Former biotech chief found guilty of wire fraud Oct 5, 2009
(10-03) 17:25 PDT San Francisco -- The former chief executive of Intermune Inc., a Brisbane biotechnology company, was found guilty last week of fraudulently promoting the drug Actimmune for treatment of a fatal lung disease ... He was accused of using news releases and sales campaigns to falsely claim that Actimmune substantially reduced the death rate for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive scarring of the lungs ... In 2006, Intermune agreed to pay $37 million to settle... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Calif. Biotech Exec Convicted of Marketing Fraud Oct 4, 2009
Former California biotech executive convicted of fraud in marketing of Actimmune drug ... The former chief executive of the biotechnology company InterMune Inc. has been convicted of wire fraud in marketing of the drug Actimmune ... The conviction centered on an August 2002 news release that misstated the results of a clinical trial using Actimmune to treat the disease. (ABC News -- Wire)
Ex-InterMune CEO convicted in drug scheme Oct 1, 2009
Under Harkonen s direction, the Justice Department alleged, InterMune marketed and sold its $50,000-per-year Actimmune IPF treatment despite not receiving Food and Drug Administration approval ... InterMune in October 2006 entered a deferred prosecution agreement and paid nearly $37 million to resolve criminal charges and civil liability in connection with InterMune s marketing and promotion of Actimmune for IPF. ... The vast majority of InterMune s Actimmune sales were for the unapproved,... (San Jose Business Journal, CA)
Rare Pharmaceutical Fraud Trial Under Way in San Francisco Aug 20, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration approved InterMune's drug Actimmune to treat two rare childhood diseases ... The company discontinued a subsequent clinical trial in 2007 because it was not showing that Actimmune effectively treated IPF. InterMune then announced it would lay off half of its workforce. (Law.com)
InterMune stock soars on results of lung disease drug study Feb 8, 2009
Its first drug candidate, Actimmune, had mixed results in a trial in 2002 ... A second clinical trial conducted by InterMune showed in 2007 that Actimmune did not prolong life in less severely ill patients after all, and sales have rapidly diminished. (International Herald Tribune -- Health)
