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Pharmaceutical
Under plans to be announced later this week, Andrew Lansley, UK Secretary of State for Health, will announce details of a new mechanism for deciding how much the National Health Service will pay for costly new drugs, which puts the onus on doctors to decide whether they are affordable. 14 December 2010
Generics
Voters in the USA would rather reduce Medicaid spending by better managing pharmacy benefits rather than cutting benefits for patients or payments to doctors and hospitals, according to a new poll commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). 14 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
The pharmaceutical industry must prepare itself for an increasingly draconian drug pricing environment. While governments in most of the world's developed economies already regulate the prices of most prescription drugs, their control over prices will tighten in the future. 10 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
US health care major Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), B Braun Medical (a US subsidiary of Germany's B Braun Melsungen AG) and Roxane Laboratories (the generics unit of independent German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim) and affiliated entities have agreed to pay $421 million to settle False Claims Act allegations, the US Department of Justice announced yesterday. 8 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
A confidential Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiating paper authored by New Zealand suggests that the trade pact's patent and copyright provisions be no more stringent than existing global standards. Warning that the New Zealand position still poses some risks for access to medicines, US consumer advocacy group Public Citizen applauds this direct challenge to the monopoly interests of major pharmaceutical corporations. 7 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
Slovenia is ranked ninth of the 20 markets assessed in Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations, up by one place in relation to the previous quarter in Business Monitor International's Business Environment Ratings (BERs) table for fourth-quarter 2010. Overall, Slovenia's attractiveness suffers from a small market size and low forecast growth, although the high per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and widespread health awareness play in favor of pharmaceutical companies. 3 December 2010
Biotechnology
UK drugs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), in preliminary draft guidance issued yesterday has recommended the use of US biotech major Amgen's (Nasdaq: AMGN) Nplate (romiplostim) for the treatment of chronic idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in some patients. 2 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
New Zealand government drug funder PHARMAC will provide wider access to treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), and fund new blood-thinning and antibiotic treatments following an agreement with the local subsidiary of German drug major Bayer (BAY: DE). 2 December 2010
Generics
Up to 70% of prescription medicines scripts are changed by health insurers, denying patients the drugs their doctors prescribe, according to a survey by the Global Healthy Living Foundation, www.ghlf.org, a non-profit patient advocacy group. 2 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
China will lower retail price caps on 17 kinds of pharmaceutical products by an average 19% effective December 12, the country's economic planner and price regulator the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Tuesday, reported by the Xinhau news agency. These will mainly impact drugs from multinational producers. 1 December 2010
Pharmaceutical
Australia's Senate Community Affairs Committee has recommended that the threshold for Federal Cabinet approval for listing new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) be increased. In its report released last week, the Committee recommended that the threshold should be immediately increased from its current A$10 million ($9.8 million) to a level reflecting its original 2001 value and that the threshold should be indexed annually to maintain its real value. 29 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
Germany has retained its position as the most attractive pharmaceutical market in Western Europe, out of the 10 countries surveyed in Business Monitor International's Business Environment Ratings (BER) for fourth-quarter 2010. The ratings criteria serve to reinforce BMI's estimation of the country's potential owing to its strong emphasis on the regulatory environment. 29 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
In what is a further disappointment for Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: VX), the UK's drug watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued a second consultation document which does not recommend the use of the firm's Tarceva (erlotinib) as a maintenance treatment for people with non-small-cell lung cancer who have had first line treatment and their disease has remained stable, claiming it is too expensive. 26 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical companies that fail to submit annual reports of their marketing expenses to the Philippines Secretary of Health face a fine of 500,000 pesos ($11,415) and revocation of the manufacturer's or labeler's business permit once a new bill submitted to the country's House of Representatives become law. 26 November 2010
Generics
In Business Monitor International's fourth-quarter 2010 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings (BERs), the Western Europe region scored a total of 64.5 out of 100. The attractiveness of the region to pharmaceutical firms stems from the fact that its countries are key revenue sources for Big Pharma, particularly for companies selling high-end products, as per-capita spending is substantially above that of emerging markets. 26 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The UK's drug watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), this week delivery mixed news for Swiss drug majors Roche (ROG: VX) and Novartis (NOVN: VX), recommending the former's Herceptin (trastuzumab) for the treatment of metastatic gastric cancer, but rejecting a higher dosage for the latter's Glivec (imatinib) for GISTs. 25 November 2010
Biotechnology
In the fourth-quarter 2010 update, Taiwan has again retained sixth place on a regional basis in Business Monitor International's Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Business Environment Ratings, out of the 17 markets surveyed in Asia Pacific. Globally, Taiwan's TW$123.4 billion ($3.81 billion) pharmaceutical market is viewed as the 27th most attractive, out of the 83 markets surveyed by BMI. 25 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
In preliminary draft guidance issued for public consultation yesterday, the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says it has not been able to recommend French independent drugmaker Pierre Fabre's Javlor (vinflunine) for the treatment of advanced or metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelial tract (bladder cancer) which has progressed following prior treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. 24 November 2010
Biotechnology
Australia's Parliament today passed the National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Bill 2010. The Bill legislates price cuts to PBS medicines agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding between Medicines Australia and the Commonwealth government. 23 November 2010
Generics
Canada has established itself as one of the largest pharmaceuticals markets globally and provides tremendous opportunity for generics. In 2009, generics accounted for more than 54% prescriptions and around 24% sales of the total pharmaceutical market. 23 November 2010
Biotechnology
The UK’s health technology assessor the Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that talks with the makers of Enhertu have ended without agreement, meaning guidance that does not recommend Enhertu for advanced breast cancer will remain unchanged. 20 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
Biotechnology
Sanofi has announced that the UK's health technology assessor will conduct a new review of its Sarclisa (isatuximab) combo therapy for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. 13 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
The US trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) today launched new advertisements urging Congress to make sure savings on medicines go to patients, not middlemen. 11 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
UK pharma major AstraZeneca today announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its final draft guidance (FDG) recommending Wainzua (eplontersen) as a treatment option for hereditary transthyretin-related amyloidosis (ATTR) in adults with stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy across England and Wales. 29 October 2024
Biotechnology
Last week Vertex Pharmaceuticals released positive Phase III results for its suzetrigine for moderate-to-severed pain. Belgium’s UCB revealed that Swiss pharma giant Roche was terminating its collaboration on the Alzheimer’s candidate bepranemab. The UK’s health technology assessor the Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) declined to recommend a second Alzheimer’s treatment, this time Eli Lilly’s Kisunla. Also of note, Lyell Immunopharma announced its planned acquisition of ImmPACT Bio and reprioritization of its own clinical pipeline. 27 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines for breast cancer, providing a boost to Novartis' Kisqali (ribociclib). 24 October 2024
Biotechnology
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved US pharma major Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Kisunla (donanemab) for people in Britain with mild cognitive impairment or those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. 23 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), yesterday released new data showing that nearly 1.5 million people with Medicare Part D saved nearly $1 billion in out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs in the first half of 2024 because of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. 23 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
UK health technology assessor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended elafibranor 80mg tablets for the treatment of PBC, the drug’s French developer Ipsen announced today. 22 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released its final report assessing the effectiveness and pricing of key treatments for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). 22 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) says it has submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to inform the agency’s 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. 21 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
“The new key figures from the NZa show that Dutch expenditure on expensive medicines remains stable,” says Mark Kramer, chairman of the Association of Innovative Medicines (VIG), adding: “That is good news from a social perspective.” 21 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
The Danish Medicines Council (Medicinrådet), responsible for evaluating and recommending new treatments for Denmark’s healthcare system, is facing a significant increase in processing times. 14 October 2024
Generics
Two US units of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have agreed to pay $450 million to resolve two matters that allege Teva violated the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the False Claims Act (FCA), the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced yesterday. 11 October 2024
Biosimilars
South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis has released its Fourth Quarter 2024 Biosimilar Market Report, marking the seventh-edition of the Quarterly Biosimilar Market Report in the United States. 11 October 2024
Biotechnology
US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli (teclistamab) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a first-line option to treat myeloma in England and Wales. 10 October 2024
Generics
CMS released a Request for Information (RFI) and a sample list of prescription drugs that the agency preliminarily intends to include under the proposed Medicare $2 Drug List Model. 10 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
US pharma major Bristol Myers Squibb’s recent approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride) for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia is a win for the company. 9 October 2024
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