News

The price of first- and second-line antiretrovirals to treat HIV is falling because of increased generic competition, but newer drugs “continue to be priced astronomically high”.

India’s “protectionist and discriminatory policies, which exploit US intellectual property (IP) to benefit its own industry,” require “an equally bold response” from the US government, a spokesman for Pfizer has urged a US Congressional hearing.

Worldwide prescription drug sales fell 1.6% in 2012, but from this year they are set to start growing slowly and will then steadily increase, to reach a value of $895 billion by 2018, according to new research.

Roche’s Perjeta has moved a significant step closer to becoming the first drug to be approved in the US for use in breast cancer patients before they receive surgery. 

The UK is underprepared for the potential health and economic benefits it could accrue from taking a leading role internationally in developing the field of regenerative medicine, a House of Lords Committee warns.

AstraZeneca has expanded its existing collaboration with the US-based Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) for the development of targeted oncology compounds to include additional product candidates and a molecular profiling initiative.

A prevailing cultural conviction that the doctor always takes charge of treatment decisions may contribute to meagre participation rates in clinical trials among Hispanic cancer patients in the US, a new study has found.

Around 2.400 GPs could be lost under new plans for integrated social and health care funding unveiled in the spending review last week, the Royal College of General Practitioners has warned.

GlaxoSmithKline’s recent troubles in China have been exacerbated by reports that senior staff are under police investigation following accusations of fraud and bribery.

A new contract has increased NHS hospital consultants’ pay by 24%-28% but failed to halt a continued decline in productivity, providing poor value for money to the taxpayer, say MPs. 

A greater number of patients with breast cancer could be spared chemotherapy to reduce their risk of the disease returning, after UK scientists developed a more accurate genetic test to determine the likelihood of recurrence.

NIHR CRN patient numbers up 7% in 2012/13

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Noven Pharmaceuticals’ Brisdelle, the first non-hormonal therapy to get the green light for hot flushes associated with menopause.

Merck & Co has suffered a setback after regulators in the USA turned down the company’s bid to market higher doses of its investigational insomnia drug suvorexant.

Among the latest opinions issued by the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, perhaps the most eye-catching are recommendations for two biosimilar versions of Johnson & Johnson’s monoclonal antibody blockbuster Remicade.