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Biotechnology
The European Commission yesterday confirmed that its officials have started further surprise inspections at the premises of several companies active in the pharmaceutical industry in some European Union member states following a sector-wide inquiry which revealed problems in the speed generic drugs come to the market after patents have expired. Such practices are claimed to have cost health care providers about 3 billion euros ($4.5 billion) between 2007 and 2008. 10 December 2009
Pharmaceutical
Celgene Corp says it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire fellow USA-based rival acquire Gloucester Pharmaceuticals., in a two-part deal valuing the latter at some $640 million and provide it with rights to a new blood cancer drug, Istodax (romidepsin). The transaction has been approved by both firms' boards of director and is subject to customary closing conditions. 8 December 2009
Pharmaceutical
The Spanish pharmaceutical market is the fifth largest of the European Union's 27 member states. Pharmacy sales are growing at a slower rate compared to those in hospitals, but they still represent about three quarters of the market at manufacturers' prices, notes a new report from Espicom Business Intelligence. 7 December 2009
Biotechnology
UK Department of Health's 'money back' deal for MS drugs questioned; failing people with the disease
December 23, 2009
In 2002, the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) ruled that certain drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis were not cost effective. In response, the Department of Health set up an observational study called the Risk Sharing Scheme. The aim of the study was to observe the effects of these drugs (over a 10-year period) and if the four drugs in question failed to perform as promised then the manufacturers would share the risk of any potential negative outcomes by subsidising their future cost to the National Health Service. The scheme promised to make these drugs available to all those with MS who fitted the study criteria. 3 December 2009
Pharmaceutical
UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline aims to reduce the prices of its drugs for poorer and developing country markets, the firm's head of emerging markets, Abbass Hussain, told the Financial Times' Andrew Jack in an exclusive interview. The GSK executive wants to move away from 'white pills in western market,' telling the FT that 'we need to innovate down the pyramid working the market down.' 30 November 2009
Generics
In Japan, where generic drugs still have a small market share versus brand-name products compared to other developed countries, the market share of originator medicines has not decreased much, despite large falls in their prices, according to a study from the Korosho, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare 25 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
The cost of first line malaria drug in Tanzania, Allu, will be lowered to 400 shillings ($0.30) per dose, the nation's government has announced. This is after the decision to allow private sector players to import the drug, reports the local newspaper The Citizen. 25 November 2009
Generics
In a joint statement, the UK Department of Health and London-based DDSA Pharmaceuticals said they had agreed an out of court settlement relating to the claims brought against DDSA for an alleged anti-competitive cartel conduct in connection with the supply to the National Health Service of generic drugs. 24 November 2009
Biotechnology
Data from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs pertaining to the month of August of 2009 shows that growth in public pharmaceutical expenditure in Spain has reached 4.78%. This annual growth of expenditure is due to a 4.68% increase in the number of prescriptions, and a 0.09% on the average expenditure per prescription, reports the country's trade body Farmaindustria. 24 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld an earlier District Court ruling on November 20, approving a $24 million settlement in the long-running Average Wholesale Price (AWP) pharmaceutical litigation against Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca. 23 November 2009
Biotechnology
UK's NICE again rejects Bayer's Nexavar for advanced liver cancer, but company can, and will, appeal
Following a further appraisal, the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has again decided against recommending the use of German drug major Bayer's Nexavar (sorafenib) under the National Health Service for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patient for whom surgery or therapies in the region the cancer arose have failed or are not suitable, essentially because the drug is too expensive. 19 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Following recent allegations in the New York Times, and rebuttals by the US research-based pharmaceutical industry (The Pharma Letter November 18), leaders of the US House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees have sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting an expedited report on recent trends in prescription drug pricing. 19 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Following the increasing impact of the Geneva, Switzerland-based public-private partnership the Gavi Alliance on the vaccine market, the price of one of the major combination vaccines, the pentavalent, is falling considerably, enabling GAVI's partners to vaccinate millions of more children in the developing world, the charity said. 18 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the USA drug industry lobby group, has strongly contested the allegations in a front page New York Times story that suggested that drugmakers raised their prices by 9% this year in order to cushion themselves from the steep cuts in drug spending that are included in the country's health reform plans. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992, the NYT article claimed. 18 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Ireland's Health Minister, Mary Harney, has revealed that prescription charges for medical card holders under the General Medical Services Scheme (GMS) are being considered as part of the budget package, as she outlined how she is trying to find 1 billion euros ($1.49 billion) in cuts from the 16 billion-euro health budget. 17 November 2009
Generics
Due to the depreciation of Brazil‘s currency against the US dollar, the Brazilian pharmaceutical market has fallen in dollar values in 2009. Controlled drug prices are increasing below inflational levels and demand is contained by a falling economic growth projected in 2009, says a new report from Espicom. 9 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Research-based drugmakers in Australia received some good and bad news this week, with the announcement of moves that will add to their costs and backing for their Code of Conduct provisions. 3 November 2009
Generics
The Scottish Government has reached settlement with a pharmaceutical company over alleged anti-competitive behavior in the supply of drugs to the National Health Service. OPD Cartons Limited (formerly Kent Pharmaceuticals) has agreed, on a full and final basis, to pay 225,000 in compensation. 2 November 2009
Pharmaceutical
Last year, US consumers and their insurance companies spent $4.8 billion on Nexium (esomeprazole, a blockbuster drug from AstraZeneca) one of six proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) currently available, making "the purple pill" the second highest-selling drug in 2008, behind Lipitor (atorvastatin, the cholesterol-lowering, all-time biggest selling drug from Pfizer, reports Consumer Reports' Best Buy Drugs. 'It's no wonder: a month's supply of Nexium has a retail price tag of up to $240 a month, compared to just $24 a month for an over-the-counter PPI,' it observes. 30 October 2009
Pharmaceutical
UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, which has finally received US Food and Drug Administration for its cervical cancer vaccine (The Pharma Letter October 19) plans to challenge the US market dominance of rival Merck & Co's Gardasil with a price war, according to Financial Times pharmaceutical correspondent Andrew Jack. 20 October 2009
Pharmaceutical
Efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are gaining momentum in Europe, with the introduction of innovative measures to drive the development of new antimicrobials. 25 November 2024
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
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