The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has seen its remit widened to help encourage and accelerate the uptake of innovative technologies throughout the National Health Service.
News
EU court tells EMA: don’t grant access-to-documents requests, for now
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been ordered by the General Court of the European Union (EU) not to provide documents as part of two access-to-documents requests until the Court gives a final ruling.
FDA approves Raptor’s orphan disease drug Procysbi
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Raptor Pharmaceuticals’ Procysbi for the management of a rare genetic disease called nephropathic cystinosis.
GSK files COPD inhaler in the US
As anticipated, GlaxoSmithKline has filed its experimental chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drug umeclidinium bromide in the US, hot on the heels of a filing in Europe just days ago.
Oxford BioTherapeutics in cancer pact with Boehringer
Oxford BioTherapeutics has been boosted by the news that it is to collaborate with Boehringer Ingelheim to discover antibody targets in cancer.
Pfizer sales down 9% but pleased with pipeline progress
Pfizer has cut its earnings forecast for 2012 after posting disappointing sales for the first quarter, hit by loss of exclusivity on the cholesterol drug Lipitor and a weak performance from the pneumococcal disease vaccine Prevnar 13.
UK vaccination programme expanded for flu, shingles and diarrhoea
The UK’s immunisation schedule has been expanded to include three new vaccination programmes for flu, shingles and diarrhoea, offering millions more people protection against disease.
Very strong quarter for Novo despite Tresiba setback in USA
Novo Nordisk has posted yet another stellar set of figures, helped by strong sales of its diabetes drug Victoza.
“Spiralling” drug prices are unsustainable, cancer experts warn
The increasing costs of cancer drug treatments have reached unsustainably high levels and may be harming patients, a group of experts has warned.
Bayer to buy Conceptus for $1.1 billion
Bayer has hit the acquisition trial and expanded its position in women’s health by buying US birth control specialist Conceptus.
Cancer diagnosis postcode inequality “costing lives”
Hundreds of women with breast cancer who live in the most deprived areas of England would have better survival rates if they were diagnosed at the same stage as those who live in affluent areas, new research has revealed.
FDA ‘no’ for Gilead HIV drugs elvitegravir and cobicistat
Gilead Sciences has suffered a setback after regulators in the USA rejected two of the components of its four-in-one HIV drug Stribild as stand-alone therapies.
GSK pulls the plug on Impax Parkinson’s pact
GlaxoSmithKline has returned the rights to the investigational Parkinson’s disease drug Rytary to partner Impax Laboratories, citing regulatory delays.
Icon’s operating income up 96% in first quarter
Icon continued its run of strong quarterly results in the first three months of 2013, with operating income up by 96.0% year on year to US$23.0 million and net revenues 25.5% ahead at US$316.8 million.
Just 40% of UK MS patients get disease-modifying drug
Sixty percent of patients with multiple sclerosis in the UK are not receiving a disease modifying drug for their condition, despite being eligible for treatment, a new survey by the MS Society has revealed.
