First one former sales representative, then another from drugmaker Amgen Inc. claimed they were fired or forced out for refusing to go along with unethical, even illegal practices to boost sales of the pricey drug Enbrel among psoriasis patients.
Now two federal agencies and four state attorneys general are investigating the practices of the company, according to the sales reps' New Jersey lawyer, who said memos and other material show that the health of some patients likely was jeopardized.
Amgen's sales force was pushed to encourage dermatologists to switch psoriasis patients from other treatments to Enbrel, even if they had common medical conditions Enbrel could have worsened, said ex-saleswoman Elena Ferrante of Montvale, N.J., who said she was fired in August 2005 after eight years of "outstanding" performance reviews.
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Showing posts with label Amgen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amgen. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Amgen - Aranesp: see you in court
A federal judge ruled Friday that Amgen must defend itself against charges it misled investors about safety concerns with its flagship anemia drug, Aranesp.
U.S. District Court Judge Philip S. Gutierrez dismissed charges against five of nine Amgen officers and directors but left plaintiffs 30 days to amend their complaint in order to include those defendants.
The investors, led by Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, assert that positive statements made by company officials regarding the safety of Amgen's two anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, were knowingly at odds with clinical studies that had raised concerns.
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U.S. District Court Judge Philip S. Gutierrez dismissed charges against five of nine Amgen officers and directors but left plaintiffs 30 days to amend their complaint in order to include those defendants.
The investors, led by Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, assert that positive statements made by company officials regarding the safety of Amgen's two anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, were knowingly at odds with clinical studies that had raised concerns.
More
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Cancer - Big Pharma's last goldrush: are the limits of gouging being reached?
In a sign that drug companies may be reaching the limits of how high they can price cancer drugs, Amgen won approval yesterday for its colorectal cancer drug Vectibix and set the price 20 percent below that of ImClone Systems’ Erbitux, a very similar product.
The move by Amgen appeared to be both a competitive strategy and an acknowledgment of recent public concerns about the costs of some of the newest cancer drugs, which run tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Still, Vectibix will cost $4,000 for an infusion every two weeks, or more than $100,000 for a year’s treatment, though most of the patients for whom the drug is approved are expected to survive only a few months.
Dr. Leonard B. Saltz, a colon cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, said: “I don’t think this solves the problem in any way, shape or form in terms of the ridiculous price of chemotherapy drugs. It is a baby step in the right direction.”
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The move by Amgen appeared to be both a competitive strategy and an acknowledgment of recent public concerns about the costs of some of the newest cancer drugs, which run tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Still, Vectibix will cost $4,000 for an infusion every two weeks, or more than $100,000 for a year’s treatment, though most of the patients for whom the drug is approved are expected to survive only a few months.
Dr. Leonard B. Saltz, a colon cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, said: “I don’t think this solves the problem in any way, shape or form in terms of the ridiculous price of chemotherapy drugs. It is a baby step in the right direction.”
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