News

Shares in Rigel dropped nearly 20% yesterday in the aftermath of AstraZeneca’s decision not to file its rheumatoid arthritis drug fostamatinib.

A new report shows that rates of sexually transmitted diseases reached nearly 500,000 last year as the UK government urges younger people to have safer sex.

A new US study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week shows remote telemonitoring is associated with increased mortality in vulnerable patients.

The spat between Elan and Royalty Pharma has taken another turn after the Irish drugmaker won a temporary restraining order against the US-based investment firm, which is pulling out all the stops to acquire it.

The US House of Representatives has approved legislation to establish a nationwide “track and trace”  system throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, and its supporters say they hope to have a final bill, reconciled with the Senate version, on President Barack Obama’s desk by the August recess.

The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to tighten its scrutiny of companion diagnostics, the agency’s Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has told the assembled throng at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.

Bayer has been successful in its quest for US birth control specialist Conceptus, completing its tender off with a majority interest of 96.4%.

Setting an ambitious goal of “a world free from cancer by 2050”, an initiative has been launched in the USA which calls for more patient-centered innovation and an appreciation of the economic benefits new drugs bring.

Diabetes UK and Tesco have joined forces to launch what they claim is the biggest ever health promotion drive for people with type II diabetes.

A new study reveals a sharp drop in the percentage of US employers that intend to continue offering prescription drug plans to people who are eligible for the federal Medicare health programme – ie, seniors and some people with disabilities.

Nearly 6% of patients were waiting four hours or longer in A&D departments during the final quarter of 2012-13, which is the highest level since 2004, The King’s Fund has reported.

New late-stage data on Boehringer Ingelheim’s lung cancer drug nintedanib and its benefit to overall survival in some patients has caused a stir at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.

83% of US cancer doctors say they have faced oncology drug shortages and, of those, nearly all say that their patients’ treatment has been impacted, a new study reports.

Healthcare systems in the European Union (EU) are in urgent need of “shock-proofing” if they are to meet the challenges posed by severe pressure on budgets, a leading expert has warned.

GlaxoSmithKline has signed a licensing agreement worth up to €445.5 million euros ($577 million) for global rights to an experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by German antibody specialist MorphoSys.