French drug journal is sued for criticising Protopic’s licence extension

An independent French drug review journal is being sued for calling for the tacrolimus based ointment Protopic (made by Astellas) to be banned and for criticising the European Medicines Agency and French authorities for approving a recent extension of its licensed indications.

Astellas France claims that the journal, Prescrire (Prescribe), was “malicious” in its interpretation of the safety data on Protopic. Prescrire denies the charges. The drug company’s complaint was heard by 17th section of the Paris civil court, which specialises in libel cases involving newspapers, on 5 …