News

Novo Nordisk’s chief executive Lars Rebien Sorensen has accused politicians in some European countries of making empty promises to their populations in terms of access to innovative drugs and called for more harmonisation of regulatory systems across the globe.

Making trial registration a condition of Research Ethics Committee approval and working with research funders and sponsors to set standards for access to data and human tissue are among proposals by the UK’s Health Research Authority (HRA) to ensure the publication of clinical and other health-research findings. Set up in December 2011 to unify and streamline the UK’s research-approvals process while protecting and promoting the interests of patients and the public, the HRA is determined to play a leading role in the transparency debate.

NHS England is to tackle “shockingly low” dementia diagnosis rates over the next two years, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced.

NHS England and health sector regulator Monitor have opened a consultation on proposals to reform the way NHS services are paid for.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will produce a stream of medical technology innovation briefings designed to boost their adoption throughout the health service.

Fresh from returning to public ownership with a US$947 million offering, Quintiles has made a significant addition to its roster of strategic alliances in the form of a five-year clinical development agreement with Merck Serono.

Roche has filed obinutuzumab on both sides of the Atlantic to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Sanofi and longtime partner Regeneron Pharmaceuticals have started enrolling patients for two new late-stage trials of their investigational rheumatoid arthritis treatment sarilumab.

The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), the trade group launched last year in the US to represent research sites worldwide, has formed a “strategic alliance” with Dr Luis Augusto Russo, president of the Brazilian Society of Investigators.

US-based diagnostic firm Myriad Genetics’ stock has risen after Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie announced she had an operation to remove both her breasts after using the firm’s services.

The pharmaceutical industry has now entered the Outcomes Era where compounds must supply convincing evidence of a new drug’s value, with proof of the best possible health outcomes and additional benefits if it is to achieve attractive price and reimbursement levels, says new research.

US regulators have approved Bayer’s Xofigo as a treatment for prostate cancer, just three months after it was assigned a priority review.

The new head of Lilly UK believes that the clinical trial transparency agenda in the UK is a “very strange debate”.

Shares in Seattle Genetics were on the rise yesterday as investors welcomed news that US regulators are to review extended use of Adcetris in two types of lymphoma.

In Germany, sales of biotechnology drugs rose 11% to around 6 billion euros last year, compared with growth of just 2.4% for the pharmaceutical market as a whole, according to new figures.