Author: Kevin Grogan

It has been reported by Bloomberg that Pharmacyclics, which discovered the cancer drug Imbruvica, is looking for buyers and partner Johnson & Johnson and Novartis are cited as possible acquirers.

AstraZeneca has signed a collaboration with UK-based Orca Pharmaceuticals to develop drugs against a wide range of autoimmune diseases for which there is currently no safe, effective oral treatment.

Novartis’ eagerly-anticipated new psoriasis drug Cosentyx will be available in the UK at the beginning of March, the first IL17-A inhibitor to be licensed for the skin condition.

The pharmaceutical industry in the UK says the regulatory system and patient safety could be under threat after doctors called for the removal of “current barriers” preventing them from prescribing Roche’s cancer blockbuster off-label for wet age-related macular degeneration.

In a first for England, Greater Manchester is to be handed control of its £6 billion NHS budget, with its ten councils taking responsibility for the region’s entire health and social care system.