What do doctors really prefer: A live sales rep or a computer? According to a new survey, the human being wins–at least for primary care doctors collecting drug samples. Some 73 percent of respondents in a DTW Marketing Research study said they’d rather receive hand-delivered samples than order them…

Big Pharma’s new promised land has spawned yet another major enterprise. Merck

Watch out, diabetes drugmakers–Victoza is on a roll. The Novo Nordisk ( NYSE: NVO ) drug has been racking up market-share gains in the U.S., nabbing 26 percent of the market in GLP-1 drugs since its February launch. Some 33.9 percent of new GLP scrips are going to Victoza,…

There’s a silver lining in new Medicare rules for dialysis patients for Amgen ( NASDAQ: AMGN ), which stands to lose a big chunk of sales of its IV anemia drug Epogen. And there’s a potential boost for Genzyme ( NASDAQ: GENZ ). The “bundled” payments for dialysis–which will…

It’s a one-two punch for Sanofi-Aventis: One U.S. judge reinstated an investor lawsuit over the rejected weight-loss pill Zimulti. And another refused to block generic Lovenox long enough to weigh Sanofi’s argument against its FDA approval. U.S. District Judge George Daniels decided to let Sanofi shareholders amend their Zimulti…

Why is Pfizer testing one of its existing products as a treatment for children with a rare lung disorder? At the FDA’s request, the pharma giant is looking at a form

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced financial results for the second quarter of 2010. In the second quarter of 2010, worldwide total revenue was $5.749 billion, an increase of 9 percent compared with the second quarter of 2009.

Original Source of Lilly Reports Strong Second-Quarter 2010 Results

As Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( NASDAQ: TEVA ) Q2 results got a big boost from growing Copaxone sales, executives are saying they’re confident that generic knock-offs of the multiple sclerosis drug won’t be forthcoming anytime soon. Report

Alcon’s independent directors must be grinning, now that the company has posted street-beating second-quarter earnings. Not only did the eye care company report a 15 percent jump in Q2 profits, but also hiked its outlook for the full year. That’s giving ammunition to the directors fighting for a higher…

Last year, GlaxoSmithKline ( NYSE: GSK ) quietly backpedaled away from a marketing snafu that’s now come to light. The company had sponsored a supplement to the journal Urology on prostate cancer–one that conveniently touted its prostate drug Avodart–but didn’t fully disclose its financial support for the publication. Nor…