News

A Phase II clinical study* of an Ebola vaccine regimen being developed by Janssen and Bavarian Nordic has kicked off with healthy volunteers in England and France.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is being investigated by Monitor because of persistent cash problems, in what seems to be yet another example of the deteriorating state of trust finances across the country.   

US regulators have approved AstraZeneca’s targeted monotherapy Iressa as a first-line treatment for certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Regulators in Europe are undertaking a review of HPV vaccines to “further clarify” elements of their safety profile.

Scottish cost regulators have approved funding for National Health Service use of five new medicines this month, including treatments for thyroid cancer, Crohn’s disease and a novel antibiotic for pneumonia.

Johnson & Johnson has booked an 8.8% drop in sales for the second quarter to $17.8 billion, largely dragged down by currency effects (-7.9%) and a reduced contribution from its medical devices unit.

Takeda has submitted an application in the US to market its experimental cancer drug ixazomib for the treatment of patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Roche says data from a Phase II trial of its PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab showed that the therapy shrank tumours in patients with a particular type of bladder cancer, thereby meeting its primary goal.

Cost regulators for the National Health Service in England and Wales are backing the use of Daiichi Sankyo’s bloodthinner Lixiana to treat and prevent recurrence of blood clots.

The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the use of Lundbeck and Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s antipsychotic Rexulti for the treatment of both schizophrenia and major depressive order.

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly backed (344-77) the 21st Century Cures Act, intended to accelerate the translation of discoveries into innovative therapies through a stream of new measures and funding.

The first wave of the 2015 NHS Innovation Challenge Prize competition has been launched this week, offering access to a £150,000 cash pot to help accelerate the progress of new ideas that address England’s biggest healthcare issues.

The government’s new Precision Medicine Catapult is be centred in Cambridge with links to regional centres of excellence across the UK, it was announced today.

Janssen-Cilag’s Imbruvica has become the first therapy to be specifically approved for the rare blood cancer Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia in Europe.

Patients with Crohn’s disease are now likely to get National Health Service access to Takeda’s biologic Entyvio in England and Wales following a u-turn by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.