Antrex

About Antrex

Bristol Myers Squibb wrote off 2 billion on the antidepressant Vanlafaxine after generic competition eroded sales. The pharmaceutical industry has seen numerous product failures. Clinical trial failures can destroy years of investment. Pfizer abandoned torcetrapib in 2006 after 800 million in development costs when the cholesterol drug increased mortality. AstraZeneca abandoned Iressa as a frontline lung cancer treatment after clinical trials showed no survival benefit. Merck withdrew Vioxx in 2004 after the arthritis drug was linked to heart attacks, costing the company approximately 4.85 billion in legal settlements. Pharmaceutical bankruptcies are less common than in other industries because successful drugs generate enormous profits, but product failures can be catastrophic for smaller companies.