Americans' Rx Drug Spending Shows Rare Drop in 2012
Spending on prescription medicines in the U.S. fell for the first time in decades last year, as cash-strapped consumers continued to cut back on use of health-care services.
Plavix
Bristol-Myers Earnings Plunge as Sales of Plavix Plummet
Bristol-Myers Squibb posted a 45 percent drop in first-quarter profit as revenue from its Plavix blood-thinning drug plunged 95%.
Top-Selling Drugs About to Lose Patent Protection
The pharmaceutical industry is ready to fall off a cliff -- a "patent cliff." Over the next few years, some of the world's most popular and lucrative medicines will go off patent, and generic competition will siphon an estimated quarter of a trillion dollars from drugmakers' bottom lines.
AstraZeneca's Heart Drug Brilinta: The FDA Is Ready to Rule
More than a year after AstraZeneca filed for approval, the FDA will make its decision on Thursday. A large study showed the blood thinner worked better than Plavix for treating acute coronary syndrome -- but approval isn't a sure thing, due in part to some oddities in the study's results.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Earnings Top Estimates
Bristol-Myers Squibb, which sells blood thinner Plavix, today reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, mainly due to cost cuts. Revenue, however, fell short of expectations, and shares are down in trading Tuesday.
FDA to Review Arena's Diet Drug, Alkermes' Painkiller Addiction Med
It's a busy day at the FDA today as panels meet to discuss two new drugs -- one to help weight loss and the other to combat drug addiction -- and decide whether to approve AstraZeneca's new blood thinner medication.
New Anti-Clotting Drugs May Have Edge Over Top-Selling Plavix
Several recent studies of drugs used to treat and prevent strokes appear to favor AstraZeneca's (AZN) Brilinta and Eli-Lilly's (LLY) Effient over Plavix. Plavix, co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), is the second best-selling drug in the world.
AstraZeneca Earnings Rise 9% on Strong Sales
AstraZeneca's core earnings per share rose 9% in the second quarter, helped by a strong performance in emerging markets. While the British pharmaceutical warned the rest of the year will be "challenging," it also raised its 2010 earnings forecast for the third time this year.
Sanofi-Aventis Earnings Beat Expectations
On Thursday, Sanofi-Aventis reported its second-quarter net profit rose 7.6% to 2.48 billion euros, beating expectations. But the French drugmaker warned that earnings may fall for the full year, and it remained silent about its rumored plan to make a friendly bid for Genzyme.
