News

As had been widely rumoured, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is buying Salix Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at $14.5 billion.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is to acquire privately-held Flexus Biosciences in a deal worth up to $1.25 billion.

Shares of Celldex Therapeutics jumped nearly 17% on the news that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough therapy designation to its brain cancer immunotherapy Rintega.

Confirmation that 2015 will be a watershed year for biosimilars came with data on Remsima presented at the European Crohn’s  and Colitis Organisation meeting held in Barcelona.

Ferring has signed a deal with South Korean group CTCBIO to acquire rights to its novel oral drug delivery technology for an undisclosed amount.

Eli Lilly is delaying submissions on both sides of the Atlantic for its experimental diabetes therapy basal insulin peglispro (BIL), to allow for collection of extra data intended to cement the drug’s safety profile.

Japan’s Sosei has acquired Heptares Therapeutics of the UK in a deal that could be worth up to $400 million.

The UK government has unveiled the next phase of its plan of attack on dementia, pledging millions for research into the condition and an international institute to help drive progress on new treatments.

Shares in Novo Nordisk have risen after the Danish company presented positive mid-stage results on OG217SC, an oral formulation of its long-acting GLP-1 analogue semaglutide.

The UK software industry now has more professionals engaged in innovative activity than any other sector of the economy and “has eclipsed the once-dominant pharmaceuticals industry”.

Pfizer says the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted for priority review a supplemental New Drug Application of its immunosuppressant Rapamune for lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare, often-fatal lung disease.

The European Commission has given the green light to Chiesi’s Holoclar – which the Italian company says is the first stem-cell therapy to be approved in the western world – for a rare eye condition.

Healthcare is proving to be one of the biggest adopters of virtual reality, outside the gaming industry.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended Bayer’s Eylea as an option for diabetic macular oedema in preliminary recommendations, having agreed a discount with the company.

With more than 117,000 healthcare professionals polled, the nominations for the 2015 PharmaTimes Sales Awards, the only customer-nominated and customer-assessed competition of its kind, are now in.