The pharma industry briefing

The latest news, approvals and clinical trials you need to know about this month

Data:
News
in Numbers

100 million

Merck announced an RMB 100m (€13m) seed fund targeted at startups in China

60%

The amount of results returned by search engines that lead consumers to websites that sell fake pharmaceuticals, according to new research by Incopro

$535m

The price Ipsen has agreed to pay to add Blueprint’s fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva rare disease drug to its pipeline

1,171

The number of generics approved by the US FDA during its 2019 fiscal year

500

Merck is set to lay off 500 workers around the US as part of a shift to focus on innovative drugs

Data:
News
in Numbers

100 million

Merck announced an RMB 100 million (€ 13m) seed fund targeted at startups in China

60%

The amount of results returned by search engines that lead consumers to websites that sell fake pharmaceuticals, according to new research by Incopro

$535m

– The price Ipsen has agreed to pay to add Blueprint’s fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva rare disease drug to its pipeline

1,171

The number of generics approved by the US FDA during its 2019 fiscal year

500

Merck is set to lay off 500 workers around the US as part of a shift to focus on innovative drugs

CSL: Former exec stole 'thousands' of secret files before joining rival Pharming

CSL has made strides in hereditary angioedema with Haegarda and other meds, but now the company says a competitor could get a leg up thanks to a former exec who allegedly stole thousands of proprietary documents.

Source: Fierce Pharma

Major Drug Companies Agree to Last-Minute Settlement of Opioid Trial

To settle the immediate trial, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen will pay $215m to the two Ohio counties that brought the case. Teva, the Israel-based manufacturer of generic drugs, is expected to pay at least $20m in cash and will donate approximately $25m worth of addiction treatment drugs.

Source: New York Times

CHMP backs world’s first Ebola vaccine from MSD, NewLink

Merck & Co/MSD’s Ebola vaccine has been recommended for conditional approval by the EMA’s main advisory committee, teeing up what looks set to be the first licensed vaccine for the disease within a few weeks.

Source: Pharmaphorum

UK pharma sector welcomes export curbs on selected medicines

Pharma industry leaders have welcomed the UK government decision to restrict exports of key medicines, suggesting the precautionary measure could stop companies taking advantage of currency fluctuations to secure higher prices overseas in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Source: The Financial Times

Approvals

Spravato

Johnson & Johnson’s nasal spray for depression won recommendation for approval from a European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel.

Source: Reuters

Descovy

The US FDA has approved Descovy (emtricitabine 200 mg and tenofovir alafenamide 25 mg) in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35kg for HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection from sex.

Source: FDA

Farxiga
(dapagliflozin)

AstraZeneca’s Farxiga has been approved by the US FDA to reduce the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure in adults with type-2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease or multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

Source: AstraZeneca

Reyvow (lasmiditan)

The US FDA has approved Eli Lilly Reyvow, a serotonin (5-HT) 1F receptor agonist indicated for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults.

Source: Center Watch