Look back at Pharma news to July 14

Political news last week focussed on the US Republicans in the Senate revealing their latest proposals to repeal and replace Obamacare and in Europe the perceived plight of the pharmaceutical industry and patient access to medicines in the event of Britain’s unorderly withdrawal from the European Union. On the company front, there was news of Sanofi’s acquisition of US vaccines maker Protein Biosciences, developments on Amicus Therapeutics’ Fabry disease drug, a Complete Response Letter for Ocular Therapeutix, Ocular Therapeutix, and the rumored departure of AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot.

Leaders of pharma trade associations,  in a letter to Michel Barnier, chief EU negotiator, and David Davis, the UK Brexit secretary, underlined the importance of securing ongoing cooperation between the UK and the EU on medicines, pointing out that the pharmaceutical industry was highly integrated across Europe and regulated under EU law.

In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Associations of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, underlined the industry’s desire for “frictionless trade” post-Brexit. Innovative medicines of the kind being produced today were “often very complex to manufacture,” involving multiple cross-border transfers before the final product was available for patients in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. He pointed out that while many medicines first marketed in 2010 or earlier would be covered by a reciprocal agreement under the World Trade Organization - which means they attract zero tariffs - the same did not apply to drugs produced after that date. Mr Thompson added that medical ingredients or components needed for research and development, such as placebos, were also not necessarily covered by the WTO rules.