Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceutical adding 500 jobs in NJ

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer HealthCare announced Monday that it will consolidate its entire East Coast business in New Jersey, keeping 1,700 jobs in the state and adding up to 500 more.

Best-known for its Bayer aspirin, Bayer HealthCare said it employed a total of about 2,500 people at those four locations.

According to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages collected by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in New Jersey's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing sector peaked at 42,256 in 2007. It dropped to 37,957 in 2008 and 33,993 in 2009.

Rivaroxaban to be Reviewed by the FDA Panel on March 19

March 19 is match day for 4th year medical students. It's also the day when the FDA Panel is supposed to review the anticoagulant rivaroxaban (also known as BAY 59-7939 or Xarelto). It is an oral, direct Factor Xa inhibitor (I don't think I'll ever forget that coagulation cascade diagram that I learned in medical school). If approved, this drug could shut down all those coumadin (warfarin) clinics out there that monitor blood INR in people taking this vitamin K antagonist. Rivaroxaban would not require any blood monitoring. Plus, all those home INR tests manufacturers would need to look for something new to do.

I think everyone is wondering how the FDA will react to this new medication. If approved by the FDA, rivaroxaban will be sold in the US for short-term use as a prophylactic anticoagulant for patients undergoing knee- and hip-replacement surgeries. I'm sure the drug manufacturers will go for additional indications later on. Rivaroxaban is manufactured by Bayer and will be marketed by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical which is a Johnson & Johnson group.