The threat of counterfeit medicines in the next year will be more severe than ever, according to a survey of 1000 companies conducted in October 2010 by Pharma IQ.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) issued a statement on Jan. 2, 2011, to respond to a 60 Minutes segment that aired on Jan. 2 that focused on quality-control problems at a former GSK manufacturing facility in Cidra, Puerto Rico.

Gilead Sciences to Acquire Arresto Biosciences; Sartorius Appoints Head of Lab Business; and More.

John Taylor to Serve as Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner after Joshua Sharfstein's Departure, and more.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) urged the US Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry to address what she called an "unprecedented" shortage of prescription drugs, especially for chemotherapy.

FDA received the authority to mandate recalls of food under a new food-safety bill. Efforts are underway in the House to grant the agency this power for pharmaceuticals as well.

An assessment of the progress and needed activity to achieve global sustainability goals shows Brazil and India leading G20 economies.

A roundup of developments in corporate social responsibility and sustainability from the bio/pharmaceutical industry, its suppliers, and other public and private organizations.

Representatives from the United Nations, governments, businesses, and nonprofit groups met in Cancún, Mexico, to move forward international efforts for meeting climate-change goals.

The European Commission and Medicines Agency seem to be moving in advance of their ICH partners to update standards.

Expert and implementation working groups harmonize more guidelines and move Q11 forward.

Capable of great works, pharma as a whole still yields to the lesser angels of its nature.

AstraZeneca and Abbott End Program; PhRMA Elects New Members; and More.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India) has entered into a technology transfer, manufacturing, and marketing agreement with R-Pharm (Moscow), a Russian pharmaceutical company.

After five years of discussions, the US Food and Drug Administration is joining the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention (PIC) and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PIC Scheme), known together as PIC/S.

The European Medicines Agency outlined it work program and budget for 2011 and anticipates similar work loads for drug applications and practically no increases to its budget for that work program in 2011.

The European Medicines Agency launched on December 20, 2010, a public registry about small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that includes information about SME-registered companies.

Novartis (Basel) signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of St. Petersburg, Russia, confirming its intent to build a new full-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg.

Pfizer Recalls One Lipitor Lot; Sanofi Aventis Names Head of R&D; and More.

ICH Unveils New Website and Logo

A US Food and Drug Administration inspection completed on Dec. 9, 2010 revealed persistent deficiencies at McNeil Consumer Healthcare's Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, facility.

Thermo Fisher to Acquire Dionex; Former SOCMA CEO Joe Acker Dies; and More.

Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL), B. Braun Medical (Bethlehem, PA), and Roxane Laboratories, a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany), agreed to pay the United States $421 million to settle False Claims Act allegations.

Equipment and Processing Report talked to Jonathan Seville, dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick, to find out how positron-emission particle tracking could help pharmaceutical manufacturers gain process understanding.

Pfizer (New York) appointed Ian C. Read, currently head of the company's global biopharmaceutical operations, as president, chief executive officer, and director. He succeeds Jeffrey B. Kindler, who retired from the company.

Company and People Notes: GlaxoSmithKline acquires Nanjing MeiRui Pharma; Cephalon's CEO to remain on medical leave; and more.

Supportive public policy is needed in order for innovation to flourish.

Tiered pricing is used throughout industry to help increase affordability and access to drugs in the developing world.