If you want to read the full pdf of the interview, drop me a mail - I will send it right off
Have a happy & prosperous year ahead in 2009, no matter what the media says.... and a good ma'al hijrah for all
~ peace ~
Md Ghazali
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* محمدغزالی *
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It is true that humans will need healthcare regardless of how short on
cash they are, but David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca, says that if you
believed healthcare was recession proof, you are wrong.
While speaking at a Financial Times conference in London, he said the
recession will be "deep and long," indeed affecting healthcare,
including the pharmaceutical industry. That's likely no surprise to
those who have witnessed a variety of layoffs, cutbacks and other
restructuring efforts aimed at cost-cutting within the industry.
As a recap, in 2008, Merck cut 8,400 jobs, but we saw major cuts at
Abbot, AstraZeneca, Schering-Plough, UCB Pharma, Wyeth and at many
smaller drug companies as well. The industry is likely to see more
layoffs as we enter 2009.
According to a new review of randomized controlled trials, editorials
and commentaries published in today's issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA), patients who spend extra cash on
brand name heart meds do no better than patients who go the generic
route. Interestingly, the reviewers found significant discrepancies
between the randomized controlled trials and the editorials and
commentaries published in the literature.
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School colleagues
examined studies published between 1984 and August 2008. They
identified 47 data-driven articles and 43 editorials and commentaries.
The researchers looked at angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)
inhibitors, anti-platelet medications, alpha- and beta-blockers,
calcium-channel blockers, diuretics, statins, narrow therapeutic index
(NTI) anti-arrhythmic meds and warfarin, and found no evidence that
expensive brand name heart medications are better than generic
equivalents.
Of the 47 research articles, 81 percent were randomized controlled
trials. The studies found clinical equivalence in 100 percent of
studies looking at beta-blockers (seven trials), antiplatelet agents
(three trials), statins (two trials), ACE inhibitors (one trial),
alpha-blockers (one trial), and for the NTI drugs--class I
anti-arrhythmics (one trial) and warfarin (one trial). They found
clinical equivalence in 71 percent of calcium-channel blockers (five
of seven trials) and in 91 percent of diuretics (10 of 11 trials).
According to the FDA, "A generic drug is identical, or bioequivalent
to a brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of
administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended
use," but patients and clinicians alike have had doubts about their
equivalency and safety.
In fact, the reviewers found 43 editorials and commentaries that met
their criteria. Over half of those expressed negativity about
switching to generics from brand name products, less than 30 percent
were positive about substituting with generics and the rest did not
reach a conclusion on the topic. When it came to the NTI meds in
particular, about two-thirds of the articles discouraged generic
substitution and less than one-fourth supported making the switch.
The discrepancies between the randomized controlled trials and the
editorials and commentaries could be due to the authors' personal
experiences or due to undisclosed financial ties with the industry,
which about half of the former--and none of the latter--disclosed.
-taken from FiercePharma-
