19 June 2013
11 June 2013
Among a bunch of Japanese drug launches in the past couple of days, Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568) announced the debut of the osteoporosis treatment Pralia (denosumab, genetic recombinant) subcutaneous injection 60mg syringe, which was approved in Japan for manufacture and marketing on March 25, 2013, and placed on National Health Insurance drug price list, May 24.
11 June 2013
Canada's Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has announced new regulations that will change the way Canadians access marijuana for medical purposes. The new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) will be published in the Canada Gazette on June 19, 2013.
11 June 2013
US biotech firm AVEO Oncology (Nasdaq: AVEO) says that it has received a complete response letter from the US Food and Drug Administration saying that the FDA will not approve in its present form the New Drug Application for the company's investigational agent tivozanib for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
11 June 2013
Ireland-based drugmaker Elan Corp (NYSE: ELN) says that its board of directors, after careful review and consideration and with the assistance of its executive management team as well as outside financial and legal advisors, has rejected the revised bid from privately held investment firm Royalty Pharma to acquire all of the shares of Elan for $13.00 plus up to an additional $2.50 per share in contingent value rights (CVR; The Pharma Letter June 10).
11 June 2013
The effect of an emerging therapy on key efficacy endpoints, including time to disease progression and overall survival, has the most influence over surveyed US and European oncologists' prescribing decisions for platinum-resistant advanced ovarian cancer, according to a new report from health care advisory firm Decision Resources.
10 June 2013
Family-owned Italian drugmaker Zambon has taken a significant step to grow in the respiratory therapy area, with the planned acquisition of UK-based Profile Pharma from present owner the Philips Group. Financial details of this transaction will not be disclosed.
10 June 2013
USA-based Isis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISIS) revealed that privately-held Canadian firm Xenon Pharmaceuticals has exercised its option to an exclusive worldwide license to XEN701, an antisense drug discovered in a collaboration between Isis and Xenon.
10 June 2013
Following the news that Alliance Boots and the USA's Walgreen, which initially took a 45% stake in the UK-based retailer and pharmaceutical wholesaler for $6.7 billion, with an option to buy the remainder (The Pharma Letter June 20, 2012), plan to expand into China, Ana Nicholls, healthcare analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, commented: "China is the obvious next step for Boots and Walgreen, now that they dominate the US and European markets.
10 June 2013
The European Medicines Agency today (June 10) released a revision of the guideline addressing the clinical and non-clinical issues related to similar biological products (biosimilars) containing biotechnology-derived proteins as the active substance for a six-month public consultation. The document lays down the non-clinical and clinical requirements for marketing authorization of a biosimilar claiming to be similar to a biological product already marketed.
10 June 2013
In Ireland, drugs to treat medical conditions such as high cholesterol, blood pressure and stomach ulcers will be the first to be subjected to new generic substitution regulations in a bid to bring down costs, reports the Irish Independent newspaper.