pharmaceutical

Drugmaker Alkermes said Tuesday it has received U.S. approval to market its addiction medication for use in patients addicted to narcotics like heroin and morphine. Vivitrol, a monthly injection, is already approved for alcoholism.

Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) said Friday it plans to lay off 1,700 workers at its U.S. pharmaceutical operations, which amounts to about 25% of its U.S. workforce. The cutbacks are part of an ongoing restructuring to streamline its business amid a "challenging health care marketplace," the company said in...

Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb plans to buy ZymoGenetics, its partner in developing a hepatitis C treatment, for $885 million. The move is part of a trend of pharmaceutical acquisitions as several big patents face expiration soon.

Two federal agencies are investigating whether drugmaker Merck & Co. violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials.

Now that they are nearly done squeezing Swiss bank UBS for information about its wealthy tax-dodging clients, the IRS and the Justice Department are moving on to new tax fraud targets: Clients of London-based bank HSBC Holdings, mostly those with ties to India and Singapore.

InterMune shares soared over 60% after hours after it came closer to FDA approval of its experimental treatment for a fatal lung disease. An advisory panel voted to approve the drug despite questionable effectiveness, given that the disease has no cure and patients need reason to hope.

The Supreme Court in January gave corporations unlimited power to spend money on political campaigns, a move that could sway politicians in favor of big companies. As a result, Washington could become more inclined to rule in favor of the companies that it is supposed to regulate. The result could be ominous.

For Genzyme Corp (GENZ), this year seems to have been plagued with one piece of bad news after another. On Wednesday, the biotechnology company announced that it was dropping development of its experimental kidney disease drug after it failed to show significant improvement over the company's...

It seems that when it comes to Aranesp, its blockbuster anemia drug, Amgen (AMGN) just can't catch a break, nor for that matter, create one. Recently, Amgen was hit with a double whammy -- a lawsuit and an unfavorable study of the drug. On Tuesday, yet another study confirmed that cancer patients...

This week, a study reported that heartburn medications can exacerbate existing conditions instead of alleviating them. The study, which said that Prilosec and similar drugs can cause more -- and more painful -- heartburn, reminded me of a realization made at a marketing focus group. The goal of the...