Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Blow To GSK, Judge Upholds Verdict In Case Over Paxil's Link To Suicide
Stat: Glaxo Loses Bid For A New Trial In An Unusual Paxil Suicide Case
In a setback for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a federal judge upheld a $3 million verdict in a closely watched trial that involved a highly contentious issue — whether consumers can successfully sue a brand-name drug maker if they suffered harm after taking a pill made by a generic rival. The verdict was issued last spring in a lawsuit that was brought by Wendy Dolin, the widow of an attorney who committed suicide after taking a generic version of Glaxo’s Paxil antidepressant. The federal court jury decided the drug maker failed to properly warn about the risk of its medicine. On Monday, a Glaxo spokeswoman wrote us that the company plans to appeal the decision. (Silverman, 9/18)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Stat: Nabriva Novel Antibiotic Meets Goals In Late-Stage Bacterial Pneumonia Study
Nabriva Therapeutics (NBRV) took a big risk pushing its novel antibiotic, lefamulin, into a late-stage clinical trial in patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia without any prior clinical data. On Monday, the bet paid off. The Ireland-based company said lefamulin achieved the primary and secondary endpoints in a phase 3 study of 551 patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. This is the first of two phase 3 clinical trials needed to seek regulatory approval for lefamulin. The second study will read out results in the fourth quarter. (Feuerstein, 9/18)
