QDIS Blog

Lately, it seems that more and more drugs are coming under scrutiny for possibly increasing the risk of heart problems. The latest is Evista (raloxifene), an osteoporosis drug.

Breast cancer drug’s ties to heart ailments explored

The title itself is confusing. First, Evista has been shown in the study quoted to reduce the likely hood of developing breast cancer. The article also mentions Nolvadex (tamoxifen) which I’ve posted on before which has been shown to be less effective than Evista.

Here’s the quote from the article:

After about six years, women who had taken the drug were 44 percent more likely to have had a blood clot than were those in the placebo group and 49 percent more likely to have died from a stroke — each translating to about one more instance per 1,000 women treated each year. Overall, the two groups had heart problems at the same rate (533 events such as heart attacks and heart failure).

As I always state, all drugs, even over-the-counter drugs, have risks associated with them. The key is does the benefit outweigh the risk. This is always the case but it rarely gets thought out. Patients may not know the risks and doctors don’t often talk about the side-effects and risks.

I always recommend that patients read the full prescribing information (aka patient package insert) for any medication you are taking. While this may take some effort on some folks part, it is definitely worth it.

The first place to look for the prescribing information (if it doesn’t come with your prescription) is on the website for the medication or the company that produces it. As an example, I would try the following:

www.evista.com

This does indeed bring up the correct website for Evista.

You can also look at the Eli Lilly company website (they are the makers of Evista).

Also, the FDA website has a lot of information for approved drugs. You can find them at Drugs@FDA, and then give at least three letters for the drug and it will give you information on it although the prescribing information isn’t always included.

Technorati Tags: Evista, raloxifene, Tamoxifen

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Ranbaxy seems to be acquiring companies world-wide. Now they are purchasing a Russian generic drug manufacturer, Akrikhin for a reported $100 million.

‘Ranbaxy close to $100mn Russian buy’:

Akrikhin has a website but unfortunately it is only in Russian. Ranbaxy won’t comment on the reported purchase but they did state they are looking at acquisitions. They have purchased the following companies in the past five months:

• Allen SpA (formerly division of GlaxoSmithKline) in Italy; March 2006 for undisclosed amount
• Terapia in Romania March 2006 for $324 million
• Mundogen (formerly division of GlaxoSmithKline) in Spain; July 2006 for undisclosed amount
• Ethimed in Belgium; March 2006 for an undisclosed amount

Here are articles on these acquisitions.

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Business
Ranbaxy Acquires Leading Romanian Pharma Company Terapia for US $324mn
Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. To Acquire The Mundogen Generic
Ranbaxy acquires Belgian generics company - Pharmaceutical Business Review

I think Ranbaxy is already well on its way to becoming one of the top world-wide generic manufacturers. The challenge will be how to develop and instill a corporate culture in light of the rapid expansions into many different cultures. It will be interesting to see how well they integrate these companies into their current operations.

Technorati Tags: pharma M&A, Ranbaxy

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