R-Pharm, one of Russia’s leading drugmakers, has signed an agreement with the USA’s clinical stage biotech firm Aspyrian Therapeutics on the transfer of the rights for the use of one of its investigational molecules by the US company during the development of anti-cancer drugs, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 29 July 2017
The most recent new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease was approved by European regulators in May 2002, with the US Food and Drug Administration following suit the next year. 26 July 2017
The benefits of patient-centric clinical trials, the role packaging can play, and why it is worth incurring up-front costs and inconveniences to put the patient at the center of studies are discussed by Justin Schroeder, executive director, marketing, business development and design at PCI Pharma Services, in an Expert View piece. 26 July 2017
While researchers have long tangled over the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease, recent trial failures have renewed interest in tau proteins as a therapeutic target. 26 July 2017
China has released a new list of 36 drugs, including 31 chemicals and biologics and five traditional Chinese medicines, covered by China’s national Medicare reimbursement scheme, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent Wang Fangquing. 25 July 2017
In a quarterly Special Report piece, Andrew Williams, patent law expert, partner at Chicago-based IP law firm McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff and chair of its Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Trials Practice Group, writes about a crucial case affecting the marketing of biosimilars in the USA. 25 July 2017
Stem cells are expected to dramatically improve the ability of drug companies to screen new drugs for side effects much earlier in the development process. Given that this is expected to significantly lower costs and shorten the time it takes to develop a new drug, India is looking to set forth new guidelines for stem cell research, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent. 25 July 2017
The fall of solanezumab late last year, followed by verubecestat in February, sent tremors through the Alzheimer's research community and wiped billions from the share prices of those biologics’ respective developers - Eli Lilly and Merck & Co. 24 July 2017
Trying to control investor and media relations for Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca remains an unenviable task, with leaks now appearing to suggest that chief executive Pascal Soriot is staying. 24 July 2017
The share price of Canada-based Aeterna Zentaris’ had shot up by nearly 200% to $3.01 by Friday lunchtime compared to Tuesday’s close, with the company considering what to do with new-found success. 21 July 2017
The perception that biomarkers will be key to unlocking the potential of precision medicine is so popular that they are now seen as an essential part of the drug development armory. 21 July 2017
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the UK’s great success stories, writes Michael Jewell, healthcare partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance, in an Expert View piece on how the sector could see an increase in deal-making as Brexit looms. 20 July 2017
The launch of a new Russian-Nicaraguan vaccine production, which was recently established in the city of Managua with the aim of becoming one of the largest in Central and Latin America, will be postponed for the end of the current year, according to press-service of the Russian Ministry of Health. 19 July 2017
Swiss pharma giant Novartis is considering accelerating expansion in the Russian market of anti-cancer drugs in the coming years, according to the company. 19 July 2017
The pharmaceutical industry is a prime target for hackers. In 2015, a survey by Crown Records Management revealed that nearly two thirds of pharma firms had experienced breaches in data, and that one fourth of these same companies had been victims of hacking. 18 July 2017
As a lifelong follower of the so-called ‘tau hypothesis’, TauRx Therapeutics chief executive Claude Wischik ploughed a lonely furrow for many years. 18 July 2017
In an Expert View piece, Ivan Blanarik, senior vice president and head of biosimilars at privately-owned German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim, looks at how breakthrough advancements in biotechnology have enabled the pharmaceutical industry to step into a new area of healthcare with the development of biosimilars. 13 July 2017
AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot is the leading candidate to be the CEO of Israel’s generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, according to Israeli newspapers Haaretz and Calcalist. 13 July 2017
As a result of lack of commercial interest, pharmaceutical companies operating in Brazil have withdrawn from the market old and cheap medications, some of them essential and without substitutes. 12 July 2017
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