Pricing, reimbursement and access
Refine Search
Pharmaceutical
South Korea is an amazing economic success story and the origin of much cutting edge technology. Its pharmaceutical market can now also be given 'Asian tiger' status, comments veteran pharma expert Donald Macarthur, who has particular experience of the Asia region. 22 November 2010
Biotechnology
The USA's Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) says the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) reviewed the impact of labeled and unlabeled use of Provenge (sipuleucel-T) treatment on health outcomes of patients with advanced prostate cancer, concluding that it would 'significantly' improve survival in men with the disease. The company's shares moved 6.2% higher to $38.11 on the news yesterday. 18 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
Swiss drug major Roche ROG: VX) received a disappointing final draft guidance from UK drug watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which denied use of the firm's top-selling cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy (oxaliplatin and either 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine) for treating metastatic colorectal cancer on the National Health Service. 15 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
'We are breaking the price monopoly of the pharmaceutical industry,' said a government health spokesman, after the German parliament this week passed a drug price reform package to bring down the prices of new branded prescription medicines, which have hitherto been decided mainly by the pharma sector. 12 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
To help US consumers better understand prescription drug choices, the seniors organization AARP and Consumer Reports Health have launched a new on-line drug comparison tool. For the first time, they claim, people can use Consumers Union data to compare prescription drug safety, effectiveness, convenience and price, as well as receive tips on how to have a conversation about their medications with their doctor or pharmacist - all at one easy-to-use web site. 12 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The cost of health care for people in the USA with employer-sponsored health insurance climbed an estimated 6.3% for the year ending June 30, according to a new Thomson Reuters index. 12 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which dictates what treatments the federal health-insurance program for the elderly will cover, is running a "national coverage analysis" of drugmaker Dendreon's (Nasdaq: DNDN) Provenge (sipuleucel-T) for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, the first vaccine approved for treating any cancer (The Pharma Letter April 30), according to a Washington Post report that has been placed on the web site of the US seniors group AARP. 10 November 2010
Generics
New Zealand's Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) has reached agreement with InterPharma Pty for seven oncology products and has also done a deal with Germany's Bayer (BAY: DE) for three products. 10 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
US legislation that requires manufacturers of brand-name drugs to provide new discounts and rebates for drugs purchased through Medicare and Medicaid, with the amount of those discounts and rebates based on the prices of the drugs, will see overall prices rise, according to estimates by the USA' Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Manufacturers thus have an incentive to raise those prices to offset the costs of providing the new discounts and rebates, although other forces will limit their ability to do so, it states. 10 November 2010
Generics
Access to life saving, prescription medicines is under threat, if a controversial Bill is passed by the Australian Parliament, claims the country's Generic Medicines Industry Association (GMiA. The National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Bill 2010 gives effect to a new policy that will cut the government's funding of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by A$1.9 billion ($1.86 billion), it says. 8 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The news that the UK drugs watchdog the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will no longer deny patients access to new medicines is a welcome move away from centralized rationing, according to the Stockholm Network, a pro-market think tank. 4 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The latest figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) on health expenditure estimates in Canada show medicines are no longer the fastest growing component in the country's health care system. The numbers indicate the drug budget in Canada grew by only 4.8% from 2009, compared to a 6.3% increase in 2008. According to the CIHI, the 2010 rate of growth for drugs is expected to be smaller than hospitals and doctors. 3 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
On the occasion of the Belgian Presidency's ministerial conference on innovation and solidarity in the field of pharmaceuticals, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, announced the launch of a process on corporate responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry. 3 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The UK drug watchdog body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), will no longer be able to deny patients the use of therapies on the National Health Service based on cost effectiveness, as it has done until now, and will only be permitted to adjudicate on efficacy and safety. Instead, groups of general practitioners within the 150 or so Primary Care Trusts will decide which drugs should be funded by the NHS in England and Wales. 2 November 2010
Generics
New Zealand's Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) has reached agreement with the local subsidiary of US generic drugmaker Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL) to fund a new brand of the atypical antipsychotics olanzapine tablets and orodispersible tablets, Olanzine and Olanzine-D, respectively, from June 1, 2011. 2 November 2010
Pharmaceutical
The UK drugs watchdog body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said this morning that it is not recommended Swiss drug major Novartis' (NOVN: VX) as a treatment for severely asthmatic children under the age of 12. 27 October 2010
Pharmaceutical
The UK's drug watchdog body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued its Appraisal Consultation Document (ACD) on the use of US drug giant Merck & Co's (NYSE: MRK) Simponi (golimumab) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after the failure of previous disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate. 22 October 2010
Pharmaceutical
Changes are needed in the remit of the UK drugs watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), to equip it for the future 'value-based' era envisaged by government, according to the trade group the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). 20 October 2010
Generics
In what is clearly a victory for the research-based pharmaceutical industry, the UK government has decided not to progress with plans for the automatic generic substitution of medicines in primary care, Health Minister Lord Howe announced yesterday. 15 October 2010
Biotechnology
Germany's medicinal biotechnology sector came through the global financial crisis with flying colors, but is under threat from Germany's drug pricing reforms. That was the message from a medicinal biotech panel in Munich this week led by Frank Mathias, chairman of VFA Bio and chief executive of the biotech firm MediGene AG. VFA Bio is the lobby group for biotechnology within the German pharmaceutical association, the VFA. 15 October 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
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
A US biotech company dedicated to creating oral drugs with an emphasis on indications in virology and immunology.
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze