News

US regulators have now approved Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Saxenda (liraglutide 3mg), a higher dose form of its diabetes blockbuster Victoza (liraglutide 1.2mg and 1.8mg), to help patients lose weight alongside diet and exercise.

Eli Lilly has linked arms with the University of Surrey in  a five-year research partnership to study health outcomes, focusing on the effects of treatment in people with type 2 diabetes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is reviewing its guidance on the use of five drugs, to decide whether or not they should be recommended as treatment options for ovarian cancer that has returned after previous treatment with chemotherapy.

The US Food and Drug Administration has waved through Bristol-Myers Squibb’s breakthrough skin cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) and BioCryst’s flu shot Rapivab.

US regulators have approved AbbVie’s multi-pill hepatitis C regimen Viekira Pak for the treatment of chronic Genotype 1, which looks set to give Gilead’s market giant Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir) a bit of a run for its money.

Actelion has submitted a New Drug Application US regulators seeking approval for its hypertension drug Uptravi (selexipag).

European regulators have approved Eli Lillys Cyramza (ramucirumab) giving patients with difficult-to-treat stomach cancers a new treatment option.

The European Commission has approved IMS Health’s plans to acquire part of France-based Cedegim SA’s customer relationship management and strategic data business, but with conditions.

Hot on the heels of an approval in Europe AstraZeneca’s first-in-class PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) has now also been given a green light in the US.

US regulators have cleared Cubist Pharmaceuticals’ new antibiotic Zerbaxa (ceftolozane/tazobactam) to treat adults with complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated urinary tract infections.

A new app has been launched which tells US consumers exactly which product is the right one to buy to treat their cold and flu symptoms.

NHS England has announced new steps to accelerate innovation in new treatments and diagnostics in 2015/16, including “inviting interested manufacturers that are prepared to contribute to the expansion of the Commissioning through Evaluation programme and the related Early Access to Medicines programme.”“We will aim to accelerate the cost-effective and affordable deployment of technologies and drugs, in light of the government’s Medicines and Medical Technology Review.

The first stem-cell therapy has been recommended for approval by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, among seven new medicines to clear one of the last hurdles to market.

Roche will likely be glad to see the end of Friday after a double blow saw it discontinue a late-stage Alzheimer’s disease trial and report disappointing data for breast cancer drug Kadcyla (trastuzumab) in the first-line setting.

The latest results from the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study – one of the longest studies of its kind – show a nearly 30% reduction in the incidence of disease when women at an elevated risk for developing breast cancer are treated prophylactically with the anti-oestrogen drug tamoxifen.