News

GlaxoSmithKline has met with Chinese officials to tackle the bribery scandal engulfing the firm and acknowledged that some executives have indeed been involved with illegal activities.

The National Health Service has booked a financial surplus of £2.1 billion for 2012-13, remaining flat with that last year.

Roche will not be seeking approval for its cancer drug Avastin for the treatment of the eye condition wet AMD, despite evidence to suggest that it has a similar efficacy to Novartis’ Lucentis and could save the NHS millions of pounds a year.

Transparency has returned to the spotlight as a leaked memo sent to The Guardian suggests that pharma trade associations on both sides of the Atlantic are getting patient groups to speak up against publishing raw data.

UK patients with advanced prostate cancer have been given access to a new treatment that could prolong survival following the launch of Astella’s Xtandi in the country.

Pay-for-delay deals have forced US patients to pay an average of 10 times more than necessary for at least 20 blockbuster drugs, claims a new report.

After a bitter struggle for control of the company, Vivus and dissident shareholder First Manhattan Co seem to have buried the hatchet, with the latter winning control of the board.

Celgene Corp has halted a late-stage study evaluating Revlimid for a rare type of leukaemia after an imbalance was observed in the number of deaths in elderly patients treated with the drug versus patients on chemotherapy.

As a bribery scandal continues to engulf GlaxoSmithKline in China, UCB has revealed that its offices have been visited by authorities this week.

Menarini has launched dapoxetine for premature ejaculation in Singapore, having recently published a survey highlighting the rising problem of sexual dissatisfaction in the Asia-Pacific region.

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) has teamed up with digital health-management specialist Healthrageous and pharmaceutical services provider United BioSource (UBC) to run a ‘beyond-the-pill’ study on self-management of diabetes.

The UK’s Health Research Authority (HRA) is pressing ahead with an action plan to promote transparency in research after securing “comprehensive” support for the proposals it put out for consultation last May.

As GlaxoSmithKline’s problems in China continue, the drugs major has confirmed that its finance director in the country, Steve Nechelput, had been banned from foreign travel.

By March 31 this year, the NHS reform programme had cost £1.1 billion, or 15% more than expected by that point, says the National Audit Office.

Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez has outlined the firm’s determination to be the major force in biosimilars.