News

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.

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.

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.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, long-seen as a takeover target itself, has hit the acquisition trail and is buying Trius Therapeutics and Optimer Pharmaceuticals in deals worth over $1.60 billion.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust should be dissolved and its two hospitals taken over by neighbouring trusts, administrators have advised the government.

The independent sector has performed better than any other category of inpatient provider in the first results of the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT), with a total score for the sector of 92 compared to the average of 73.

The government has announced a £93.2-million package of support for the UK’s health sector in a series of measures designed to help position the country as a world leader in innovation.