2014: A new dawn for pharma?

After a surprisingly slow start to the year, the pharma and biotech world kicked off their business in 2014 this week. As well as the usual post-holiday flurry of regulatory approvals, collaborations and deals were named and many new appointments announced.

Novartis being investigated in Japan

With a New Year, many will have hoped for a new dawn in ‘Big Pharma’ dealings. However, this was not to be, with disappointing claims coming out of the Land of the Rising Sun this week. Novartis had a disappointing start to the year when it was revealed that the Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has filed a formal criminal complaint with the public prosecutor’s office over the marketing of its antihypertensive drug Diovan. There were claims that employees of the company have been misleading consumers through adverts based on research discredited by the MHLW. On the other side of the North Pacific, the company was also facing claims in the USA that it paid specialty pharmacy company BioScrip to keep patients on Exjade, used to treat excessive iron in the blood, despite fears of harmful side effects. The full details of both alleged indiscretions are yet to be investigated so it could take a while for the full impact of the legal actions to be felt on the company. On top of GSK facing trouble in China late last year, it seems the longed-for era of transparency and trustworthiness of ‘Big Pharma’ is yet to arrive in 2014.