News

GlaxoSmithKline’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder bronchodilator Incruse Ellipta 55mcg (umeclidinium) has been recommended for National Health Service use by the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group.

With approval in Europe due shortly for Xadago, Newron Pharmaceuticals has begun mid-stage trials of another Parkinson’s therapy, which the Italian firm hopes could halt or even reverse disease progression.

Oncology, cardiovascular, autoimmune/anti-inflammatories and infectious diseases will be the top therapeutic areas for investment in 2015, says new research.

Boehringer Ingelheim is delving deeper into the hot field of immunotherapy in a research deal with Yale University to discover novel therapeutic targets that harness the immune system to fight disease. 

Big pharma was largely absent from merger and acquisition activity in 2013 but returned to vigorous deal-making last year with spending of nearly $90 billion; however, this group was outspent by specialty pharma, which deployed more than $130 billion in M&A transactions in 2014, says new research.

Johnson & Johnson is licensing an investigational inflammatory bowel disease from microbiome specialist Vedanta Biosciences

Merck & Co and Bristol-Myers Squibb have signed separate onco-immunology focused trial agreements with Eli Lilly to assess combinations of their rival PD-1 inhibitors with the latter’s cancer drugs.

As the recent spate of deal-making in pharma continues, Merck & Co said it is shelling out $100 million for access to Moderna’s messenger RNA Therapeutics platform to develop new antiviral vaccines and passive immunity therapies.

Mundipharma and associate Purdue Pharmaceuticals have linked up with Spain’s Esteve to develop “important next-generation products” for the management of pain.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is sticking with its stance that Dendreon’s Provenge (sipuleucel-T) is simply too expensive for use by the National Health Service in England and Wales to treat prostate cancer.

Roche has licensed an early-stage treatment for antibiotic resistance from Japan’s Meiji Seika Pharma and Fedora of Canada.

Details of the eagerly-awaited NHS Cancer Drugs Fund review has been released, which shows that its budget will grow but 16 drugs (covering 25 indications) out of 84 drugs will be chopped.

AstraZeneca has withdrawn an application to get its first-in-class ovarian cancer therapy Lynparza (olaparib) funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund in England.

Merck & Co is planning to hand in US applications for two of its flagship medicines in cancer and hepatitis C during the first half of this year.

Novartis has completed its exit from the hepatitis C arena and given back the rights to alisporivir to fellow Swiss firm Debiopharm.