Drug sales of rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) will most likely decrease despite a majority vote by FDA advisers July 15 to keep the drug on the U.S. market, albeit, with added warnings or restrictions, according to market research firm Datamonitor.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals has released its financial results for 2010 second quarter, which ended June 30, recording an increase in net sales and net income.

After two days of FDA advisory committee meetings focused on reviewing the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone (Avandia), Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America has underscored its position that pioglitazone HCI (Actos) offers an established safety profile regarding the risk of cardiovascular events in people living with type 2 diabetes.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has reportedly made an offer of $460 million to settle approximately 10,000 product liability suits over its diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia), while the company is simultaneously defending the fate of the controversial pill at an FDA panel committee meeting.

As controversy continues to surround GlaxoSmithKline and its diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia), the FDA has released hundreds of pages of briefing documents in preparation of today's FDA committee meetings that will answer questions and hope to settle the ongoing debate whether Avandia does more harm than good.

In a mission to reduce spending and reach its target savings goals of $3.5 billion in 2012, Merck will shut down operations at eight research and eight manufacturing sites, depleting almost 15 percent of its workforce.

With patent expiries for major name brand pharmaceutical drugsLipitor (atorvastatin; Pfizer), Plavix (clopidogrel; Sanofi-Aventis/Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Zyprexa (olanzapine; Eli Lilly)on the horizon, switching to generic drug forms could save $100 million in Medicaid coverage costs. However, strict state generic substitution laws often require prior consent or step therapy approaches and make switching to generic brands difficult and costly, according to the results of a study published in the July edition of Health Affairs.

Various outlets, including business information group Datamonitor, have speculated that Sanofi-Aventis may be looking to acquire a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company for a reported $20 billion.