FDA approves Novartis' malaria drug Coartem

Novartis’ malaria drug Coartem, which is already available in over 80 countries, has been given the thumbs-up by regulators in the USA.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Coartem (artemether and lumefantrine) for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated malaria infections in adults and children weighing at least five kilogrammes due to plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of the disease. The approval was expected after an FDA advisory panel declared the treatment to be safe and effective in December.

Edward Cox, director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that because of concerns about resistance with currently available therapy, “it will benefit patients to have another treatment option for malaria”. Novartis says that Coartem is a highly-effective three-day therapy with cure rates of over 96%, “even in areas of multi-drug resistance”.

Novartis chief executive Daniel Vasella said that with a growing number of malaria cases in the USA due to rising travel, it is important to make artemisinin-based combination treatment such as Coartem, the most effective therapy for malaria, available to American patients as well."

Fighting malaria “is very much in America's interest and ACTs such as Coartem are important weapons against this infectious disease," said Tim Ziemer, the US government’s malaria coordinator. The Swiss major, which noted that it supplies Coartem for public sector use in Africa without profit, has to date provided more than 235 million treatments, which have helped save an estimated 600,000 lives, mostly children.

Sanofi to buy Brazil’s Medley for 500 million euros

Sanofi-Aventis has announced its second acquisition in a week and is to buy Brazilian drugmaker Medley.

The French firm is going to pay 1.5 billion reals (around 500 million euros) for Medley, which is Brazil’s third-largest pharmaceutical company and number one generics group, with annual sales of about 153 million euros, The deal will be completed during the second quarter.

Family-owned Sao Paulo-based Medley sells 17 of the 20 top generics in Brazil, and Sanofi noted that it employs nearly 1,550 “collaborators”, which includes a sales force of 500. The Paris-headquartered group added that the acquisition will reinforce its number one ranking among pharmaceutical companies in Brazil, with a 12% market share and make it the leading player in the field of generics in Latin America.

Sanofi noted that the Medley purchase “carries on with its strategy to build-up on growth platforms, accelerate sales and further extend its pharmaceutical portfolio in emerging markets”.

The deal comes a week after it acquired Mexican generics firm Laboratorios Kendrick. Financial details of the Kendrick purchase were not disclosed, but sales last year reached 500 million pesos, about 26 million euros. Generics is an area that Sanofi is clearly determined to expand in, having acquired the Czech firm Zentiva at the end of February for 1.8 billion euros.

A number of observers believe that Sanofi’s spending will not stop there. Rumours are doing the rounds that a bid will be forthcoming for Solvay’s pharmaceutical business, while Sanofi’s name has been linked as a possible suitor for Biogen Idec.

the leading pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines

Number one pharma company is Unilab followed by GSK, Pfizer,AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventiz,Novartis,Roche,Boehringer Ingelheim, MSD and BMS . This is from IMS 1st Quarter Report.

How to get started in the pharmaceutical sales industry

generally the sales person is a liaison. It is best if you have the technical background (Chemistry, Pharmacy, maybe pre-med) so you can understand and discuss the chemistry and bio-chemistry of the drugs with physicians & other purchasers who might be technical minded. You then need liberal arts skills so that you can effectively communicate that technical information to non-technical people who might be the people making the purchasing decisions, like clinic managers. You must understand what you are selling and be able to communicate why potential customers must have it whether they are of a technical mind or not. Also, you must be able to make that determination (qualify your potential customer) and speak accordingly. This is why you need the techical skills and the liberal arts skills.