The Local Germany

Medics: don't kill off drug benefit tests

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:14:00 +0100

German doctors are fighting to keep a system which measures whether medicines do what they actually promise - while the new government says it will be scrapped.

West tested drugs on '50,000 East Germans'

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:34:00 +0200

Western drug companies tested pharmaceuticals on more than 50,000 people in the former communist East Germany, often without the knowledge of patients, several of whom died, Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.

Third of new drugs 'offer no additional benefit'

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:25:00 +0200

A third of new drugs for treating serious illnesses don't offer any improvement on what is already available, according to Germany's committee in charge of testing pharmaceutical innovations.

Experts fear shortage of 'unprofitable' cancer drug

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:40:00 +0100

German cancer experts are warning of a looming shortage of one of the most widely used drugs to treat the disease – because pharmaceutical companies say it is not financially worth their while to make it any more.

Hundreds of doctors 'sold unapproved drug'

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:12:00 +0100

German prosecutors and customs officials believe they have uncovered one of the largest cases of fraud among the country’s gynaecologists involving the illegal sale of Depocon, an unapproved contraceptive.

More than 1,000 pharma jobs to go at Merck

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:10:00 +0200

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Merck KGaA announced plans to slash one in ten jobs in Germany over the next three years in an effort to save costs.

Thalidomide makers 'ignored defect warnings'

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:03:00 +0200

The German makers of thalidomide knew about birth defects years before it was withdrawn, yet Australian distributors used pregnant women as test subjects, court papers based on newly released documents alleged on Friday.

Merck to Portugal: pay bills or lose investment

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:43:00 +0200

German pharma giant Merck is threatening to withdraw millions of euros of investment from Portugal – because the state-run hospitals are on average more than 500 days behind in paying their bills.

Merck pharma closes Swiss HQ, cuts 580 jobs

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:59:00 +0200

The job losses at biotech firm Merck Serono were part of a wider restructuring plan "to create a leaner, more agile organisation," the company said in a statement.

Bayer loses patent in India test case

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:44:00 +0100

Germany’s pharmaceutical giant Bayer has made history by being the first firm ordered to give up control of a patented drug after an Indian court said its cancer drug Nexavar was too expensive.

New drugs 'often no better' than old ones

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:29:00 +0100

New drugs available in Germany do not have to be better than those already on the market – but cost the statutory health system millions of euros more each year, doctors say.

Facebook holds Merck page over name fight

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:14:00 +0100

Facebook will sideline a Merck page at the social network until the German and American companies which share the name work out which one gets the online address.

US allows suit against drug-maker Bayer to go forward

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:31:00 +0200

The US Supreme Court has allowed the continuation of a class-action suit by alleged victims of the anti-cholesterol drug Baycol (known as Lipobay outside the US), which was taken off the market worldwide in 2001 by German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer.

Bayer tests drug cure for double chins

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:29:00 +0100

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced on Monday it was developing a drug to combat the dreaded double chin that it says could generate €250 million a year in sales.

Fake medicine trade booming

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:59:00 +0100

More than one in three Germans has bought prescription medicines without a doctor's script, according to a study released Tuesday that reveals the scope of Europe's counterfeit pharmaceutical trade.

Rösler vows high drug prices to fall

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:26:00 +0100

Big pharmaceutical firms have been put on notice that the government plans to crack down on high drug prices, with German Health Minister Philipp Rösler vowing Wednesday to bring prices “under control.”

Study shows pharmacies hand out drugs without prescriptions

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:31:00 +0200

In a country where people can’t buy aspirin or even rubbing alcohol at the grocery store, a new survey released on Tuesday shows that Germany’s pharmacies are rather lax when it comes to handing out prescription drugs.

German Nobel winner criticizes big pharma

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:00:00 +0200

German Nobel Prize winner Harald zur Hausen discovered that a virus causes cervical cancer, and now he has criticized pharmaceutical companies for charging too much for the new vaccine against the virus.

Halle drug company heralds new Alzheimer's treatment

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:20:00 +0200

A German pharmaceutical research company in Halle has developed a groundbreaking new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, daily Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday.