Author: Selina McKee

The cost regulator for England and Wales has issued the final go-ahead for doctors to prescribe GlaxoSmithKline’s Hycamtin on the National Health Service for women with cervical cancer, but only under certain conditions that significantly restrict the treatment population.

Around 2,000 women in the UK with breast cancer could be denied access to GlaxoSmithKline’s Tyverb after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said it still considers the drug too expensive for the National Health Service.

Sir Ian Kennedy, former Chairman of the now redundant Healthcare Commission, has taken the helm of The King’s Fund’s inquiry into the quality of general practice in England, just as the second phase of the project takes off.

Shire’s stock was given a lift after US regulators approved a treatment protocol for its investigational Fabry disease agent Replagal, giving patients with the rare disorder early access to the drug to help fill the void left by shortages of Genzyme’s Fabrazyme.

Camden Primary Care Trust could be facing a High Court battle over a seemingly controversial decision to award a contract for a new GP-lead health centre to a private firm before the close of a consultation period.