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Merck reports non-GAAP EPS of $0.83 for first-quarter 2010

Merck & Co., Inc. today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2010. The company reported non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter of $0.83, which excludes purchase accounting adjustments, merger-related expenses and restructuring costs, as well as a tax charge related to the recently enacted health care reform legislation. First-quarter GAAP EPS was $0.09.

4 May 2010

Pfizer to maintain top spot in prescription sales through mergers and acquisitions

The rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira will replace Lipitor as the world's biggest-selling drug in 2016, but a familiar name, Pfizer, will still be the biggest seller of medicines after the patent cliff according to the World Preview 2016 report published today by EvaluatePharma, the premier provider of pharma and biotech analysis.

3 May 2010

Johnson & Johnson' first-quarter 2010 sales increase 4.0% to $15.6 billion

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $15.6 billion for the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 4.0% as compared to the first quarter of 2009. Operational results declined 0.1% and the positive impact of currency was 4.1%.

21 Apr 2010

Results of study comparing REMICADE to azathioprine for Crohn's disease published

Findings published today in The New England Journal of Medicine from a first-of-its-kind comparator trial evaluating the anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha biologic treatment REMICADE (infliximab) in the treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn's disease in patients who were naive to immunomodulator and biologic therapy, showed that a significantly greater proportion of patients receiving REMICADE achieved steroid-free remission and mucosal healing compared with patients receiving azathioprine.

16 Apr 2010

Crohn's disease: Remicade prescription to decrease, while Humira's increases

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed gastroenterologists estimate that (assuming no new data on adverse events emerge) they will treat fewer Crohn's disease patients with Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade by the end of 2010, while the percentage of biologics-treated patients receiving Abbott/Eisai's Humira will increase to 36 percent.

8 Apr 2010

Physicians increase prescription of new biologics

Sermo, the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced a Sermo Event Report titled "Is there any Threat to Anti-TNFs from Newer Biologic DMARDs?" In the past year, the FDA has approved four new biologic DMARDs – Actemra (Genentech), Orencia (Bristol-Myers Squibb), Simponi (Centocor Ortho Biotech), and Cimzia (UCB). According to the report, Orencia leads the pack among physicians as the next line of treatment for patients who fail two or more TNF antagonists.

2 Apr 2010

Abbott/Eisai's Humira termed as most efficacious therapy for psoriasis

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed dermatologists view Abbott/Eisai's Humira as the most efficacious therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. Thirty-two percent of surveyed dermatologists selected Humira as the most efficacious, followed by Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade. The current sales leader Amgen/Pfizer/Takeda's Enbrel was selected as the most efficacious therapy by only 23 percent of dermatologists surveyed.

24 Mar 2010

Study finds sizeable position for Actemra in rheumatoid arthritis treatment paradigm

Results from a study conducted by Majestic Research suggest that Bristol Myers Squibb's Orencia, Johnson & Johnson's Remicade, and Amgen's/Wyeth's Enbrel will forfeit share of the rheumatoid arthritis market to Roche's newly launched Actemra. Early switching data from Majestic’s proprietary panel of rheumatologists indicates that Orencia may be the biggest loser of all, as 54% of switches to Actemra thus far have been from Orencia.

9 Mar 2010

Data evaluating safety, efficacy of STELARA and REMICADE in patients with plaque psoriasis to be presented

Data evaluating the efficacy and safety of STELARA™ (ustekinumab) and REMICADE® (infliximab) in patients with plaque psoriasis who had an inadequate response to Enbrel® (etanercept) will be presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in Miami, Fla., from March 5-9, 2010.

5 Mar 2010

Merck announces global sales of $27.4 billion for full-year 2009

Merck & Co., Inc. today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2009 which include the results of legacy Schering-Plough operations from the close of the merger on Nov. 3, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.

16 Feb 2010

Ulcerative colitis drug market to grow up to $2.1 billion in 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the ulcerative colitis drug market will nearly double from $1.2 billion in 2008 to $2.1 billion in 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

12 Feb 2010

Psoriasis drug Enbrel to account for less than one-fifth of sales in 2018 overall market

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, owing to increasing competition from other biologic agents, Amgen/Pfizer/Takeda's Enbrel (etanercept)—the leading therapy in the psoriasis drug market in 2008—will account for less than one-fifth of sales in the overall market in 2018. In 2008, Enbrel garnered half of the psoriasis drug market share in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

10 Feb 2010

New biomarker may predict treatment outcomes in RA patients

Investigators have identified a biomarker that could help doctors select patients with rheumatoid arthritis who will benefit from therapy with drugs such as Enbrel, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-antagonist drug.

30 Jan 2010

New report on launch trend of Roche's Actemra

BioTrends is pleased to announce the fielding of a new syndicated report, LaunchTrends®: ACTEMRA. Roche, Inc. announced that they received FDA approval for Actemra (generic name: tocilizumab) on January 8th. This represents the first IL-6 receptor inhibitor agent approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); Actemra is approved for adult patients with moderately-to-severely active RA who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF antagonist therapies. Actemra represents the fourth IV Infusion product in the RA Market and the first infusion product with monthly maintenance dosing.

12 Jan 2010

Significant opportunity for alternative ulcerative colitis biological therapy

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that a biological therapy with a mechanism of action other than tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibition for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, would earn a 25 percent patient share according to surveyed U.S. gastroenterologists. Similarly, in Europe, such an agent would also earn 25 percent patient share according to surveyed European gastroenterologists.

5 Jan 2010

UCB's Cimzia gains market share of Centocor's Simponi

BioTrends Research Group, Inc. announces the release of the final wave of LaunchTrends®: Simponi and Cimzia report. The survey was completed by U.S. Rheumatologists.

24 Dec 2009

Viron Therapeutics' three drug candidates granted U.S. patents

Viron Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering the development of virally-derived protein therapeutics, today announced that it has been granted U.S. patents related to three of its drug candidates, VT-111, VT-346 and VT-384.

23 Dec 2009

Decision Resources reports increased uptake of TNF-alpha inhibitors for Crohn's disease

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that compared to last year's analysis of U.S. patient-level claims data, TNF-alpha inhibitors are being used more often to treat newly diagnosed patients suffering from Crohn's disease.

9 Dec 2009

TNF-alpha inhibitors ranked top for reducing biologics spend

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that biosimilars of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitors stand to erode $9.6 billion in brand sales (Amgen's Enbrel, Abbott's Humira and Centocor Ortho Biotech/Schering-Plough's Remicade) in the U.S. and Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and U.K.) by 2018. This use of TNF-alpha biosimilars will save healthcare systems in the U.S. and Europe $4 billion.

4 Nov 2009

Crohn's disease drug market driven by TNF-alpha inhibitors Humira and Remicade

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, in the Crohn's disease drug market, the dominance of TNF-alpha inhibitors such as Abbott/Eisai's Humira and Centocor Ortho Biotech/Schering-Plough/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade will continue over the next decade. Sales of Humira and Remicade, which accounted for more than three-quarters of the market in 2008, will continue to grow through 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

3 Nov 2009