The UK’s new 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth (VPAG) came into force at the beginning of January this year. 4 October 2024
GigaGen has been awarded a contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 4 October 2024
Oxford, UK-based Enara Bio today announces the closing of a $32.5 million Series B financing supported by a strong syndicate of new and existing biotech investors. 3 October 2024
French drugmaker Mitem Pharmavhas the worldwide acquisition of Desferal (deferoxamine), a major MITM in hematology, from Swiss giant Novartis. 25 September 2024
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) is further expanding its focus on life sciences by opening an institute for biomedical artificial intelligence (AI) based on a 150 million euros ($166.8 million) funding from the German non-profit Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation (BIS). 18 September 2024
Zenas BioPharma announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering of 13,235,294 shares of its common stock at an initial public offering price of $17.00 per share. 13 September 2024
US pharma major Eli Lilly and Egyptian firm EVA Pharma have entered into an agreement to expand access to Olumiant (baricitinib) to an estimated 20,000 people in 49 low- to middle-income countries in Africa by 2030. 6 September 2024
Novartis is building two new radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facilities in the USA to enhance its supply chain for cancer treatments. This move supports the growing use of RLTs, a form of precision medicine that targets tumors with radiation. 6 September 2024
Belgium’s largest drugmaker UCB announced a strategic divestment deal in China, underscoring its strategic shift towards innovation and partnership in one of the world’s fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets. 27 August 2024
The UK’s largest pharma company AstraZeneca has rejected claims that it is moving its vaccine operations to the USA, according to media reports. 23 August 2024
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma announced the termination of its exclusive sales rights agreements with AnGes for the HGF gene therapy product, Collategene (beperminogene perplasmid) intramuscular injection targeting peripheral arterial diseases in Japan and the USA. 23 August 2024
UK pharma major AstraZeneca has become the only current UK-lis¬ted company to reach a £200 billion ($256.4 billion) valuation, the Financial Times reported today, noting that it is a vindication of the company’s bet on developing a leading portfolio of cancer drugs. 14 August 2024
Japan’s Eisai and US biotech Biogen today revealed that the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved Leqembi (lecanemab) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 14 August 2024
US pharma giant Pfizer has announced the publication of real-world results from a cohort of the longitudinal, observational Phase IV THAOS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey) study in the Journal of Cardiac Failure. 8 August 2024
Japanese drugmaker Shionogi says that its New Drug Application (NDA) for cefiderocol has been accepted for review by the Center for Drug Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). 5 August 2024
Germany’s Bayer has submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval to market elinzanetant for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS), commonly known as hot flashes, associated with menopause. 2 August 2024
US synthetic DNA producer Twist Bioscience today announced a drug discovery agreement with Japan’s Ono Pharmaceutical to discover and develop novel antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. 31 August 2023
Privately-held Danish company MC2 Therapeutics today announced an agreement under which a Huadong Medicine unit has been granted exclusive rights in Greater China to develop and commercialize MC2’s drug, Wynzora Cream for the treatment of plaque psoriasis. 31 August 2023
French drugmaker Sanofi has made a series of changes to its executive team, including the appointment of a new head of research and development. 31 August 2023
US ophthalmology focused biotech Outlook Therapeutics saw its shares closed down more than 80% at $0.27 yesterday, after it revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a CRL to the company’s biologic license application (BLA) for ONS-5010. 31 August 2023
US biotech BioMarin Pharmaceutical late yesterday announced that an individual in Germany with severe hemophilia A was treated with Roctavian (valoctocogene roxaparvovec-rvox), marking the first time that the gene therapy has been given commercially in Europe. 31 August 2023
Research from industry analyst GlobalData suggests that German company BioNTech will likely be a leader in the emerging market for mRNA-based oncology therapies. 31 August 2023
An Expert View from Luigi Angelillo and Cecile can Steen from Santen, and Kirsty Ross-Stewart, Justus Dehnen and Walter Colasante from the global consulting firm CRA. 31 August 2023
The diabetic macular edema (DME) market in the seven major markets (7MM: the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan) is set to grow from $5.4 billion in 2021 to $9.6 billion in 2031. 31 August 2023
US pharma giant Merck & Co, known as MSD outside of the USA and Canada, will stop deliveries to Russia of Zepatier (elbasvir/grazoprevir), one of the most popular drugs against hepatitis C, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 30 August 2023
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended authorizing a version of BioNTech and Pfizer’s Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant. 30 August 2023
In a major reprieve, India's National Medical Commission (NMC) has put on hold with immediate effect its recent regulation mandating doctors to prescribe only generic drugs or face strict punishment. 30 August 2023
In a bid to consolidate its lead in the weight management therapy sector, diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk has now bought a fellow Denmark based company and its obesity program. 30 August 2023
US biopharma Apellis has announced a company restructuring in a bid to focus on making Syfovre (pegcetacoplan injection) a leading treatment for geographic atrophy (GA). 30 August 2023
Russian drugmaker R-Pharm is considering acquiring the manufacturing facility of Japanese pharma giant Takeda located in Yaroslavl, Russia, The Pharma Letters local correspondent reports. 30 August 2023
Shares of US biotech FibroGen were down 22% at $0.995 pre-market today, after it announced top-line data from the Phase III LELANTOS-2 trial of pamrevlumab for the treatment of ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) on background systemic corticosteroids. 30 August 2023
Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Kirin has received approval in its home country for a higher-dose formulation of its oral calcimimetics agent Orkedia (evocalcet). 30 August 2023
Bristol Myers Squibb has picked up a new approval in the USA for its anemia med Reblozyl (luspatercept-aamt), a first-in-class therapy which promotes late-stage red blood cell maturation. 30 August 2023
Japanese drugmaker Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings, has announced that its FGFR inhibitor Lytgobi (futibatinib) has now been listed on the National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement price list. 30 August 2023