Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008 - (Page 6)

6 News & Analysis June 2008 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe News & Analysis For more on these news stories and all the latest breaking pharma news, look at our website www.pharmexeceurope.com, which now features daily updates, interactive surveys and dedicated sections for your particular area of interest. NEWS Another warning to cancer vaccine companies Favrille (US) last month joined the growing ranks of companies developing cancer vaccines that have failed to prove conclusively that their drug works. The failure of SpecifId will be a blow to others in the field given its role as the poster boy for the industry, according to EPVantage. SpecifId was one of the most advanced candidates in development and one of the very few with sales forecasts. Its lack of efficacy also means that Favrille, which has few other candidates in its pipeline, is almost certainly staring down the barrel of bankruptcy. At the end of May, shares in the California-based company shed 86% of their value. The notorious difficulty in dragging a cancer vaccine to market is reflected by the sheer number of projects that have been abandoned in R&D, which now totals 132. The most recent victim was Genitope, which back in December announced the failure of its phase III trial for MyVax, causing its shares to drop 70% on the day. There has, however, been one success story of a kind in the sector. Back in April, Antigenics announced it was about to start marketing its renal cancer drug Green award for Pfizer Pfizer has been named one of the top 50 environmentally friendly companies in the UK by the Sunday Times. Pfizer Global Research & Development (Sandwich, UK) was recognised for its commitment to reducing its impact on the environment by the inaugural Sunday Times 50 Best Green Companies Survey. Some of the programmes that led Pfizer to being ranked in the top 50 included its ‘Green Chemistry’ programme, which reduces the consumption of major chemicals used during the discovery and development First European approval for bird ‘flu vaccine GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has received European approval for its H5N1 prepandemic vaccine, Prepandrix. The EU license is based on data from a number of trials of Prepandrix on the ‘Vietnam’ strain of H5N1. The studies demonstrated at least a four-fold increase in serum neutralising antibodies in between 77% and 85% of subjects against three distinct H5N1 strain variants. Furthermore, Prepandrix has also demonstrated cross-protection in pre-clinical studies, preventing mortality in 96% sponsored by Oncophage. But some of the shine of the achievement was removed when it was revealed that the vaccine, which has so far failed to get US approval, was being sold in Russia. With SpecifId, which once had analysts optimistically pencilling in sales of $445m, now almost certain to be consigned to the dustbin of history, upcoming data for the remaining contenders will be eagerly awaited for signs that therapeutic vaccines are not just a fantasy. For more on this and other industry stories, visit EPVantage. work of new medicines; employees taking part in ‘Switch Off’ energy campaigns, which saved nearly 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and an improved recycling scheme which doubled the amount of office waste paper recycled during 2007. Dr Annette Doherty, research site head and site leader was delighted with the recognition: “It is great to be recognised for the work we have done to improve our environmental performance. Green issues are very important to us and we will continue to explore new ways to reduce our environmental impact even further.” 50 million doses to the World Health Organisation. Another gong for Molecular Profile cabinet? Molecular Profiles’ chief executive Dr Nikin Patel has been nominated for a Lloyds TSB Central Jewel Award. The ceremony, which takes place on 21st June at the NEC Hilton, Birmingham, celebrates Asian achievements across the Midlands and Central England. Molecular Profiles, a pharmaceutical contract research and consultancy company, and has won numerous awards including The Queens Award for Enterprise. Nikin Patel, who is nominated for the Healthcare & Education Excellence Jewel Award, is also one of the founder directors of Regentec Ltd a company developing some of the first products that harness the ability to make human tissues regenerate themselves. He is also a director of Critical Pharmaceuticals, a company developing novel pharmaceuticals. Click here for Pharm Exec Europe’s November 2007 interview with Nikin Patel. MHRA links Acomplia to five deaths The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) has reported that Sanofi-aventis’s weight loss drug Acomplia has been linked to five deaths and 720 adverse info@clinphone.com www.clinphone.com of cases following two doses of adjuvanted vaccine. GSK has already signed contracts with the USA and a number of European governments, notably Switzerland and Finland, who are preparing stockpiles of the vaccine. The company also plans to donate http://www.pharmexeceurope.com http://www.weeac.org/upload/savingenergyforbusiness.pdf http://www.weeac.org/upload/savingenergyforbusiness.pdf http://www.epvantage.com http://www.epvantage.com http://www.pharmexeceurope.com/europharmexec/Interviews and comment%3A Corporate Strategy/Molecular-Profiles-151-Life-After-the-Queens-Award/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/466315?contextCategoryId=42728 http://www.clinphone.com http://www.clinphone.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008
Contents
From the Editor
News and Analysis
Calendar
Brussels Report - Tell Us Something We Didn’t Know
BioFutures - Friends, Acquaintances and Strangers
IT Matters - The High Cost of Swimming Upstream
Strategy Fundamentals - Hidden in Books
Corporate Strategy - New Dimensions for New Business Models
Special Report: Making the Leap
Sales Force Incentives - The Goal: Setting Goals
Last Word

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - June 2008