In an interview with The Pharma Letter, Nicholas Saccomano, chief science officer of Array BioPharma, discusses its lead product filanesib, its partnerships with big pharma and why there are many more kinase targets to be discovered. 15 July 2014
Merck Serono, the biotech unit of Germany’s Merck KGaA, has announced the appointment of Luciano Rossetti as executive vice president and global head of research and development. 14 July 2014
Taiwan-based pharmaceutical company ScinoPharm (TWSE: 1789) says that its president and chief executive will retire at the end of July after 17 years of service. He will be succeeded by Dr Yung-Fa (Fred) Chen, who is currently the company’s vice president of research and development, and chief technology officer, from August 1. 11 July 2014
US-based oncology specialist Jounce Therapeutics has announced the appointment of Richard Murray to chief executive officer. Dr Murray has more than 20 years of experience in building research and development capabilities in small startups and large pharmaceutical companies. He replaces the interim chief executive, Cary Pfeffer. 11 July 2014
UK-based biotech company Oxford BioTherapeutics, focusing on antibody-drug conjugates in the treatment of cancer, has announced the appointment of Eugen Leo as head of clinical development. 11 July 2014
Danish allergy specialist ALK-Abello has appointed Helle Skov as new Executive Vice President (Product Supply) and member of the Board of Management of ALK-Abelló A/S. 1 July 2014
Specialist medical translation agency Conversis Medical has announced the appointment of Mark Hooper as Global Director with immediate effect. 26 June 2014
Biotechnology firm Retrogenix has announces the appointment of Matthew Britz as North American Business Development Director with immediate effect. 23 June 2014
The chairman of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world’s largest generic drugs company, has indicated that he will step down from his position by year-end. 18 June 2014
UK drug discovery firm Summit, which is focused on therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Clostridium difficile infection, has established US operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 17 June 2014
Up to 2022, Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk expects to hire 6,000 new employees in Denmark, half of whom will work within research and development. The new jobs will have the derived effect of boosting employment by more than 15,000 jobs nationally. 11 June 2014
US biotech firm Dendreon revealed last evening that John Johnson plans to step down as president and chief executive officer for personal reasons. 10 June 2014
Dieter Weinand will become President of the HealthCare division of German pharma major Bayer Pharmaceuticals, effective August 1, 2014 and at the same time join the Executive Committee of Bayer HealthCare. 5 June 2014
Australia/USA-based Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, a pain drug development company, has announced the appointment of Ronald Marcus as Chief Medical Officer. 5 June 2014
There were a couple of surprise planned departures and relocations revealed at European pharmaceutical majors, first at Germany’s Bayer and also at France’s Sanofi. 4 June 2014
UK-based monoclonal antibody biopharmaceutical company Kymab has announced the appointment of Steve Arkinstall as Chief Scientific Officer and Nigel Clark as Vice President and Head of Business Development. 3 June 2014
Swiss pharma major Novartis has announced the appointment of Bruno Strigini as president of Novartis Oncology, effective June 1, replacing Herve Hoppenot, who quit the post early this year to become chief executive of USA-based Incyte Corp. 1 June 2014
Oligonucleotide therapeutics are rapidly emerging as a promising class of drugs capable of addressing a variety of genetic and complex diseases by targeting RNA sequences.1 16 September 2024
The protection of intellectual property (IP) rights of foreign pharmaceutical companies in Russia remains complex situation, according to recent statements by Konstantin Panurovsky, legal director of AstraZeneca’s Russian subsidiary, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 13 September 2024
The Russian Ministry of Health wants to speed registration of drugs that are not localized in the Russian Federation at the time of the application submitted by domestic pharmaceutical companies, explaining such changes by "unpredictable geopolitical situation," reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 12 September 2024
NewCo, a relatively new business model that involves a joint venture (JV) between a biotech and a group of investors to bring the biotech’s promising assets to the global market, is gaining popularity among Chinese biotechs, who traditionally rely on out-licensing deals to capitalize assets, s 11 September 2024
The upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 should provide a reminder—if it were needed—of the pace of innovation in the development of new medicines for cancer. 10 September 2024
A significant drop has been noticed in the prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), bringing much-needed relief to the pharmaceutical industry and potentially translating to lower drug costs for consumers. 9 September 2024
Amid an explosion in investment and development milestones seen over the past decade, the age of radiopharmaceuticals as both diagnostics and as therapeutics is very much arriving. 5 September 2024
German pharma major Bayer has filed a lawsuit against the Russian drugmaker Promomed to protect the patent rights for Xarelto (rivaroxaban), its treatment for stroke prevention which is the best-selling drug in the Russian market at present, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports. 2 September 2024
In a major crackdown, the Indian government has imposed an immediate ban on 156 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs, including commonly used antibiotics, pain relievers,and multivitamins. 27 August 2024
Russia plans to create conditions for a significant increase of domestic production of anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin drugs after a sharp decrease of their imports to the local market this year, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 22 August 2024
Accord Healthcare might not be as well-known as certain preeminent pharma corporations in the UK and Europe, but you would struggle to find any company making a greater contribution to the production and supply of medicines across the continent. 14 August 2024
The shortage of drugs in Russia is deepening, and is currently being observed in almost 70 regions throughout the country and forcing the local state to consider ways to resume stable supplies to local market, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 13 August 2024
US biotech major Biogen is disputing the launch of a Russian generic of Spinraza (nusinersen), a drug, which is used to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 7 August 2024
CytoReason’s $80 million venture round may not have been the biggest in July, but it is one of a growing number of investor bets on AI powered drug discovery this year. 7 August 2024
Domestic drugs and foreign drugs, the production of which is localized in Russia, will be given a priority when included in the list of vital and essential drugs (VED) and expensive drugs, according to a recent resolution signed by the Russian government, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports. 1 August 2024