InVentiv Health and bipartisan lobbying firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Partners have launched Breakaway Policy. The partners said in a statement that the goal of the joint venture is to provide a policy group that can help companies “address the diverse challenges posed by a nationwide healthcare system being reshaped by increasing government regulation and dramatic shifts in the private healthcare market.” Dean Rosen, former health policy director for Senate Majority Leader William Frist, has been named Breakaway’s president and CEO. Former PhRMA EVP Rick Smith is also among the founding team. The group will track state and federal level policy developments.
Early animal-stage research indicates that Novo’s diabetes medication Victoza could be an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. PM Live reports that a Lancaster University study showed that the drug can reverse memory loss and amyloid plaque buildups in mice with late-stage Alzheimer’s.
Bayer has joined the list of companies being examined by Chinese authorities. The Wall Street Journal reports that a government representative visited one of the German company’s offices and is looking into claims that the firm may have been involved in a case of unfair competition. GlaxoSmithKline, UCB, and Sanofi are among the companies being scrutinized over allegations of varying forms of misconduct.
Chicago bar CH Distillery is treading heavily on industry copyrights. Time Out Chicago reports that the West Loop bar created a “faux narcotic in quaffable form,” called the OxyContin cocktail. While a bartender tells Time Out the name was meant to be provocative, Purdue Pharma told the entertainment mag that it was not happy with unlicensed uses of its trademarked names and this use in particular. The drug maker did not indicate what, if any action, it would take.
