Early sales of Vivus’s diet pill disappoint, shares slide

(Reuters) – Vivus Inc reported lackluster initial sales of its weight-loss pill Qsymia as a lack of reimbursement coverage prompted concerns about the drug’s adoption and dragged down shares of diet-drug makers.

Shares of Vivus were down 24 percent at $ 11.38 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq after recovering from an earlier low of $ 11.00.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc‘s shares were down 6 percent at $ 7.51, while those of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc were off 5 percent at $ 4.99.

Arena’s diet pill Belviq is set to launch early next year and Orexigen is planning a re-submission of the marketing application for its competing product, Contrave.

Earlier this year, Belviq and Qsymia became the first new diet pills to receive marketing in 13 years as pressure mounts on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve obesity treatments for some two-thirds of Americans who are considered overweight or obese.

Vivus recorded $ 41,000 in Qsymia sales since its launch on September 17 through the end of the month. Analysts on average had expected about $ 310,000, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company’s chief commercial officer Mike Miller flagged concerns over the drug’s lack of insurance coverage and said “about 30 percent of patients chose not to fill after receiving a (Qsymia) prescription due to cash outlay.”

“The average retail price for the patient for 30 days or the recommended dose is approximately $ 160,” Miller said on a post-earnings call.

“Currently, we are seeing one out of five (patients) being covered by third-party insurance with an average co-pay of $ 62.”

Robert Hazlett of Roth Capital Partners, who maintained his “neutral” rating on the stock, said reimbursement was an obstacle, but given that the company is in the very early stages of selling the drug, it can overcome these hurdles over time.

A total of 656 Qsymia prescriptions were shipped from certified network pharmacies in September. That number rose to 5,560 through the week of October 26.

Cowen & Co analyst Simos Simeonidis also said insurers will slowly start reimbursing obesity drugs over the next few months, following the example set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has started reimbursing weight-loss counseling.

“We continue to believe that in order for Qsymia to become a blockbuster, Vivus needs the help of a big pharma partner,” Simeonidis said in a note to clients, highlighting the importance of a large sales force.

Vivus’s shares saw much investor love during the period leading up to Qsymia approval in July, but have slid 30 percent since European health regulators rejected the drug in October, citing the potential for heart risks and birth defects related to its long-term use.

The company plans to appeal the decision and expects a fresh verdict in the first half of 2013.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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Accounts merged after name mix-up

6 November 2012 Last updated at 08:06 ET

Tens of thousands of pounds ended up in the wrong savings account following a mix-up over two customers with the same name and date of birth.

Insurance company Prudential mistakenly merged the records of the two customers in March 2007.

The mix-up, which continued for more than three years, resulted in large amounts of retirement savings ending up in the wrong account.

Prudential UK has been fined £50,000 by the Information Commissioner.

“This case would be considered farcical were it not for the serious sums of money involved,” said Stephen Eckersley, the commissioner’s head of enforcement.

A spokesman for the Prudential said that the confused names of the two savings customers were “not uncommon”. He apologised and said that the customers had been compensated.

But he added that the problem originated from a mistake by one of the customer’s financial advisers.

Years of inaccuracy

The two customers, who have not been identified, shared the same first name, the same surname, and the same date of birth.

This led to their two accounts being mistakenly merged by Prudential. It was 42 months later that the confusion was eventually resolved.

In the meantime, Prudential was told about the mistake on several occasions, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.

Continue reading the main story

Inaccurate information on a customer’s record can have a significant impact on someone’s life”

End Quote Stephen Eckersley Information Commissioner’s Office

This included a letter from one of the customers involved in the mix-up pointing out that he had not changed his address for 15 years, so there was clearly a problem.

Warning

The fine imposed by the ICO related to the failure of the company to investigate fully when alerted to the problem.

It is the first penalty handed out by the ICO which does not relate to data being lost by an organisation.

Previous fines charged to other businesses have resulted from the loss of disks or memory cards containing customers’ information.

“In this case two customer files were consistently confused and the company failed to remedy the situation despite being alerted to the problem on more than one occasion before it was finally resolved,” said Mr Eckersley, of the ICO.

“While data losses may make the headlines, most people will contact our office about inaccuracies and other issues relating to the misuse of their information.

“Inaccurate information on a customer’s record, particularly when the record relates to an individual’s financial affairs, can have a significant impact on someone’s life.

“We hope this penalty sends a message to all organisations, but particularly those in the financial sector, that adequate checks must be in place to ensure people’s records are accurate.”

Prudential has now improved training for staff and updated its customer records processes, the ICO said.

A spokesman for the insurance company said: “We regret that this incident occurred and was not resolved more quickly. The circumstances surrounding this case are unique.

“The accidental merging of the two customers’ details was not the result of system or process failures. It originally happened when the financial adviser of the first customer mistakenly provided the address of the second customer to us and requested that we change the first customer’s registered address.

“We co-operated openly and fully with the review and we accept the fine imposed.”

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Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.

The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.

“The company completely and utterly failed to protect its workers,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

The country’s labor minister, Kate Wilkinson, resigned from her labor portfolio after the report’s release, saying she felt it was the honorable thing to do after the tragedy occurred on her watch. She plans to retain her remaining government responsibilities.

The Royal Commission report said New Zealand has a poor workplace safety record and its regulators failed to provide adequate oversight before the explosion.

At the time of the disaster, New Zealand had just two mine inspectors who were unable to keep up with their workload, the report said. Pike River was able to obtain a permit with no scrutiny of its initial health and safety plans and little ongoing scrutiny.

Key said he agrees with the report’s conclusion that there needs to be a philosophical shift in New Zealand from believing that companies are acting in the best interests of workers to a more proscriptive set of regulations that forces companies to do the right thing.

The commission’s report recommended a new agency be formed to focus solely on workplace health and safety problems. It also recommended a raft of measures to strengthen mine oversight.

Key said his government would consider the recommendations and hoped to implement most of them. He would not commit on forming a new agency. Workplace safety issues are currently one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

In the seven weeks before the explosion, the Pike River company received 21 warnings from mine workers that methane gas had built up to explosive levels below ground and another 27 warnings of dangerous levels, the report said. The warnings continued right up until the morning of the deadly explosion.

The company used unconventional methods to get rid of methane, the report said. Some workers even rigged their machines to bypass the methane sensors after the machines kept automatically shutting down — something they were designed to do when methane levels got too high.

The company made a “major error” by placing a ventilation fan underground instead of on the surface, the report found. The fan failed after the first of several explosions, effectively shutting down the entire ventilation system. The company was also using water jets to cut the coal face, a highly specialized technique than can release large amounts of methane.

The report did not definitively conclude what sparked the explosion itself, although it noted that a pump was switched on immediately before the explosion, raising the possibility it was triggered by an electrical arc.

The now-bankrupt Pike River Coal company is not defending itself against charges it committed nine labor violations related to the disaster. Former chief executive Peter Whittall has pleaded not guilty to 12 violations and his lawyers say he is being scapegoated.

An Australian contractor was fined last month for three safety violations after its methane detector was found to be faulty at the time of the explosion.

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Google says Apple patent lawsuit dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Apple Inc alleging that Google Inc-owned Motorola‘s patent licensing practices were unfair, Google said on Monday.

Apple had been set to square off against Motorola on Monday in a trial in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, involving Google’s use of the library of patents it acquired along with Motorola for $ 12.5 billion in May.

“We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Apple’s lawsuit with prejudice,” a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Dismissal of a case with prejudice means the case is over at the trial court level, though it can be appealed.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards,” Google said in its statement. “We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.”

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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No Doubt apologize to Native Americans for Wild West video

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Pop band No Doubt was forced to remove a new Wild West-themed music video and issue an apology after getting complaints from the Native American community, saying its intention was “never to offend, hurt or trivialize” their culture or history.

The Southern California band – made up of lead singer Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young – posted an apology on their official website on Saturday following the release of their latest video for the single “Looking Hot.”

“As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history,” the band said.

The video, which debuted on Friday, featured Stefani dressed in tribal garments as a Native Indian princess captured by Young and Dumont dressed as cowboys, while Kanal played a tribe chief who rescues Stefani.

Some users took to social media platforms to criticize the band’s use of tribal imagery, leading No Doubt to remove the video online, adding that “being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”

“Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people … We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video,” they said.

“Looking Hot” is the second single from No Doubt’s latest album “Push and Shove,” their first studio release in a decade. The band initially rose to fame in the early 1990s in the new wave ska-punk scene and crossed over into pop with hits such as “Don’t Speak” and “Just A Girl.”

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Multivitamins don’t cut heart disease risk in men – study

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Taking a daily multivitamin does not reduce the risk of heart disease for older men, according to data from a large study presented on Monday.

About half of U.S. adults take at least one daily dietary supplement, the most popular being a multivitamin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. Physicians Health Study II monitored nearly 15,000 male doctors aged 50 and older for more than 10 years. Participants were randomly assigned to take a multivitamin or a placebo.

“We found that after more than a decade, there is neither benefit nor risk,” in terms of cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Howard Sesso, study author and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Researchers reported last month that the same trial showed that a daily multivitamin reduced the men’s overall risk of cancer by 8 percent.

“We still feel very comfortable with the conclusions for the cancer findings,” Dr. Sesso said. “The lack of effect for cardiovascular disease versus cancer benefit isn’t necessarily inconsistent. There could be a difference in mechanism of effect.”

The findings were presented in Los Angeles at the American Heart Association scientific meeting and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“It is hard for us to recommend, at this point in time, taking a multivitamin to avoid cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Sesso said, noting that patients need to discuss all over-the-counter medicines with their doctors.

He said patients often view multivitamins as a “quick fix,” which can lead them to let up on other efforts to improve their health.

“The danger of taking multivitamins is that it will lead you to think you can forgo other lifestyle changes,” such as not smoking and maintaining a healthy diet, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the department of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and with a grant from BASF Corp. The multivitamins and packaging were provided by BASF, Pfizer Inc and DSM Nutrition Products.

“Many patients think that because they are getting an OTC (over-the-counter) medication it is safe and the risk of complications is low,” said Dr. Elliott Antman, chairman of the AHA Scientific Sessions Committee and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “That appears to be right, but we still need to remind them of the need for lifestyle changes.”

Two other studies involving Omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oil that were presented at the meeting on Monday also failed to help specific heart conditions.

In one, taking fish oil for a year failed to limit recurrent symptomatic atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that significantly raises the risk of stroke.

In the other trial, short term use of fish oil failed to decrease incidence of atrial fibrillation that commonly occurs after patients undergo heart surgery.

Dr. Peter Wilson, from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta who was not involved in the studies, was disappointed by the results.

Every time we’ve looked at Omega-3, he said, “we’ve come up short. It’s very discouraging.”

(Reporting By Deena Beasley and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Stacey Joyce, Bernard Orr)

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Service sector growth slips in October, hiring picks up

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed modestly in October, though a measure of employment improved to its highest in seven months, underscoring expectations the economic recovery will remain modest.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index eased to 54.2 last month from 55.1 in September, shy of economists’ forecasts for 54.5, according to a Reuters survey.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The forward-looking new orders gauge fell to 54.8 from 57.7, but the measure of employment rose to its highest since March at 54.9 from 51.1.

The vast services sector has fared better than its manufacturing counterpart, which contracted during the summer. Still, this was the first time since June that the rate of growth in services firms has cooled.

While manufacturing has begun to grow again, the services sector is expected to remain stronger as it feels less of an impact from weaker exports.

Taken together, the two reports point to an economy that is growing at around a 2 percent pace, analysts said, maintaining the third quarter’s rate of growth and reinforcing the view that the United States is holding on to a modest recovery.

“Moderate growth in the U.S. economy continues,” said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

New export orders contracted to 47.5 from 50.5 against the backdrop of slower global growth and the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis.

Financial markets saw little reaction immediately following the data. Wall Street was little changed in late morning trading as investors were wary of taking aggressive bets the day ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Services companies in other parts of the world also saw slower growth in October, separate reports showed on Monday. The pace of activity in China slipped, while Britain’s sector grew at its slowest in almost two years. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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Newspaper discloses new Cameron text messages

LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker says he’s asked the country’s media ethics inquiry to consider newly disclosed text messages sent between Prime Minister David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, the ex-chief executive of Rupert Murdoch‘s British newspaper division.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper on Sunday published two previously undisclosed messages exchanged between the pair, who are friends and neighbors.

Brooks is facing trial on conspiracy charges linked to Britain’s phone hacking scandal, which saw Murdoch close down The News of The World tabloid.

In one newly disclosed message, Cameron thanked Brooks in 2009 for allowing him to borrow a horse, joking it was “fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun.”

Opposition lawmaker Chris Bryant has asked a judge-led inquiry scrutinizing ties between the press and the powerful to examine the messages.

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Monster’s U.S. online jobs index gains in October

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A monthly gauge of online labor demand in the United States rose in October, while construction and housing-related fields saw improvement compared with a year ago, the operator of a job search website said on Friday.

Monster Worldwide Inc, an online careers and recruiting firm, said its employment index gained 2 percent to 156 last month from 153 in September. The index was up 3.3 percent from 151 a year ago.

The index saw annual growth in 13 of 19 industries and 15 of the 23 occupations monitored last month.

Demand for jobs in the construction industry was up 17.2 percent on an annual basis, while the real estate, rental and leasing category gained nearly 9 percent.

Available jobs in retail trade were up 10.3 percent compared with last year ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The report was another look at the jobs market ahead of the government’s non-farm payrolls report later on Friday. Jobs growth is expected to have picked up modestly in October.

The Monster Employment index is a monthly analysis based on a selection of corporate career sites and job boards. The margin of error is approximately plus or minus 1 percent.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Robbie Williams returns to top spot on UK pop charts

LONDON (Reuters) – Robbie Williams‘ new single “Candy” shot straight to number one in Britain’s pop charts on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said, dislodging Labrinth and Emeli Sande‘s “Beneath Your Beautiful” from the top spot.

Scottish producer and singer Calvin Harris entered the album charts at number one with “18 Months”, his second top-selling effort, and Kylie Minogue‘s “The Abbey Road Sessions” came in at number two on the long player list.

“Candy”, written with Take That band mate Gary Barlow, is Williams’ 14th career number one.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon)

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