Allergan has unveiled plans to trim more than 1,000 jobs from its workforce in a bid to reduce costs and prepare for increased generic competition this year.
News
CQC to rate health websites and non-NHS services
The Care Quality Commission is to get new powers to award quality ratings to wider range of healthcare services, including websites for medical advice and prescriptions from GPs online.
PIM status for Boehringer’s mesothelioma drug
Boehringer Ingelheim’s nintedanib has been designated a Promising Innovative Medicine for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) by the UK Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
Clinical Researcher of the Year – The Americas: Looking to the future
The 2018 Clinical Researcher of the Year—the Americas competition is well underway. Hundreds of competitors have completed Stage 1, a multiple-choice questionnaire testing knowledge of Good Clinical Practice; and Stage 2 has been implemented.
US awards Novartis’ Kisqali ‘Breakthrough’ status
Novartis’ CDK4/6 inhibitor Kisqali has picked up Breakthrough status in the US as an initial endocrine-based treatment in certain patients with breast cancer.
NHS hospitals advised to delay non-urgent care
NHS England is advising hospitals to defer non-urgent, elective operations and procedures until next month to help the health service deal with high pressures over the winter period.
Mallinckrodt snaps up Sucampo for $1.2bn
UK-based pharma Mallinckrodt is buying US biopharma Sucampo Pharmaceuticals for around $1.2 billion.
NICE publishes final draft guidelines backing GSK’s Strimvelis
Cost regulators for NHS funded therapies in England and Wales have now published final draft guidance approving GlaxoSmithKline’s gene therapy Strimvelis for an ultra-rare immune deficiency condition commonly referred to as bubble baby syndrome.
GW’s cannabinoid Epidiolex under EU, US review
Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are now reviewing GW Pharmaceuticals’ cannabinoid Epidiolex as a potential treatment for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) or Dravet syndrome.
Roche to buy Ignyta for $1.7 billion
Roche has announced plans to buy US group Ignyta for $27 a share in an all-cash deal totaling around $1.7 billion, securing itself access to the latter’s experimental cancer medicines.
NICE to reassess Pfizer’s leukaemia drug Besponsa
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will reassess Pfizer’s Besponsa (inotuzumab ozogamicin) as a treatment for adults with a certain form of leukaemia.
US green light for Pfizer/Merck diabetes therapies
Pfizer and Merck’s diabetes drugs Steglatro and Steglujan have been approved for the US market.
Breakthrough status for Pfizer/Merck’s avelumab combo
Merck and Pfizer’s avelumab has picked up its second breakthrough therapy status in the US, this time for use in combination with Inlyta for treatment-naïve patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
AZ and ICL link to research respiratory diseases
AstraZeneca and Imperial College London have announced plans to work together on investigating the scientific mechanisms and underlying drivers of respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Janssen buys into Legend’s CART therapy
Janssen has entered into a global collaboration and license agreement with Legend Biotech USA and Legend Biotech Ireland to develop, manufacture and commercialise experimental CART-cell therapy LCAR-B38M.
