News

UK drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline has begun dosing patients in a Phase III study assessing the potential of its monoclonal antibody sirukumab as a treatment for giant cell arteritis.

Patients with hepatitis C living in England and Wales could get ‘routine’ access to three new treatments – Gilead’s Harvoni, AbbVie’s Viekirax and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Daklinza – after cost-regulators approved their use on the National Health Service. 

New therapies for depression and melanoma have been cleared for National Health Service use in England and Wales by cost regulator the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Lilly will be breathing a sigh of relief after US regulators issued a green light for its lung cancer drug Portrazza, having been satisfied that its potential benefits outweigh its risks.

Draft guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer recommend two therapies for National Health Service use but reject a further three.

Shire is reportedly preparing a second approach for Baxter spin-off Baxalta, after its initial $30-billion hostile takeover bid was spurned by the US rare disease biotech earlier this year.

University College London (UCL) has announced that it is forming a biopharma company focused on gene therapies to treat eye diseases that cause blindness.

Amgen’s cancer immunotherapy Blincyto has won conditional approval in Europe for the treatment of a rare type of leukaemia.

European regulators have approved Gilead’s Genvoya for the treatment of HIV, giving adult and adolescent patients the potential to access a novel, once daily, single-tablet regimen that offers viral suppression alongside other important long-term health benefits.

A new drug that many hope could revolutionise treatment of a certain form of heart failure has now been given a green light for use in Europe. 

With Christmas approaching, time is running out to enter the PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year 2016.

The NHS will get an above-inflation cash boost of £3.8 billion for next year after chief executive Simon Stevens convinced chancellor George Osborne of the need for immediate funding.

Novartis’ Cosentyx has become the first IL-17 inhibitor to win European approval for ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, offering a novel approach to treating two of the most common inflammatory joint conditions in the region, for which there remains high unmet need.

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued an incredibly speedy approval for the use of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy Opdivo in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, marking its fifth regulatory approval across three tumour types in the country.

Following weeks of speculation Pfizer has now confirmed that it is merging with Botox-maker Allergan in a transaction valued at $160 billion, making it the biggest pharma deal in history.