Health Insurance :Pain Drug by Pfizer and Acura Pharmaceuticals Approved by the FDA

Author: admin, July 2nd, 2011

A new painkiller, Oxecta, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Made by Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pfizer Inc., the drug is expected to boost Pfizer’s product line, which is on the verge of the patent expiration later this year of its best-selling drug,

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Article Content:

A new painkiller, Oxecta, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Made by Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pfizer Inc., the drug is expected to boost Pfizer’s product line, which is on the verge of the patent expiration later this year of its best-selling drug, Lipitor, used to treat high cholesterol.

How The Stock Market React?
Acura shares rose 37% to .30 early in trading and have continued to soar to around 75% within the last three months of this year. On the other hand, Pfizer shares were down 0.6% to .13 and essentially remained at that point during the same time frame.



How Does It Work?
Oxecta is a type of oxycodone that is released immediately upon consumption. Oxecta has been designed in a way that prevents misuse and tampering. Originally, Acura joined forces with King Pharmaceuticals Inc. on the new pain drug. However, in February 2011, Pfizer acquired King Pharmaceuticals for .6 billion.

The president and general manager for the primary care unit of Pfizer, Olivier Brandicourt said, “We recognize our responsibility to physicians and patients and remain committed to appropriate access to pain treatment and developing medicines to potentially address this important public health and safety issue.”

Success with new products are necessary for Pfizer, especially with the expected decline in product sales once generic competitors of Lipitor become available near the end of the year. In May, the company scored a major win when the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would be reviewing Pfizer’s experimental drug for lung cancer, Crizotinib, on a short schedule.

Also in the month of May, the company reported an increase in profit for the first quarter, even though revenue slipped due to a disappointing number of sales for Lipitor. Pfizer is braced for the patent expiration and the company plans to cut research and development costs considerably as some of their business is shed.

photo credit: Charles Williams, kenteegardin, The.Comedian

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Categories: Health Insurance Information Tags: Health Research