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London, UK - 29 January, 2009 - Recent talks are about the recession, economic downturn, credit crunch and so on. However, the pharma giant Pfizer made a remarkable start in 2009. Pfizer acquires its rival big pharma company Wyeth for about $68bn for stock and cash. This acquisition is said to be the one of the biggest in the pharmaceutical history. However, would it have been better for Pfizer to have acquired Amgen instead of Wyeth? Pfizer acquires Wyeth- Behind the Scene: Pfizer faces tough competition ahead, from generics after the expiry of its block buster drug Lipitor in 2011. Lipitor a cholesterol treatment drug, which generates around…
The speculation that started last year and then reappeared last week surrounding a possible major acquisition by Pfizer has come to a close. This morning Pfizer announced that it plans to acquire Wyeth for $68 billion. There were several reasons why Pfizer would look to make an acquisition such as this. Two of these include Pfizer’s need to compensate for the impending patent loss of Lipitor, the top pharmaceutical product on the market, along with their previously noted desire to push forward into vaccines & biologics. Is this a good move for Pfizer? We believe that it is. The “new” Pfizer will gain access to several blockbusters, such as Enbrel…
Death rates from cancer, heart disease and suicides continue to decline, whilst life expectancy is higher than ever and infant mortality at its lowest. Key findings of the report show encouraging trends: * declining mortality rates in targeted killers (cancers, all circulatory diseases and suicides); and * increasing life expectancy, now at its highest ever level; and * reducing infant mortality, now at its lowest ever level; and * declining numbers of people who smoke; and * increases in physical activity levels and fruit and vegetable consumption. However, other trends highlight areas for improvemen…
According to eHealth Forum’s latest survey more than half the respondents were NOT intending to get vaccinated against the flu virus this year… And for those that do, it might still be too late… One of the world’s largest health sites, www.ehealthforum.com just completed its annual survey about attitudes to the flu virus. The results clearly show that underlying – yet vital – messages are still not getting through. Over half the people surveyed (58.57%) were not planning to get the flu vaccine at all and almost 16 percent (15.96%) of the sample were unclear if the jab is recommended for them or wh…
2009 Pharmaceutical Industry Outlook Ten years from now the pharmaceutical industry is going to be a very different industry than it is today; and looking back from that point we will see that the foundation for many of the changes to the pharmaceutical business model were laid in 2009. In Part One of a four part commentary on the outlook for 2009, we focus on the choice between portfolio divers…
January 12th, 2009 2009 Pharmaceutical Industry Outlook Ten years from now the pharmaceutical industry is going to be a very different industry than it is today; and looking back from that point we will see that the foundation for many of the changes to the pharmaceutical business model were laid in 2009. In Part One of a four part commentary on the outlook for 2009, we focus on the choice betwe…
This new market analysis by visiongain is to examine the current and future prospects for the world dermatological market. The world dermatological market generated total sales revenues of over $18bn in 2007. Visiongain predicts that this market area will expand further, increasing its total revenues significantly based on expansion of the market for modern drugs to treat skin disorders in developing countries, most notably China, India and Brazil. This report will outline the developments and explain their significance. All the main dermatological market segments achieved positive sales growth from mid 2007 to mid 2008, giving hope for further gains. Dermatitis, anti-infectives and anti-acne treatments ranked as the top three therapeuti…
Bangalore will be adding one more feather to its cap. It will soon be playing to host another national event of high importance “The Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit 2009”, to be held at the Hotel Le Meredien on January 24th. The one day summit is being organized with a view to bring together leaders from the industry and crystallize their views and thoughts and assist the industry to find solutions and strategies to help the Indian pharma industry face challenges adroitly and seize opportunities as they arise. The who’s who of pharma industry led by Bangalore’s own Kiran Mazumdar of Biocon Lid, Kewal Handa of…
The first batch of students to complete Kingston University’s new Masters in Pharmacy has picked up their degrees. The awards, which were handed out in a special ceremony at Kingston’s Rose Theatre, marked a major milestone for the University’s School of Pharmacy and Chemistry which launched the MPharm four years ago. Thirty-six students graduated, with five scoring first class honours, and 24 gaining upper…
The leading health charity, which has released the shocking statistic to mark its 75th Anniversary, says the number of people diagnosed with the condition is growing faster than ever. This is particularly worrying for Black and minority ethnic groups as Type 2 diabetes is up to three times more common in Black people and up to six times more common in South Asian people. In the UK more than 300,000 people from Black and minority ethnic groups have diabetes5. Diabetes UK has looked in detail at official figures and found that almost 150,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes in 2008. In the previous year this number was 100,000. This is a conservative estimate as, when taki…
If you form a bond with people, and they feel an affinity with you, you will have stronger, more effective and enjoyable relationships. Even if your interaction is brief, whether it be dealing with a customer, a colleague or even attending a job interview you can get more out of the situation if you feel a shared purpose. I hope this article will serve to outline some basic techniques for forming a rapport quickly. Some people say that rapport is formed in the first minute and a half. We are all familiar with the expression “first impressions count” and like it or not, it’s true. When you meet somebody face to face or talk to th…
Imagine setting off on a journey. If you don’t know where you are going you will never get there. Before you read a CV for an applicant you need to consider how this role fits into your team, what job you want them to do and the type of person you are looking for. You can then plan the interview and decide on the type of questions you would like to ask. If you don’t have a job description and person specification then it is important to take some time to write one. Its is important for a candidate to make a good impression on you but you also need to make a good impression on them. In the current climate candidates have a lot…
Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. Glucose comes from the digestion of carbohydrate containing food and drinks and is also produced by the liver. Carbohydrate comes from many different sources including starchy or sweet foods such as bread, potatoes, fruit, dairy products, and sweets. There are 2 main types of DiabetesType 1 diabetes is caused by the body's failure to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas to help…
The plan is the Government's response to the Bercow review, published in July 2008, and outlines a range of cross-government initiatives building up to the National Year of Speech, Language and Communication in 2011-12. It includes: up to 20 local area pathfinders to develop good practice guidance and a commissioning guide on speech, language and communication needs; up to £1.5m of grants to the communication sector; and up to £1.5m for a research programme looking at speech, language and communication needs over the next three years. A Communication Council and Communication Cham…
Leading figures from the UK biotechology sector have presented the government with a dossier which identifies the need for ‘seismic’ change to save and transform the industry. Click here to download the dossier Twenty-two biotech leaders, including prominent biotech chairmen, chief executives, brokers and investors signed the dossier which has had inputs from over 50 different British biotech experts. It was recently sent to the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson. The business leaders have been assessing the industry’s ne…
Care Services Minister Phil Hope and Health Minister Lord Ara Darzi saw the service in action at the Royal Marsden Hospital today. The NHS Choices website at http://www.nhs.uk allows patients to review the services they received in hospital and share their experiences with other patients, empowering patients to directly influence the quality of care they receive. The five key areas patients are asked to comment on are: * dignity and respect; * cleanliness; * whether doctors and nurses worked well together; * If patients felt they were involved in decisions around their care; and * if they would recommend the hospital to friends and fa…
At the Financial Times Pharmaceutical Conference, David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca, gave the key note address , and issued what might be seen as a warning for those that see Big Pharma as a counter-cyclical safe-haven for investors, saying that it's true people need healthcare regardless of the economy," the economic recession will be " And the evidence is there that Big Pharma is imbibing some cost cutting medicine, with most of the major players reducing sales and marketing expenses, quite often through cuts in the sales force. But it could also be that the massive spend on DTC advertising (which is legal only in the USA and New Zealand will also see some diminution). According to…
A project which has the capability to shorten patient waiting lists for CT scans used to detect life-threatening conditions such as brain tumours, has won Hope Enterprises the ERBI Medtech 2008 award for NHS Partnership, sponsored by Health Enterprise East. The team worked closely with NHS staff to capture the data needed for specially customised prediction software. The software demonstrated that a ‘zero wait’ can be achieved and a same day service offered to patients, thereby avoiding the need for a return journey to hospital. The award was presented to Roger Thorpe, Managing Director of Hope Enterprises by Barnaby Perks of ERBI Medtech, an…
The report released by the ABPI (The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry) earlier this month suggested that the industry was at ‘tipping point’ due to those entering it not having enough laboratory or practical real-life experience. It also stated that the knowledge of research and development into new medicines was limited and highlighted a deficiency of skills in the critical subjects which support translational medicine leading to research trials in pat…
According to recent information from MIND, the leading mental health charity, Patient research released today by the Healthcare Commission has revealed that a shocking 68% of mental health inpatients are still being housed on mixed sex wards, showing no improvement on last year's figures (1). Women were even less likely to be given single-sex accommodation than men, with 78% being treated on a mixed-sex ward in comparison to 61% of men. The count me in census (2), introduced as part of the Delivering Race…