Big data’s surging tide of information on medicines, patients and outcomes is changing how pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs. Consider AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN).The data on whether a drug will work in certain patients makes that drug more valuable, said AstraZeneca’s Dr. Steve Labkoff, head of strategic programs, research and development informations. Insurance companies don’t want to [...]

David Brennan’s move to retire as AstraZeneca’s CEO in June did not come as a surprise to those who had been urging for a change at the top over the company’s drug development shortcomings. In an industry that walks a tightrope between innovation and regulation and the financial considerations that frame them, there are two critical characteristics that can undermine a CEO: being too bold or not bold enough. Brennan was a bit of both.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) has agreed to acquire a biotechnology company with a gout drug in phase 3 clinical trials for $1.26 billion, according to a company statement, in a move that will help deepen its drug pipeline.Ardea Biosciences‘ drug lesinurad is viewed as stronger than competitors like BioCryst and produces response rates between 70 percent and [...]

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Amgen (NYSE:AMGN) will collaborate on five monoclonal antibodies to treat inflammatory diseases in a move that could help AstraZeneca steer away from the patent cliff and put recent setbacks behind.The pharmaceutical companies will jointly develop and commercialize five Amgen drugs. AstraZeneca will pay an initial $50 million up front and shoulder 65 [...]

Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT) and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) are dropping plans to seek regulatory approval on their depression drug candidate after the compound failed its remaining phase 3 clinical trials.The two drug companies were developing TC-5214 as an adjunct treatment to treat major depressive disorder in patients who did not adequately respond to the first line of depression [...]

In evaluating the new warning U.S. regulators are issuing on statin prescription labels, many physicians are likely to take the view that high cholesterol poses a greater risk to their patients than potential side effects like diabetes, memory loss and muscle pain.In an interview with Reuters, Steven Nissen, the head of cardiology with the Cleveland [...]

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) released fourth-quarter 2011 and full-year financial results Tuesday, which happens to be Charles Dickens’ birthday. Somehow I think it’s fitting that Britain’s largest pharmaceutical company discussed its finances on the same day that one of its greatest writers was born. GSK’s results and outlook mark a strong contrast to Britain’s second-largest pharma company, [...]

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) is cutting more than 7,300 jobs across its global operations as part of a restructuring move the pharmaceutical giant announced in its fourth-quarter earnings for 2012.A spokesman for the company confirmed the 7,300 in cuts spread over the next two years could impact some positions at its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.Last year, [...]

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and AstraZeneca’s (NYSE:AZN) jointly developed treatment for type 2 diabetes has been turned down by U.S. regulators until lingering questions over the diabetes drug’s benefits and risks are addressed.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested additional clinical data on dapagliflozin to better assess the benefit-risk profile for the drug, including clinical [...]

Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT) has seen two phase 3 clinical trial failures in the last two months for its depression drug candidate. Now the company has some better news, albeit for a different indication. Drug partner AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) will take on a Targacept Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate for further clinical studies.AstraZeneca will conduct and fund phase 2 [...]