Glaxo drugs pipeline cheers

DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline is developing an anti-depressant called radafaxine that can tackle obesity, as well as a painkiller that could become one of its biggest blockbusters.

The group gave the City a preview of its pipeline of central nervous system drugs. Tachi Yamada, the company's head of research, says as many as 22 of the 90 'new chemical entities' could become big sellers with sales of more than $1bn.

The only problem with GSK's painkiller - the snappily-named 406381 - is that it belongs to the same class of drug as Merck's Vioxx, the arthritis treatment linked with heart failure.

Yamada reckons it is safer than the Vioxx offering and better than Celebrex, Pfizer's new pain reliever. But he admits it will be a 'tough task' to convince regulators.

AstraZeneca has taken out full-page advertisements in four US newspapers defending cholesterol drug Crestor. It follows comments last week by Food and Drug Administration official David Graham, who questioned the fat-buster's safety.