Austrian biotech company Themis Bioscience said on Tuesday it had started a clinical trial of an experimental Zika vaccine in healthy volunteers, opening up another front in the race to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease. Themis’s product, which is based on measles immunization technology, is the first vaccine containing attenuated, or weakened, live…
UK Cost Agency Turns Down Bristol Drug for Head and Neck Cancer
Britain’s healthcare cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said on Tuesday that Bristol-Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy drug Opdivo was not worth using on the state health service for treating head and neck cancer due to its high price. The draft decision from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the latest example of an expensive new…
Chinese Drug Approval Boosts AstraZeneca’s Lung Cancer Hopes
AstraZeneca has won approval for its lung cancer pill Tagrisso in China, a key market for the potential blockbuster medicine. Tagrisso is designed to help cancer patients with certain genetic mutations that are very common in China and the regulatory green light boosts the British drugmaker’s prospects in a key therapy area. Read more. Source:…
AstraZeneca Ovarian Cancer Drug Slows Disease Markedly in Study
AstraZeneca’s ovarian cancer drug Lynparza slashed the risk of disease progression in a closely watched clinical trial, boosting its profile against rivals within the novel PARP inhibitor drug class. The British drugmaker hopes the data from the trial will widen the use of Lynparza and help it keep up with competitors racing to broaden the…
UK Agency Says Pfizer Breast Cancer Drug Too Expensive
Pfizer’s breast cancer drug Ibrance, or palbociclib, is too expensive to justify its use on Britain’s state-run health service, the country’s healthcare cost-effectiveness watchdog said on Friday. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in draft guidance that although the medicine was likely to offer some improvement in overall survival, this could…
Novartis, Pfizer Cut Prices to Win UK Approval for Cancer Drugs
Novartis and Pfizer have won approval for two cancer drugs to be used routinely on Britain’s National Health Service after offering bigger price discounts. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday its draft guidance now recommended Novartis’ Afinitor for certain breast cancer patients and Pfizer’s Xalkori in lung cancer following…
Brexit Threatens Supply of New Drugs, Report Warns
British patients could end up not being able to access modern medicines if there is a “hard Brexit”, a think tank report endorsed by a former Conservative health minister warned on Wednesday. Drugmakers currently use the European Medicines Agency as a one-stop-shop to get drugs licensed across Europe, but Britain is likely to drop out…
Sanofi Partners with Brazil to Accelerate Zika Vaccine Work
Sanofi has struck a collaboration deal with a leading Brazilian research institute to speed development of a Zika vaccine, consolidating the French drugmaker’s position in the race to defeat the mosquito-borne virus. The deal with the Fiocruz public health center follows a tie-up in July between Sanofi and a U.S. Army research institute, which gave…
Pfizer Loses Appeal in UK Patent Case Over Use of Lyrica Drug for Pain
Pfizer suffered a setback in Britain on Thursday when the Court of Appeal in London ruled against it in a patent case over the use of its $5 billion-a-year drug Lyrica for pain relief. Pfizer said it was disappointed by the decision and would seek a further appeal. Read more. Source: Reuters
Sanofi May Win U.S. Approval of $3 Billion Eczema Drug by March
French drugmaker Sanofi and its U.S. partner Regeneron Pharmaceuticals could win U.S. approval for their keenly awaited new eczema drug dupilumab, seen by analysts as a potential $3 billion-a-year seller, by next March. Sanofi badly needs new products to make up for flagging sales in its diabetes business, where its top-seller Lantus faces growing competition. Read…
U.N. Panel Challenges Market-Based Approach to Drug R&D
The world cannot rely solely on free markets to deliver medicines needed by billions of people in poor countries, so governments should commit to a legally binding convention to coordinate and fund research and development. That’s the conclusion of a major United Nations report, which is bound to stir fierce debate between supporters of the…
AstraZeneca Bets Another $140M on Moderna’s ‘Messenger’ Drugs
AstraZeneca has invested another $140 million in Moderna Therapeutics, the U.S. biotech “unicorn” which already has a cash pile of around $1 billion and is developing drugs based on a molecule known as messenger RNA. The British drugmaker said on Wednesday that the new investment, part of a preferred-stock financing, lifted its stake in Moderna…
Pharma and Tech Converge in ‘Fantastic Voyage’ to Fight Disease
The line between pharmaceuticals and technology is blurring as companies join forces to tackle chronic diseases using high-tech devices that combine biology, software and hardware. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) are the latest to share expertise, unveiling a new joint company on Monday that aims to market bioelectronic devices to fight illness by…
UK Cost Agency Speeds Approval of Bristol Melanoma Drug Cocktail
British melanoma patients will be the first in Europe to receive a new drug cocktail combining two immunotherapy treatments, following an unusually rapid approval by the country’s healthcare cost agency NICE on Friday. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which decides if therapies are worth using on the state health service, is…
Novo Diabetes Drug Cuts Heart Risks by Less-Than-Hoped 13 Percentage
Novo Nordisk’s top-selling diabetes drug Victoza cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death by 13 percent in a closely watched study, but the result disappointed investors who had hoped for more. The stock fell around 5 percent in Copenhagen on Tuesday. Victoza is only the second diabetes drug to show such heart benefits,…