Irvine Botox Maker Fined $600 Million, Irvine Viagra Maker Gets Competition in a Cup


Two giant drug companies with a heavy presence in Irvine this week suffered separate blows, possibly to their bottom lines.

One took a hit from the U.S. government, the other from a new wonder product out of the U.K.

As part of a settlement with the Food and Drug Administration, Irvine-based Allergan has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of
misbranding its drug Botox and to pay $600 million in fines.
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The crux of the government's case against Allergan was the company's marketing of unapproved therapeutic uses
of the drug. The company agreed that, as a result of its marketing of Botox from
2000 through 2005, treatments for headache, pain, spasticity and
juvenile cerebral palsy became “intended uses” of the drug although the
FDA had not approved them.


Wrinkly people have, of course, been injecting Botox into their faces for years.

As part of the settlement, Allergan agreed to a corporate monitoring program to prevent marketing violations from occurring again. Meanwhile, the company will pursue FDA approval of the other uses.

Viagra-maker Pfizer, which has offices in Irvine, got some competition in the boner enhancement market this week from a British coffee that claims to produce morning wood with every sip.

De'Longhi's Amore Del Caffe combines a rare Indian coffee bean with
oysters to produce the erectile effect, reports EuroClinix.net.

Amore Del Caffe, which costs £39 per 100g package (damn if I know the exchange rate), is not be confused with Magic Coffee Powder, which the FDA previously warned consumers against and asked its makers to recall.

The FDA's Brit counterparts have cleared Amore Del Caffe, but there's no word yet on when or whether it will start flowing here.

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