GlaxoSmithKline developed a campaign for its whooping cough vaccination Boostrix that featured the big bad wolf (pictured) from Little Red Riding Hood.
1. Some drugmakers are using unsettling ads to promote their drugs and vaccines to consumers. In the past few months, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Mylan have all recently employed frightening themes in campaigns. (Ad Age)
2. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said the FDA may give the company a quick review of its generic version of Mylan’s EpiPen. Mylan has come under fire for the price increases of its emergency anaphylaxis treatment. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
3. Sanofi announced a joint venture with Verily, the health technology unit of Google’s holding company Alphabet, to create a new company named Onduo. Sanofi said the new business will work on developing new technologies for the management of diabetes. (WSJ)
4. Five hundred sales representatives employed by Sun Pharma in India are planning to strike on September 26 over not being paid their salaries or travel expenses. The sales reps were previously employed by Ranbaxy Laboratories but were transferred to Sun when the company was acquired in 2014. (Business Standard)
5. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the nasal-spray flu vaccine FluMist isn’t effective enough to prevent the flu for the 2016-2017 flu season. AstraZeneca’s MedImmune develops and markets FluMist. The CDC is recommending that people receive the flu shot instead. (WSJ)
