“One Of these Guys Is NOT Like The Others. . . One Of These Guys, Just Doesn’t Belong. . .” May 28, 2012

What on Earth is going on here? I am put in mind of the old PBS Sesame Street song — as it continues — from the headline verse, with: “. . .Can you guess which one is not like the others, before I finish my song?” See: Last week (as I mentioned here), something called [...]

RUMOR: Whitehouse Station Bidding — Up To $4B — For Amylin? May 25, 2012

It makes sense, but it is still far too early to verify the accuracy of these rumor pieces — see this from Barron’s — quoting Bloomberg: . . . .Merck. . . put in first-round offers for diabetes drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals, according to sources close to the private negotiations. As Bloomberg is reporting the [...]

Merck Video: Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, Including Q&A, Now Available May 23, 2012

Not too much real news of note (at least not much not already covered on this website), but at about two-thirds of the way through the one-hour and 12 minute video, conservative zealots from something called NCPPR sharply question Merck’s CEO over bogus claims that Merck struck a collusive deal to advance supposedly “unconstitutional legislation” [...]

Wall St J: Additional Study Confirms Fosamax® Femur Fracture Risk May 22, 2012

We’ve been discussing the emerging evidence for increased risk of femur fractures, from long-term Fosamax® use (over three years, without drug holidays) right here, for over over two and a half years. [More background here, from 2010.] And so, it is particularly gratifying to see the MSM come around — to provide serious coverage of [...]

Jezebel.com Is Right — This Is Just A Little — “Creepy” May 9, 2012

So — what happens when the No. 4 pharma (by revenue) in the world (think stodgy, old guys!) sets about re-inventing a consumer advertising-driven brand? And a 75 year old brand, at that? Mistakes. Will. Ensue. To wit — Jezebel.com, writing on ill-conceived ad campaigns, feels this one is a complete misfire. I’d be inclined [...]

Merck CFO Presents In Boston At 8 AM EDT This Morning May 8, 2012

We will see if he says anything interesting — you may listen in by registering right here: . . . .Peter Kellogg, executive vice president and chief financial officer and Nancy Thornberry, senior vice president and franchise head for diabetes and endocrinology are scheduled to present at the Deutsche Bank 37th Annual Health Care Conference [...]

“Mere Rumor” Reporting: Was The Celebrex® Playbook “Stolen” From Merck’s Vioxx® Playbook? May 8, 2012

Look very closely at the unaltered images at right (I left them small, and didn’t reconstitute them in Photoshop, so that you could see the way each appeared on the drugmakers’ websites at the time). Now consider my erstwhile anonymous commenter’s assertion, quoted below. Of course, no one is ever going to verify this on [...]

Merck BioVentures Made Part Of Institutional R&D, At MRL, Again May 8, 2012

I am woefully late (almost two weeks!) in getting to this (and thanks go to one of my erstwhile anonymous commenters — for reminding me to circle back to it!), but Merck’s “venture-prenurial experiment” for bio-similar candidates has come to an whimpering end. Merck BioVentures has been folded back into Merck Research Laboratories, and the [...]

File This Under “Trouble, A’ Brewing” — Among Pharma’s Backwater Former “Second Cousins” May 2, 2012

It seems InSite Vision released its first quarter 2012 results this morning. You may recall (and if you don’t, see here) that almost exactly a year ago, Merck closed on its acquisition of Inspire Pharmaceuticals. Inspire, in turn, has a pact to market InSite’s AzaSite® eye products in the United States. So, now that duty [...]

Successor’s Celebrex® Patent Dispute — With BYU — Settles May 1, 2012

I note — simply to complete the Celebrex® record, here — that Pfizer, as the successor to Pharmacia last led by Fred Hassan and Carrie Cox (the last pharma before Schering-Plough!), has settled a multi-year series of patent disputes in Utah federal District Court overnight — on confidential terms. It is known that Pfizer will [...]