Industry Blog

Glaxo Have ‘Paid’ $1 Billion in Paxil Suits

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has paid almost $1 billion to decide lawsuits over Paxil since it introduced the antidepressant in 1993, plus about $390 million for suicides or attempted suicides said to be linked to the drug, says court records and people common with the cases.

As part of the sum, Glaxo, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, so far has paid $200 million to settle Paxil habit and birth-defect cases and $400 million to end antitrust, fraud and design claims, coming from the people and court records.

The $1 billion “would be worse than many people are expecting,” said Navid Malik, an analyst at Matrix Corporate Capital in London. “I don’t think this is within the boundaries of current assumptions for analysts.”

The London-based company hasn’t told of the agreement total in business filings. It has made public some accords. Glaxo’s provision for legal and other non-tax disputes as of the end of 2008 was 1.9 billion pounds ($3.09 billion), apparent in its latest annual report. This integrated all legal matters, not just Paxil. The company said 112 million pounds of this sum would be “reimbursed by third-party issuers.”

The drugmaker has condensed its insurance coverage to contain costs, “accepting a greater degree of uninsured exposure,” the annual report states. “Recent insurance loss experience, including pharmaceutical product-liability exposures, has increased the cost of, and narrowed the coverage afforded by, insurance for pharmaceutical companies generally,” Glaxo said.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to donate 50 million doses of swine flu vaccine to WHO

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline will donate 50 million doses of H1N1 vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO). APA reports that the related agreement was signed in Geneva.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said WHO will work to see that these vaccines are distributed to those who need them.

GlaxoSmithKline expects to prepare the first shipments of vaccine to the WHO by the end of November. WHO has prepared a list of 95 developing countries that are slated for receiving vaccines from GSM, and it intends to cover 10 percent of the population in these countries.

Source: APA.Az

GlaxoSmithKline moves EAP provider

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has switched its employee assistance programme (EAP) providers to give staff greater access to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

The firm has switched from Ceridian to PPC, and its 16,000 employees can now access face-to-face CBT counselling, as well as an online service, where they will be asked a series of questions about their problems.

Employees are then given information to help them understand their difficulties and access effective treatment. They can contact a telephone adviser for further assistance.

Harsha Modha, GSK’s director of benefits programmes for the UK, said the service would reduce the stigma around mental health issues in the workplace, and provide the right environment for staff to seek help.:

Source: Employee Benefits

Glaxo to reduce medicine costs to World’s poorest

GlaxoSmithKline will reduce the cost of its medicines and patents to the world’s poor, raising hopes that its rivals will follow suit, according to an article posted recently on Pharmiweb.

In a speech at Harvard Medical School on 13 February, the chairman of GSK, Andrew Witty, declared that his company would “earn its right to exist” by meeting the expectations of society, not just shareholders. He said that GSK would cut the prices of all its medicines in 50 poor countries - to no more than 25 per cent of the price in wealthy nations. The company will also provide free access to its patents relating to neglected diseases - those into which there is a lack of current research.

Oxfam spokesman Rohit Malpani urged other companies to emulate GSK, but would like to see the company free up its anti-HIV medication patents as well. Richard Barker of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry says GSK’s stance will spark a debate about “how much further industry can and should go” in promoting global health.

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