Pharmaceutical Industry discussion, review, analysis, news and information.

Being a proud Canadian tomorrow is a big day for me. Yup, it's Canada's birthday.

There will be fireworks displays across the country and just about every little town and big city will be having festvities.

To my fellow Canadian readers:

To Canada:

Happy 141st Birthday 

For those of you that don't know where Canada is here's a map ;)

Company Name, Symbol, Share Price, Change 

• Abbott Laboratories' (NYSE:ABT) - $52.97 -0.03 (-0.06%)
• AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) - $42.53 +0.78 (+1.87%)
• Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) - $20.53 +0.23 (+1.13%)
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) - $46.16 +0.55 (+1.21%)
• GlaxoSmithKline(NYSE:GSK) - $44.22 +0.24 (+0.55)
• Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) - $37.69 +0.71 (+1.92%)
• Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) - $55.04 +1.62 (+3.03%)
• Pfizer Inc. ( NYSE:PFE) - $17.47 +0.19 (+1.10%)

It was a good day for pharma stock with all stocks listed above recouping some losses with the exception of Abbott. However it has been a rough month for these stocks. When comparing price of these stocks from 30 days ago we see that all took a bit of a hit with one exception. AZN had the least decrease with only $1.16 loss followed by MRK with a loss of $1.27. Abbott took the biggest hit with a loss of $3.39 and BMX was a close second with a loss of $2.26.

Novartis was the only stock to increase in value in the last 30 days. It had a price of $52.53 as of May 30 and closed today at a price of $55.04. The stock had a volatile month as it had a low in the $50 range in mid month

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) announced that it has submitted its response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to questions the agency had in response to GSK's drug application for Cervarix.

Cervarix, a vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer, one of the largest drug hopes in Glaxo's pipeline has already been approved in 67 countries but the FDA issued a "Complete Response" letter in December 2008 requiring the company answer questions.

"Study 008 is a key study that will be completing later this year, and
we expect the final results will strengthen the U.S. label for
CERVARIX(R)," said Barbara Howe, M.D., Vice President and Director, North
American Vaccine Development, GlaxoSmithKline. "We continue to have
positive and productive discussions with the FDA and remain confident in
the vaccine's safety and efficacy profile. We look forward to bringing this
important new cervical cancer vaccine to girls and women in the U.S."

[Source: PRNewsWire]

KnowMoreMedia is proud to announce our partnership and sponsorship of BlogWorld Expo 2008. This is the 2nd annual BlogWorld Expo and it is being held Sept 20 - 21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

BlogWorld Expo is the world's largest blogging industry related event with a tradeshow, conferences and media events. The 2-day event will include 50 seminars, panel discussion, keynote speeches and classes.

“We were proud to sponsor Blogworld at its inaugural event in 2007, and we are thrilled to be involved as a sponsor again in 2008,” said Hal Halladay, CEO of Know More Media. “As a media partner, we are advertising and promoting the Blogworld Expo across our entire network of over 100 business-related blogs.”

Details and registration information can be found at: BlogWorldExpo.com

As a proud BlogWorldExpo sponsor, we also offer a special 20% registration discount to our readers and authors—onesimply use the code “KMVIP” when registering.

We hope to see many of you there!

Another active week in pharmacology and health news. These are some stories that didn't get covered this week at Pharmagazette. Topics range from Cancer and Alzheimer's to the increase in diabetes patients in the U.S and colorectal cancer. Each is interesting and worthy of an article in their own right so take the time to check them out.

• Blocking a Single Protein Proves Toxic to Myeloma Cells in Laboratory Studies (National Cancer Institute)
• Scientists Isolate a Toxic Key to Alzheimer's Disease in Human Brains (National Institute on Aging)
• New Source of Heart Stem Cells Found (HealthDay)
• Vaccine Stops Colon Cancer's Spread in Mice (HealthDay)
• New U.S. Estimates Show Diabetes Affects 24 Million (Reuters Health)
• U.S. Study Shows 150 Percent Jump in Statin Use (Reuters Health)
• New Anti-Clotting Pill Works Well in Trials (HealthDay)
• Estrogen May Protect Against Colorectal Cancer (Reuters Health)
• ADHD Gene Doesn't Predict Response to Drugs (HealthDay)
• Blood Pressure Drug Shows Promise for Marfan Syndrome (HealthDay)
• New Vaccine May Account for Less Severe Rotavirus Season (HealthDay)
• Rabies Vaccines in Short Supply in U.S. (Reuters Health)

There you have them, Enjoy and have a great weekend!

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved GlaxoSmithKline's combination booster vaccine, Kinrix.

Kinrix protects children between 4 and 6 years old against diphtheria, pertussis, polio and tetanus and is approved for children who previously received GSK's Infanrix, which covers diptheria, tetanus and pertussis and who received Pediarix. Pediarix is a combination vaccine that covers DPT, hepatitis B and polio.

"Children 4 to 6 years-old can receive five or more vaccinations in a single visit, which can be stressful for parents and vaccinators," said William P. Hitchcock, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. "By reducing the number of shots given in one visit, combination vaccines like Kinrix may make it easier for kids to meet school vaccination requirements and CDC recommendations."

Combination vaccines are recommended to reduce the number of vaccine shots a child receives in a single visit.

[Source: CNNMoney]

Eli Lilly & Co and Daiichi Sankyo announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had extended the period of review by three months for their anti-clotting drug, Prasugrel.

Prasugrel received priority review status from the FDA in February based on studies that showed Prasugrel has better results than Plavix but carried a higher risk of bleeding in some patients.

"We remain confident in our prasugrel submission package," said Jennifer Stotka, vice president for global regulatory affairs at Lilly.

Daiichi and Lilly confirmed plans to start a Phase III clinical trial this month that will compare the results of prasugrel against Plavix in patients with acute coronary syndromes. The trials will consisted of 10,000 patients at over 800 hospitals.

The FDA is expected to act on the New Drug Application by Sept 26, 2008.

[Source: CNN]

The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that its investigation into whether GlaxoSmithKline withheld data concerning adverse risk associated with Paxil has been expanded to include the U.S. attorney's office in Boston and is being coordinated in Washington.

Paxil, an antidepressant drug manufactured by GSK, was issued a warning letter by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 stating that there were potential suicide risks among young adults taking the medication.

Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not approve the company's application to expand the use of Gardasil to include women between the ages of 27 and 45.

Gardasil, a cervical cancer vaccine, was previously approved by the FDA in 2006 for women between the ages of 9 and 27 and the non-acceptance of the expanded use does not affect that approval.

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Cymbalta for the management of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder.

Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) is the first serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that has proven effective in the treatment of pain associated with fibromyalgia. The new approved indication becomes the fourth FDA approved use of the drug.  Cymbalta has been previously approved for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP), the treatment of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.