ELI LILLY: May Not Market Evista for Breast Cancer — Yet
A federal judge has ruled that Eli Lilly & Co. illegally marketed its osteoporosis drug Evista as a possible treatment for breast cancer, and issued a preliminary injunction requiring the company to ensure its sales agents no longer make the claim, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a lawsuit filed in February against Lilly, the British drug company AstraZeneca PLC charged the company with "systematically and deliberately" promoting Evista as a viable preventive treatment for breast cancer, although such a use has not yet been approved by the FDA. AstraZeneca manufactures tamoxifen, marketed as Nolvadex, which "last year became the first drug approved for reducing the risk of breast cancer in healthy women." A study last year found that Evista may be as effective as Nolvadex in reducing breast cancer risk, but AstraZeneca accused Lilly of improperly using the study's data in marketing Evista (Langreth, 7/20).
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