News

Ahead of a panel review, staff at the US Food and Drug Administration has backed Bayer’s riociguat for two forms of pulmonary hypertension but at a lower dose than the German group is looking for.

The Wellcome Trust has sold its stake in the payday lender Wonga, noting that the decision was taken “several months” before the recent furore concerning the controversial firm and the Church of England.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has posted a $452 million net loss for the second quarter, hit by charges connected to the $1.6 billion compensation it needs to pay Pfizer and Takeda for patent infringement of Protonix (pantoprazole).

The myeloma community has been encouraged by a new study of Celgene Corp’s Revlimid which shows its effectiveness in patients whose disease has not yet progressed.

Authorities in India have revoked a patent on GlaxoSmithKline’s breast cancer drug Tykerb,in the latest blow to big pharma in terms of intellectual property.

Sanofi’s figures have taken a hammering as a result of generic competition, problems at its Brazilian operations and “commercial underperformance in certain business areas”.

Patients in Wales are to get access to AstraZeneca’s antibiotic Zinforo on the National Health Service for serious skin infections.

Shares in SkyePharma were given a boost by news that its flagship asthma therapy Flutiform is a giant leap closer to securing an approval in Japan.

A research consortium sponsored by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has launched an online portal providing open access to raw data from the consortium’s publicly funded clinical trials of immune-tolerance therapies.

Actelion is looking to acquire Ceptaris, a privately-held US company in a deal that could be worth $250 million.

Amgen has linked up with Teijin Pharma to develop treatments for autoimmune diseases.

AstraZeneca has posted a 4% decline in second-quarter revenues at constant exchange rates,to $6.23 billion and core operating profit fell 10% to $2.06 billion, hit by patent expiries.

US-based clinical research organisation (CRO) INC Research has established business operations in Japan along with two new offices in Osaka and Tokyo.

AstraZeneca has entered into an agreement to develop and sell FibroGen’s first-in-class late-stage oral compound for anaemia in a deal that could be worth over $815 million to the latter.

The number of prescriptions dispensed in the community per year overshot the one billion mark for the first time in 2012, equating to more than 1,900 a minute.