American study highlights the advantages of stents
(The Wall Street Journal online - January 31, 2008)
A study, conducted by Harvard Medical School and the Federal Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, has shown that the use of stents in cases of aortic aneurysm is much more beneficial than traditional surgery. By examining 22,000 cases, it emerged that the death rate was 4.8% in traditional surgery, or 4 times higher than that resulting from the application of the stent (1.2%).
http://www.aboutpharma.it/notizia.asp?id=15565
Statins: they do not necessarily prolong life
(International Herald Tribune: p. 9 – 31 January 2008)
To date, there is no scientific evidence to indicate that statins extend life. In fact, preventing a heart attack does not mean reducing mortality, as emerged from many studies including Proper, conducted in 2002 on people over 70 years old and a review of 13 studies published in 2004 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which examined about 20,000 women both healthy and with heart disease.
http://www.aboutpharma.it/notizia.asp?id=15562
Takeda: profit grows in the first 9 months of 2007
(Les Echos online – January 31, 2008)
In the first 9 months of 2007 Takeda's turnover, in line with forecasts, grew by 7.2%, reaching 6.94 billion euro and profit increased by 6% to 2.62 billion euro. These results were driven by sales of the antidiabetic drug Actos (pioglitazone) in the US and the antihypertensive drug candesartan in Japan and abroad.
http://www.aboutpharma.it/notizia.asp?id=15561
Ipsen: turnover in line with forecasts
(Les Echos online – January 31, 2008)
Ipsen in 2007 achieved a turnover of 920.5 million euros, up by 6.8% compared to 2006. The French company achieved good performances in the endocrinology sector (+19.7%), oncology (+5.9%) and in the production of drugs for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders (+13.6%).
http://www.aboutpharma.it/notizia.asp?id=15559
"A Turkish consultant to the Medicines Agency"
(Il Sole 24 Ore: page 17 – 31 January 2008)
Claudio De Vincenti, Full Professor of Political Economy at the Sapienza University of Rome, enters the Board of AIFA with a decree appointing the Turkish Minister. The position left by the councilor Guido Rasi, appointed to the board of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, is thus filled.
http://www.aboutpharma.it/notizia.asp?id=15557
Merck & Co: net losses of 1.63 billion dollars
(The Financial Times online - January 30, 2008; International Herald Tribune: p. 16, Les Echos online, The Wall Street Journal online - January 31, 2008)
For the 4th quarter of 2007, Merck & Co reported a net loss of $1.63 billion, or 75 cents a share. The main cause of this is to be found in the $4.85 billion the company had to pay to settle 50,000 claims arising from more than 27,000 lawsuits related to its painkiller Vioxx (rofecoxib), which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 because it was revealed to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
