Hospitals are rationing cancer treatments. Pharmacies are scrambling to fill routine antibiotic prescriptions. And across the USA, patients are facing growing delays, substitutions, or outright denials of essential medicines, not because the drugs don’t exist, but because the supply chains behind them have buckled. 24 July 2025
A new report has drawn attention to the growing number of prescription drugs being excluded from commercial insurance formularies in the USA—particularly affordable generics and biosimilars—raising fresh concerns over patient access and out-of-pocket costs. 24 July 2025
The race to develop effective cancer vaccines has entered a new phase, with late-stage trials from companies like Moderna and BioNTech generating momentum and sharpening investor focus. 23 July 2025
Denmark-based allergy immunotherapy specialist ALK Abello today announced that the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of the company’s tree pollen tablet Itulazax for the treatment in adults. 21 July 2025
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has cast doubt on the value of a new spinal muscular atrophy treatment from US biotech Scholar Rock, while reaffirming concerns about limited comparative data across the class of SMA therapies. 18 July 2025
The Bristol Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance today announced a new direct-to-patient option for purchasing Eliquis (apixaban) via their Alliance’s patient resource Eliquis 360 Support. 17 July 2025
The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Novartis’ Kisqali (ribociclib) as an adjuvant treatment for all eligible populations of HR+/HER2- early breast cancer patients. 17 July 2025
The UK government’s new life sciences plan has been met with skepticism by the pharmaceutical industry, which says the strategy will fall flat unless there is a serious shift in the way new medicines are funded and valued. 16 July 2025
The US regulator has launched a new national initiative to help Medicaid programs fund gene therapies for sickle cell disease, under an agreement aimed at broadening access while linking payments to real-world treatment results. 16 July 2025
The USA's Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released a Final Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of Sanofi’s tolebrutinib for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). 15 July 2025
In the USA, the 340B hospital markup program cost state and federal taxpayers an estimated $6.5 billion per year due to lost Medicaid rebates, according to a new report from Berkeley Research Group (BRG). 15 July 2025
US biotech major Vertex Pharmaceuticals has reached a wide-ranging reimbursement deal with NHS England for Alyftrek (deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor), a next-generation oral therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF), clearing the way for access to thousands of eligible patients across the country. 15 July 2025
A quiet shift with potentially big implications for cancer drug access is underway in the UK. In June, the country’s health technology assessor, NICE, recommended GSK’s Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin) in multiple myeloma. 14 July 2025
China’s vaccine landscape is shifting after local biotech Xiamen Innovax Biotech unveiled the country’s first domestically developed nine-valent HPV vaccine, Cecolin 9, at a price far below that of the incumbent Gardasil 9. The new shot is being offered at around $70 per dose—less than half the typical price of Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) product in the country. 14 July 2025
South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis today published a whitepaper titled ‘Solving the Biosimilar Void in Europe’ that proposes policy recommendations to fully recognize the value of biosimilars and ensure a more sustainable market in Europe. 14 July 2025
New figures in Danish pharma trade group Lif's Medicine Reimbursement Meter show a slight increase in the number of pharmacy medicines for which companies applied for reimbursement in 2024 - and the development for 2025 is positive. 14 July 2025
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final guidance recommending Eli Lilly’s Omvoh (mirikizumab) for use on the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales as an option for moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease in adults. 11 July 2025
BeOne Medicines - the Sino-American oncology specialist formerly known as BeiGene - has announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) to treat relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after one line of treatment. 10 July 2025
Japanese authorities are putting Eisai under pressure to reconsider the price of its Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi (lecanemab), after a government-backed review found that the drug significantly exceeds accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds in the country. 10 July 2025
A new research paper concluding that the use of Inpefa (sotagliflozin) for the treatment of patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) and suffering from co- morbid diabetes leads to significant positive impact on provider health system financial outcomes. 18 July 2024
US health technology assessor the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released a Final Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine). 17 July 2024
A licensing deal between CSL Vifor and Akebia Therapeutics has been terminated, as the commercial launch of Vafseo (vadadustat) gets underway. 16 July 2024
South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis has released its Third Quarter 2024 Biosimilar Market Report, which includes the latest Average Sales Price (ASP) information of all biosimilars and reference products available in the US market. 12 July 2024
National Health Service (NHS) England has given approval to allow eligible patients access to Roche’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) subcutaneous injection for people with relapsing multiple sclerosis and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. 12 July 2024
UK health technology assessor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Ebglyss (lebrikizumab) for use in moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. 10 July 2024
A new report from the USA's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) underlines how the agency regards middlemen as having the potential to inflate drug prices. 10 July 2024
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has been quick to congratulate Keir Starmer and the Labour party on their victory in the UK general election. 5 July 2024
A survey of British voters ahead of Thursday’s general election has revealed just how much importance they attach to the issue of access to medicines. 3 July 2024
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—has announced that some Medicare enrollees will pay less for 64 drugs available through Medicare Part B. 27 June 2024
The UK’s health technology assessor has changed its tune regarding CSL Behring’s Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec), recommending the product for use in England and Wales. 27 June 2024
UK health technology assessor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has approved Crysvita (burosumab) from Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Kirin. 21 June 2024
Sanofi today revealed that UK health technology assessor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance (FDG) not recommending Sarclisa (isatuximab) plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Isa-Pd), within its marketing authorization 20 June 2024
Johnson & Johnson says it has “grave concern” for the availability of future innovative mental health treatments in England, following a decision by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to not re-appraise Spravato (esketamine nasal spray) for treatment-resistant depression in England 13 June 2024
US Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), has announced that members will vote next week on whether to subpoena Doug Langa, senior vice president, head of North America operations and president of Novo Nordisk. 12 June 2024
Russia is sharply cutting centralized state purchases of anti-HIV drugs due to the problems with funding and the reduction of supplies to Russia by global drugmakers, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 12 June 2024
As more biologics drugs lose their patent protection, the influx of biosimilars is set to expand, offering cost-effective alternatives and significantly impacting their respective markets. 5 June 2024
Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC) ruled that Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act does not prohibit pharmaceutical manufacturers from imposing conditions on the distribution of discounted drugs to covered entities in the program, noted Sophia Gaulkin and Alan Kirschenbaum of law firm Hyman Phelps & McNamara. 1 June 2024