Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals this week agreed to a settlement in the multi-district litigation over the drug Pradaxa. The company has agreed to pay $650 million to settle the lawsuits. Much of that money will be used to compensate patients who…
Diabetes, Alzheimer’s Research May Yield Cures
A new research project valued at roughly $230 million may yield the answers for curing Alzheimer’s, diabetes, lupus, and arthritis. Eight of the largest U.S. pharmaceutical companies are collaborating on the project with the National Institute of Health and the…
Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion Over Risperdal Claims
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that Janssen Pharmaceuticals has plead guilty over the misbranding of the drug Risperdal. Janssen and its company, Johnson & Johnson, will pay a total of…
Cholesterol Drug Tredaptive Pulled Worldwide
Less than one month ago, Merck, a major U.S. pharmaceutical company, announced that its cholesterol drug Tredaptive failed a major clinical trial. The drug is meant to improve heart health by increasing levels of “good” cholesterol, but the trial found…
Diabetes Drug Approved by U.S. FDA Committee
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committee this week approved the drug canagliflozin for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. The Endrocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA voted 10 to 5 to approve the…
Stroke Medication Approved by the U.S. FDA
A new anti-clotting drug has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Called apixaban and marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer as Eliquis, the drug has been approved to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots for…
Merck Drug Fails Major Clinical Trial
Merck, a major U.S. pharmaceutical company, announced this week that its drug “Tredaptive” has failed a clinical trial. The trial was meant to test the drug for its ability to improve patients’ heart health by increasing their levels of “good”…
Asthma Drug Rejected by U.K.’s NICE
The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) this weekend issued a draft guidance stating that it does not recommend omalizumab, an asthma medication marketed as Xolair by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. NICE is a U.K. health authority that publishes…
Arthritis Drug Approved by the U.S. FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week approved Xeljanz (tofacitinib) for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adults who have not responded to methotrexate. The twice-daily pill works by blocking molecules known as “Janus kinases.”…
Multiple Sclerosis Drug ‘Reboots’ the Immune System
New trials show that a cancer drug can be an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) by ‘rebooting’ patients’ immune systems. The results of two phase III clinical trials were published today in the journal The Lancet. The trials, sponsored…