Researches involved in the litigation against Vioxx claim the product's ADVANTAGE trials were based on marketing objectives rather than scientific rigor.

Seeking to increase its share of voice without beefing up its sales force, AstraZeneca is partnering with Abbott on a co-promotion of Crestor in the US.

A big healthcare bill that passed Massachusetts' legislature last night contains a few nasty surprises for industry -- including a code of conduct for drug marketers, an academic detailing program and stringent reporting requirements for payments to physicians.

A group of senators and representatives is introducing a bill that would fund a test-run for so-called "academic detailing," whereby supposedly unbiased health professionals funded by non-commercial entities detail doctors just as drug company sales reps do.

Doctors and pharmacists drive a third of patients to AstraZeneca's AZ&Me prescription savings program, according to a company survey -- a finding that AstraZeneca said highlights the value of its sales reps' interactions with healthcare professionals.

Massachusetts lawmakers trashed a proposed gift ban hotly contested by biotechs, a key industry in the state, and put off the effective date of a provision banning commercial use of prescriber data.

Pfizer med ed head Mike Saxton dismissed the notion that the company was bowing to pressure in its decision to eliminate direct support for CME programs sponsored by medical education and communication companies (MECCs).

PhRMA revised its Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals to sharply limit gifts to physicians.

Pfizer will no longer fund continuing medical education through med ed firms.

A physicians' manifesto of sorts, composed by Sermo doctors demanding an end to intrusive insurers and overzealous regulators, has garnered 5,200 signatures in the several weeks since it was posted.