Drugmakers have lost

More pressure on Merck’s cholesterol franchise: UnitedHealth Group is doubling the co-pays on Zetia and Vytorin. Beginning July 1, patients will have to pay $50 to $60 for those cholesterol drugs–rather than the $25 to $30 they pay now. And UnitedHealth hopes that the change will push patients away…

Genzyme said today that a draft consent decree sent by regulators would force it to hand over $175 million in profits earned from drugs made at its troubled Allston Landing manufacturing facility–a figure most investors seemed to find rather mild. Regulators also laid out a penalty of 18.5 percent…

Yet another drug company has a CEO-in-waiting–and it’s a man who wanted to be CEO elsewhere. Bayer has tapped J

Another day, another slew of earnings reports. Today, it’s Abbott Laboratories beating the Street’s expectations, and Gilead Sciences posting a big increase in earnings. Here are the high points. Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE: ABT ) reported better-than-expected earnings on a return of booming sales growth for arthritis drug Humira…

More drugmakers are joining the charge from healthcare reform. When Eli Lilly reported earnings on Monday , it took a hit against earnings–and revised its revenue projections for 2010 and 2011 downward. By hundreds of millions. That move set industry watchers abuzz: Would other drugmakers take charges against earnings?…

If fines don’t keep drugmakers in line , what next? That’s the question that the Health and Human Services Inspector General addresses in the latest issue of Inside Health Policy (covered by Pharmalot ). And his answers are pretty harsh. It could be another sign that the Obama administration…

The FDA has warned Pfizer to keep closer tabs on its clinical trials. At issue: a pediatric trial of its antipsychotic drug Geodon. According to the agency, at least 13 children in the trial received overlarge doses of the drug. Pfizer “failed to ensure proper monitoring” of the trial,…

Some 1,100 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer HealthCare claiming health risks from its Yasmin and Yaz brand birth control pills. But is there any evidence behind the claimed problems, which include dangerous blood clots, strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease? Report

Original Source of Bayer faces 1,100 lawsuits…

Novartis has released more information about its U.S. drug reorganization: Andre Wyss is set to take the reins of that business, which is restructuring and cutting about 20 percent of its headquarters staff. That’s 383 jobs, though they’re not all layoffs; some of the shrinkage is coming via attrition….