So, I can now safely say, with complete confidence, that Food and Drug Administration approval of the new Abbottdrug-coated stent will not happen in the second quarter.
Recently, at least a couple of analysts have been telling clients a decision was getting pushed out until the third quarter and one suggested that Xience won't be launched until Q4. The question now is whether the FDA will make a move before the July 4th holiday. Any bets?
Speaking of stents, a folo-up to my post last week on the analyst report saying that Boston Scientific is discounting its drug-coated stent when they're bought along with other medical devices the company makes. At first, a BSX spokesman told me the company doesn't publicly talk about such alleged deals. But then Paul Donovan sent me another email last night asking in the subject line, "What were you smoking?" He took me to task for repeating "an unsubstantiated claim we're (BSX) selling stents for $1,100. We sell stents for about double that, and often more."
And as long as we're on the subject of corporate communications I wanted to pass along this anecdote about yesterday's Alzheimer's drug news out of Myriad Genetics. My producer, Ruth, had been working with their people to make sure we were in the loop when the biotech company released the highly anticipated late-stage test results. But the relationship-building groundwork was all for naught.
The press release went out before the opening bell on Monday, but we got no heads up or even an email once the release went out to make sure we saw it. I was out of pocket on assignment in Washington, DC, but reachable--as always--via BlackBerry. When Ruth queried the MYGN point-person about the oversight he replied, "We were planning personal outreach to you on positive results. Then when we found out the results were negative, no one thought to make sure you were on the email distribution list."
Oh, and I wasn't smoking anything when I wrote the BSX post. Aside from what I think was a contact high during my freshman year in the USC Trojan Marching Band on a bus returning from a gig, I've never inhaled.
Questions? Comments? Pharma@cnbc.com