Contributor: Matthew Killeen, Ph.D.

After a testing last year for Multaq (Sanofi’s dronedarone) – in 2011, its major PALLAS study was terminated and safety alerts were issued by the FDA and European Medicines Agency – 2012 offers a ray of hope for the antiarrhythmic drug.
Read more.

Contributor: Allison Thrower

If time and tradition are any indicators, celebrity pharmaceutical endorsements will be an advertising trend for years to come. But, just how efficacious or appropriate is this approach to drug promotion? And now that Deen’s endorsement has garnered public interest beyond the industry, how will celebrity tie-ins be viewed or utilized in the future?
Read more.

Contributor: Amy Duval

The ongoing shortage of Doxil is impacting both patient treatment and the progression of clinical trials, meaning its effects are not only being felt now, but drug development for future treatments is also being impacted.
Read more.

Contributor: Donny Wong, Ph.D. Director, Metabolic Disorders

Last week, we examined key happenings in the diabetes drug development arena from the first half of 2011. According to Decision Resources’ Metabolic Disorders team, here are the most influential events to impact the diabetes market in the second half of 2011.
Read more.

Contributor: Donny Wong, Ph.D. Director, Metabolic Disorders

Out of the thousands of minor and major news items that appeared over the wire during 2011, these events were what the Metabolic Disorders team at Decision Resources considered to be the seven most influential events, with long-reaching implications that will affect the entire diabetes drug market in 2012 and beyond. Read more.

Contributor: Kate Sullivan
 
On average, the Christmas period can lead to a weight gain of around 5 pounds. Vivus’s Qnexa is the most efficacious obesity drug to have emerged from the pipeline in years, but the recently announced results of the FORTRESS study have dealt a blow to the weight loss hopes of many - at the time of year when it is needed most. Read more.

Contributor: Matthew Killeen, Ph.D.

Multaq (Sanofi’s dronedarone) has had a turbulent time on the market since its launch in the United States in 2009. Given the high unmet need for safe and effective new drugs to maintain a normal sinus rhythm in AF patients, analysts had predicted peak year annual sales of up to $4 million for Multaq. However, a number of factors have restricted Multaq’s uptake thus far and will continue to limit its future commercial prospects. Read more.

Contributor: Niamh Murphy

On November 18th the FDA officially revoked Avastin’s breast cancer label in the United States. For those who have been following the Avastin breast cancer debate this decision, however unsurprising, has been met with mixed opinion and on the side of patients in particular mixed emotion. Read more.

Contributer: Gemma Nock

In light of recent positive data, regorafenib (Bayer HealthCare) and perifosine (Keryx Biopharmaceuticals/AEterna Zentaris/Yakult Honsha) are poised for FDA approval as third-line therapies for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), a current area of high unmet need. Currently, there are limited treatment options in the third-line setting for patients with mCRC, as a large proportion of patients exhaust all treatment options in earlier lines.
Read more.

Contributer: Ben Duncan

In November 2011, Amylin and Lilly announced that they were to end their diabetes pact that spawned the emergence of the exciting GLP-1 market. Although this news was unexpected, it does not come as a complete surprise given the ongoing litigation between the two companies; Lilly's global agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, which includes two oral diabetes treatments, sparked Amylin to initiate legal proceedings as a result of a perceived conflict of interest with their GLP-1 agreement. Read more.