News

The European Union/industry Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) has launched its ninth call for proposals, with a total budget of 135 million euros and a focus on age-related conditions, tapping into social media to monitor drug safety and advances in antibiotics.

Johnson & Johnson and Pharmacyclics have submitted their ‘breakthrough’ blood cancer drug ibrutinib to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval.

Omthera Pharmaceuticals, which is in the process of being acquired by AstraZeneca, has filed its anti-triglyceride drug Epanova with regulators in the USA.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co says that enrollment has begun for “a ground-breaking clinical programme” looking at its investigational drug delamanid for paediatric multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

The General Court of the European Union (EU) has annulled a decision by the European Commission to refuse a marketing authorisation (MA) for an orphan drug.

GlaxoSmithKline has filed its two newly-approved drugs Tafinlar and Mekinist to be used in combination for melanoma with regulators in the USA.

A complete overhaul of the NHS’ operating model is needed in order to deliver better patient outcomes and care at lower costs, and key to this transformation will be partnerships with the life sciences sector, says a new report.

Vivus has signed up Italy’s Menarini to sell its recently-approved erectile dysfunction drug Spedra in over 40 European countries, plus Australia and New Zealand.

The Department of Health has announced the birth of Genomics England – a state-owned company charged with overseeing the mapping of National Health Service patients’ DNA. 

Azaya Therapeutics, a US-based company using its Protein Stabilized Liposomes nanotechnology platform to develop safer, more effective chemotherapeutics, has launched a contract development and manufacturing division, Parexo Labs.

Four pharmaceutical firms have joined hands in the UK to improve neurology services for patients in the country by addressing current shortfalls in care.

US industry association the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has joined a collaboration between the National Minority Quality Forum and software giant Microsoft to launch The National Clinical Trial Network (NCTN), which aims to boost participation and diversity in clinical studies.

Amgen will sink at least $50 million into a collaboration with Servier focused on cardiovascular disease drugs, both marketed and in research and development.

Patients with advanced breast cancer living in England and Wales will not be allowed routine access to Novartis’ Afinitor on the National Health Service, following a decision from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that has angered the company and charities.

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the commercialisation and development arm of Cancer Research UK, has formed an alliance with FormaTherapeutics, a US-based company focused on developing transformative small-molecule cancer therapies, to explore the biological implications and applications of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs).