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Canada's biotechnology industry is back in gear doing deals at BioPartnering North America and a recent survey finds renewed optimism amongst industry chief executives. The economic situation in 2009 created a new-found flexibility in the sector, as firms restructured and pursued innovative deals and partnering options to survive. Today, companies are in a better situation financially than in December of 2008, and are starting the year on a relatively upbeat note. 27 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has launched a three-month public consultation on its Road Map to 2015, coinciding with its 15th anniversary on January 26, 2010, setting out the Agency's priorities for the next five years. 27 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
After much deliberation, China has finally agreed to initiate the process of opening up the pharmaceutical market for Indian companies, reports the Times of India. It has also promised to enhance buying to correct the trade imbalance created by low imports from India. India's annual exports to China are about $11 billion, while China exports goods worth $27 billion to India, it was noted. 26 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
Nycomed CEO talks, Obama and Healthcare Reform 26 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The proposal for a National Health Insurance (NHI) is without doubt the most significant development in South Africa's health care sector for 2010. The aim of the NHI is to create universal health care coverage for all the country's citizens. 25 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has mandated the filing of an ASEAN Common Technology Dossier (ACTD) as the only regulatory filing for pharmaceutical companies to get approval for their drugs in the 10-member states of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, with effect from 2012. 25 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds that Americans are divided over congressional health reform proposals, but also that large shares of people, including skeptics, become more supportive after being told about many of the major provisions in the bills. 25 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The controversy around US drug giant Merck & Co's pricing for its key AIDS drug Isentress (raltegravir) - at nearly $13,000 per patient yearly, the most expensive first line AIDS therapy on the US market today - continued last week following the company's reaction to recent public criticism of its AIDS drug pricing, alleges the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Merck ramped up its damage control PR efforts, issuing a press release that sought to rewrite the history of Isentress and deflect attention by claiming the AHF has been unfairly attacking the firm. 25 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The defeat for the Democrats in the special Senate election in the US state of Massachusetts ' which elected little-known Republican Scott Brown to the seat previously held by Senator Ted Kennedy who died last year - has thrown President Barack Obama's controversial $849 billion Health Care Reform Bill into doubt, as the loss of the filibuster-proof Senate majority might force him into some sort of a compromise (The Pharma Letter January 21). 21 January 2010
Biotechnology
In advance of the one-year anniversary of the USA's Recovery and Reinvestment Act's enactment on February 17, 20 of the nation's leading research institutions, patient advocates and biomedical industry have released a detailed report on how Recovery Act funding of medical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is at work across the country in the service of better health and a healthier economy. 21 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The victory of little-known Republican Scott Brown in yesterday's US Senate elections in the state of Massachusetts puts US President Barack Obama's health care reform dreams in danger, and the blow comes as the President today celebrates his first year in office. 20 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
According to the new pricing decree that was issued by the Turkish government on September 18, 2009, to apply as of December 4, 2009, the prices of 20 year-old products with an ex-factory price above 6.79 Turkish lira (4.66) must be revised according to reference prices, reports the Turkish Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies, the AiFD. 20 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
For the second time in less than half a year, the Philippines government is calling on pharmaceutical companies, including global behemoth Pfizer and UK giant GlaxoSmithKline, to voluntarily halve their prices of some top-selling products, reports Bloomberg, Business Week and other news sources. 19 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
European Members of Parliament are in the process of grilling prospective European Commissioners on their priorities and competences, among whom was John Dalli, Commissioner-designate for Health and Consumer Policy (SANCO), who is now Minister for Social Policy in Malta, as revealed by Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, last year (The Pharma Letter December 1, 2009). 19 January 2010
article
The Japanese National Health Insurance pricing reform that is due to take effect in April will trigger major reform in the pharmaceutical industry, predicted Toichi Takenaka, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations of Japan and chairman of Astellas Pharma. 18 January 2010
Biotechnology
The debate on US health care reform, and in particular the exclusivity of patent protection for biosimilars, or follow-on biological products, has heated up since President Barack Obama indicated last week that he favored a reduction in the 12-year period that has been backed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives proposed legislation, which still have to be reconciled before being signed into law (The Pharma Letter January 15). 18 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
Australia urgently needs a single Code of Conduct to ensure health consumers know that medicines and other therapeutic goods they buy have been promoted ethically and deliver the claimed health benefits, according to Carol Bennett, executive director of the nation's Consumers Health Forum. 18 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
Responding to recent allegations that the World Health Organization had been influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, in declaring a 'false pandemic' in dealing with the H1N5 influenza situation, Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's Special Adviser to the Director General on Pandemic Influenza, strongly defended himself and the organization with a vehement 'no' at a press conference. The suggestions of drugmakers' influence by Wolfgang Wodarg, Chairman of the European Council Health Committee, have resulted in the European Parliament taking up the issue (The Pharma Letter January 5). 18 January 2010
Biotechnology
In an initiative to speed up US health care reform and reconcile differences between the proposals coming out of the Senate and the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama and top Congressional Democrats ' including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) - held a marathon negotiating session this week in an effort to thrash out agreements on what is the President's top domestic priority. 15 January 2010
Generics
The US Food and Drug Administration has said that recent data do not show a connection between a popular inhaler and previously reported risks of stroke, heart attack and death. The Spiriva (tiotropium) HandiHaler, used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is made by family-controlled German drug major Boehringer Ingelheim and co-marketed in the USA by pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer. 15 January 2010
Pharmaceutical
The nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr — known as RFK Jr — for the role of US Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) President-elect Donald Trump sent shares in vaccine companies sharply downwards. 22 November 2024
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The UK government has reappointed BioIndustry Association (BIA) chairman Daniel Mahony as its Life Sciences Investment Envoy. 21 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Danish government’s newly-unveiled health reform has been praised for tackling chronic disease care and health inequalities while driving health innovation. 18 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
New research published by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) provides in-depth analysis of the economic footprint of the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, across member states and compares Europe to other regions of the world. 18 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Johnson & Johnson has taken legal action to defend a contentious rebate initiative, filing a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. 15 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The share prices of Pfizer, GSK, Novavax and other vaccine companies were all markedly lower on Friday. This was not due to the publication of disappointing research results in the sphere, or an ominous stance taken by a major regulator on a key filing, but rather a political development that could spell trouble for the vaccines field as a whole. 15 November 2024
Biotechnology
BeiGene has announced plans to rebrand as BeOne Medicines, a move the cancer specialist says reflects its commitment to fighting cancer through collaboration. 15 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Danish patients are being offered fewer innovative treatments than Norwegians and Swedes, a new estimate from the Danish Medicines Council shows. 11 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
According to the Swedish pharma trade group Lif, it is positive that, in the updated life science strategy, the government expresses an ambition for Sweden to become more attractive for research investments. 11 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Li Li, Commissioner of China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), and Mette Aaboe Hansen, interim director general of Danish Medicines Agency, have signed a letter of intent to promote bilateral cooperation in regulation of drugs and medical devices. 11 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Following the news that Donald Trump is the winner of the 2024 US Presidential Election, Morningstar Equity analyst Julie Utterback has published a new note about the impact of this on the managed-care industry. 7 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
UK pharma major AstraZeneca, which has invested heavily in China, hosted a sell-side analyst call on Wednesday (November 6) to discuss the recent media reports about ongoing investigations in China. 7 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Some of the UK’s leading academics and industry professionals have welcomed Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £520 million ($669 million) pledge to develop the country’s medicine manufacturing capabilities. 6 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
European regulators will decide by December 6 whether Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk, can finalize its $16.5 billion acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent. 5 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Danish government is rolling out the red carpet and welcomes several pharmaceutical companies. 4 November 2024
Generics
Medicines for Europe has launched a study of market barriers faced by European generics and biosimilar pharmaceutical companies operating in 11 key third-country markets. 31 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
Following the first Labour budget for 14 years, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) welcomes Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ measures to improve UK life sciences competitiveness. 30 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
HOPO Therapeutics has been awarded a contract valued at up to $226 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). 29 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Danish government has presented part of the plan for a future life science strategy, which has been welcomed by the industry. 28 October 2024
Biotechnology
Legend Biotech has removed Genscript Biotech as its majority shareholder, in a move coinciding with rising US concerns over Chinese ties within the biotech sector. 24 October 2024
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