News

European regulators have expanded the use of Bayer and Regeneron’s Eylea (aflibercept), approving the drug’s use to treat visual impairment due to macular oedema secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion.

The European Commission has given the green light to Newron Pharmaceuticals of Italy’s Parkinson’s disease drug Xadago.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has expanded the treatment options available to patients with ulcerative colitis on the National Health Service.

It has been reported by Bloomberg that Pharmacyclics, which discovered the cancer drug Imbruvica, is looking for buyers and partner Johnson & Johnson and Novartis are cited as possible acquirers.

US regulators have agreed to review Teva’s application to market its abuse-resistant painkiller CEP-33237.

Napp Pharmaceuticals has launched Celltrion’s Remicade biosimilar Remsima (infliximab) in the UK, potentially offering significant savings to the National Health Service while increasing patient access to this kind of therapy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published the first clinical guideline on bladder cancer in the hope of improving diagnosis and management of the condition.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published two sets of final guidelines for the National Health Service, endorsing the use of Pfizer’s Inlyta (axitinib) in kidney cancer but rejecting Dendreon’s Provenge (sipuleucel-T) in prostate cancer.

Novartis’ eagerly-anticipated new psoriasis drug Cosentyx will be available in the UK at the beginning of March, the first IL17-A inhibitor to be licensed for the skin condition.

The pharmaceutical industry in the UK says the regulatory system and patient safety could be under threat after doctors called for the removal of “current barriers” preventing them from prescribing Roche’s cancer blockbuster off-label for wet age-related macular degeneration.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published final guidance recommending the use of Gilead’s Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), as part of combination therapy, to treat genotypes 1-6 chronic hepatitis C, but patients will have to wait before they can access the drug on the National Health Service.

In a first for England, Greater Manchester is to be handed control of its £6 billion NHS budget, with its ten councils taking responsibility for the region’s entire health and social care system.

AstraZeneca has signed a collaboration with UK-based Orca Pharmaceuticals to develop drugs against a wide range of autoimmune diseases for which there is currently no safe, effective oral treatment.

France’s Ipsen has bought an option to acquire the UK’s Canbex Therapeutics, which is working on a treatment for spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis.

Merck & Co has inked a deal with the Medicines Patent Pool for its HIV drug Isentress (raltegravir) to be used for children.