Dr. Reddy's 3Q as Expected
17.02.10
Quarterly revenue fell 6% year over year, thanks to the loss of exclusivity last summer on sumatriptan (generic Imitrex) for migraines. This was accompanied by a 500-basis-point drop in the gross margin. However, the firm remains on track to meet our full-year estimate for 7.6% revenue growth and a slight decline in operating income. Aside from sumatriptan, the firm continues to see robust generic growth in India and Russia.
The firm wrote down its goodwill and intangibles on its betapharma acquisition, thanks to changing conditions in the German generics market. Now that AOK, Germany's largest health insurer, has moved to exclusive, single-source contracts following bids from generic firms (versus awarding two or three generic makers with contracts), pricing has deteriorated faster than management had expected. This underscores our impression of the sizable German generics market as extremely competitive. Nonetheless, the impairment charges were not material enough to shift our valuation.
Source: Morningstar.com
Graedon: Nurse questions the value of generic drug
09.03.10
The FDA has acknowledged receiving my reports, but it has not investigated them.
When a generic for Lamictal first came on the market, I was enthusiastic, since I knew my patients would be paying less. But after so many patients had serious relapses of their mood disorders or other bad experiences with several generic lamotrigine formulations, I am no longer enthusiastic.
I believe that the generic equivalents of Lamictal differ markedly in bioequivalence, enough so that they actually might cause harm to patients. I worry that the problems with generics are more pervasive than we are willing to admit.
We, too, have received complaints about the generic form of Lamictal (lamotrigine). This antiseizure drug also is prescribed for bipolar disorder.
Here is just one example: "Has anyone else had problems with generic Lamictal? I have taken this for years for bipolar disorder, with great results. In the past few months, I have had a couple of terrible depressive episodes and thoughts of suicide. I wondered if the meds had just stopped working. Then I realized I was switched to the generic a couple of months ago."
Source: Online Athens
Migraine drugs not linked to birth defects
14.02.10
Taking migraine drugs during pregnancy does not place the unborn at an increased risk of developing birth defects, a new study finds.
While every three in ten women experience migraine attacks during their childbearing years, the majority of them avoid taking medication due to safety concerns.
Many studies have reported that untreated migraine poses serious health risks to both mother and child, stressing that pre-eclampsia is the most deadly pregnancy complication associated with the condition.
According to the study published in
Headache , there is no link between taking triptans, the most powerful drugs used for migraine including sumatriptan (Imitrex), rizatriptan (Maxalt), zolmitriptan (Zomig), or eletriptan (Relpax), and increased risk of birth defects.
Their use, however, is associated with a slight increase in the risk of excessive bleeding during labor, the study found.
When used in the second or third trimester, the drugs increased
Source: Press TV
and Norway touted telcagepant as holding out hope for migraine patients with acute attacks that fail to respond to triptan drugs (Zomig, Imitrex).