Author: Kevin Grogan

As he prepares to step down as chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, Jean-Pierre Garnier has been speaking about the legacy that is being left by fundamental changes that the pharmaceutical industry has gone through in the last year and urged sections of the media to be more sophisticated when reporting scientific news and avoid scaremongering.

GlaxoSmithKline has reported a disappointing set of financials for 2007 and predictions of an earnings decrease for this year have led to a 7.6% share decline but the company is confident about its long-term prospects.

The generic threat to AstraZeneca’s antiulcerant blockbuster Nexium has moved on a stage with the news that Ranbaxy’s copycat version of the drug has received tentative approval from regulators in the USA.

Part of a major trial looking at diabetes and the reduction of cardiovascular disease has been stopped after data revealed that no drugs, including GlaxoSmithKline’s controversial Avandia, were responsible for the higher-than-expected number of deaths reported.

Norgine is celebrating victory in a landmark case which has seen a German court rule that Novartis’ Hexal subsidiary has been distributing laxatives as medical devices, thus avoiding the scrutiny that selling them as pharmaceuticals would entail.