News

Johnson & Johnson has lost another US lawsuit alleging that the firm knew of increased cancer risks from regular use of its talc-based products but failed to warn consumers, potentially paving the way for thousands more similar cases.

Regeneron has unveiled encouraging top-line data from a placebo-controlled Phase II/III study assessing its investigational Nerve Growth Factor antibody fasinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe uncontrolled osteoarthritis pain of the hip or knee. 

AstraZeneca has completed its acquisition of Takeda’s core respiratory business, in a move which the drug giant says will be accretive to its 2016 earnings.

US regulators have issued a green light for Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ atypical antipsychotic Nuplazid, offering patients the potential to access the first treatment for Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP).

Six new medicines, including a new antibacterial and therapies for multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, have jumped closer to European approval, after winning backing from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. 

Abbott is buying medical device maker St Jude Medical in a deal worth around $25 billion.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is recommending NHS use of Novartis’ oral combination therapy Tafinlar (dabrafenib) + Mekinist (trametinib) for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation.

Apple has now launched its new CareKit platform with four active apps on offer targeting management of diabetes, depression, and maternal/baby health.

AbbVie has announced plans to snap up privately held US cancer drugmaker Stemcentrx in a deal potentially worth $9.8 billion, in a move designed to expand its solid tumour development pipeline.

Pharmaceutical wholesaler Mawdsleys is sending out a ‘Cuts Survival Pack’ to pharmacists in England to help them deal with the impact of looming government funding cuts.

AstraZeneca says its ovarian cancer therapy Lynparza is now available for NHS patients in England and Wales with platinum-sensitive relapsed BRCA-mutated high-grade serous forms of the disease who have had three or more courses of platinum-based chemotherapy.

Adding Takeda’s oral ixazomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival, with limited additional toxicity, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to results of a Phase III trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

French drugmaker Sanofi has swooped in with a $9.3 billion-bid for US biopharma Medivation, in an attempt to secure access to prostate cancer drug Xtandi and further bulk up its oncology offering.

Servier’s Lonsurf has been cleared for use in Europe to treat certain patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.