Today, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S., U.K. and U.A.E governments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and other global health organisations announced a new, coordinated push to accelerate progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade. Uniting efforts with NTD-endemic countries, partners pledged to [...]

A new study conducted by the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Political Accountability with the Zicklin Center at University of Pennsylvania examines how major businesses spend money to influence politics. The study identified a total of 29 indicators to gauge disclosure, policies, compliance and oversight of all of the top S&P 100 companies in order to assess companies on [...]

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co. agreed to lower prices for vaccines to protect children against potentially deadly diarrhea, supporting an international effort to help least-developed nations fight diseases. The GAVI Alliance, set up by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to give the world’s poorest people better access to life- saving immunizations, also received commitments [...]

The big drugmaker follows the recent step by Eli Lilly (see here) to add a spot on its website where inquiring minds can find just how much is paid to doctors for speaking engagements. “Our reputation, and the trust that our customers place in us, depend in large part on how we conduct ourselves as [...]

In a move to give the public more transparency around physician payments and grants Merck announced that starting in October 2008, Merck will be posting their grants (including CME, patient and Medical Specialty Society Grants) on their home page www.merck.com; in 2009 they will be disclosing payments to physicians who speak on their behalf; and [...]

Increased attention on product human risk and smaller media coverage of drug donations have challenged Pharmaceuticals’ ethical reputation last year, states a report published today by Geneva-based research firm Covalence – Covalence Pharmaceutical Industry Report 2008. The pharmaceutical industry dropped from the first to the third rank of Covalence all-time EthicalQuote ranking across 10 industries. [...]

Pour parer au problème de résistance aux ARV dont de plus en plus de patients camerounais font face, les laboratoires Msd (Merck Sharp and Dhome) ont mis sur pied une nouvelle classe d’Arv. Il s’agit du Raltegravir ou Isentress (nom commercial) distribué gratuitement dans les hôpitaux et Centres de santé du pays. Cette molécule agit [...]

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., May 29, 2008 – Merck & Co., Inc. said today that it is gratified that a Texas appeals court overturned the August 2005 verdict of a state court jury in Brazoria County and rendered a judgment in favor of Merck in the VIOXX product liability case Ernst v. Merck. It was the [...]

Should poor governments be allowed to break drug patents for humanitarian reasons? That question is front-and-center at a major public health conference sponsored by the World Health Organization that started on 28 April in Geneva. Top-notch policy experts from around the world have gathered to make formal policy recommendations about patents to Third World governments [...]

En 2007, le laboratoire américain Merck a supplanté Sanofi Aventis à la tête du classement mondial des producteurs de vaccins. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), qui talonnait Sanofi, se retrouve donc numéro trois. Sur les neuf premiers mois de 2007, Merck a réalisé 2,13 milliards d’euros de chiffre d’affaires, son dauphin Sanofi Aventis 2,12 milliards et GSK 1,9 [...]