the counter medication. Although most doctors agree that millions of Americans could benefit from taking statins to help control their cholesterol, the panel found that was just not enough data to prove to them that the drug would be safe to start taking with first consulting a doctor. This leaves open the possibility of Merck conducting more clinical trials and providing the panel with more safety data.