Pharma’s long lasting winter still not ending?

I have been reading a lot of reports and articles about pharmaceutical companies cut cost and the whole industry are probably declining. Family-owned BoehringerIngelheim is no exception.

The drugmaker indicated in its 2013 annual report that "we can expect to face challenges," and is preparing to brace for a rough 2014. This was not the German company’s only downbeat news: BI has also indicated it has stepped out of the interferon-free Hepatitis C race. The company said Phase III results of interferon-free use of faldaprevir and deleobuvir "did not live up to expectations," and the company has terminated development of the combinationCrizotinib.

The company noted that it has been looking to cut costs, and while the report shows BI reduced its R&D spend 2% in 2013, it took on more staff, adding 1,264 to its workforce.Overall sales fell 4.3% to $19 billion. Pharmaceuticals remained the company’s core business, accounting for 77% of last year’s sales, but were down 4.5% compared to 2012.Key prescription products included COPD medication Spiriva, which held even with 2012?s sales at $4.9 billion. Sales of blood pressure medication Micardis slipped 15%, to $1.9 billion in 2013, yet was still among BI’s top four prescription medications for the year. Blood thinner Pradaxa, which just scored FDA indications for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism this month, wrangled a 9% boost in 2013 sales, for a total of $1.7 billion.

Counterfeit medicine? For real?

It is not hard to find some counterfeit money in our lives, probably because these criminals risk it to get rich this way. How about counterfeit medicine? For real?

A Reuter’s article reported that ananti-breast cancer compound library drug Hercetpin manufactured by Roche has been found counterfeited on European market including Italy, Britain, Finland and Germany.

According to the article, these drugs may have been stolen from hospitals in Italy and reintroduced into the supply chain. "Italian law enforcement authorities are currently investigating the theft and are looking at whether other medicines may also be affected," the European Medicines Agency said in a brief statement.So far there have been no reports that any harm has come to patients who may have been given the stolen drug, which was sold under false credentials. Healthcare professionals have been alerted to the falsified vials, which are labelled as Italian Herceptin 150 mg, the agency said.

A chemical analysis of one of the bogus vials found that the product did not contain the injectable cancer medicine’s active ingredient, Roche said. In other cases, there was evidence of tampering or dilution although the vials did contain Herceptin, it said."Such tampering could compromise the sterility or efficacy of the product putting the health and wellbeing of patients at risk," Roche said.

This of course is not the first time Roche’s drug have been stolen or counterfeited. I think other companies’ drugs may have encountered the same situation. The question I am interested in is that counterfeit money doesn’t harm one’s health, what about counterfeit drugs?