The pharma industry briefing

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

Data: News
in Numbers

$6.07bn 

The value of the orphan and rare dermatology premium products market, projected to be reached in 2024

40,000 

The number of participants sought for the UK’s largest study of depression

2020

By this year India is projected to become the sixth largest market for pharmaceuticals

91%

The percentage of children being immunised for measles, mumps and rubella

$7bn

$600

million

The amount of Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients and other raw materials exports per year

Is a cure for cocaine addiction in reach?

A new gene therapy, which uses implants of stem cells to target drug addiction, has been shown to curb cravings for cocaine and protect against substance overdoses that would usually be lethal.


The stem cells used have been genetically engineered to release a powerful enzyme that removes the drug from the patient’s bloodstream.

Source: The Guardian 

 Pharma outperforms academia at reporting clinical trials

According to research published in the British Medical Journal pharma is outperforming academia when it comes to reporting the findings of clinical trials.


While compliance with the European Commission’s requirement to report such findings is notably poor, from Oxford University’s Evidence-Based Medicine’s DataLab found that only 49.4% of clinical trials reported results. In contrast, trials with commercial sponsors or those that were carried out by pharma companies, were more likely to post results.

Source: Pharmaphorum

 FDA plan focuses on antibiotic development, stewardship

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a multipronged strategy to address antimicrobial resistance.


The new measures unveiled by the FDA are designed to drive development of antibiotics and alternative therapies, promote antibiotic stewardship in animal health, advance antibiotic resistance surveillance, and enhance regulatory science.

Source: CIDRAP

New UK microscopy centre launched to probe biological materials 

A new collaboration between Diamond Light Source and US-based scientific equipment company Thermo Fisher is set to make the UK a global leader in providing large-scale industrial access to cryo-electron microscopy, the latest ultra-powerful imaging technology.


The new facility, known as the Electron Bio-Imaging Centre, has been established with £15.6m funding from the Wellcome Trust and government research councils.

Source: Financial Times

Approvals

Ajovy 

The FDA has finally approved Teva’s potential blockbuster migraine drug after months of delays due to concerns about the manufacturing plant operated by the company’s partner, Celltrion.

Source: Pharmaphorum

Lumoxiti

The FDA has approved a new cancer drug from AstraZeneca, the first medicine to treat a rare and life-threatening form of leukaemia to hit the market for 20 years.

Source: Astrazeneca

XERAVA

The US FDA has granted approval of XERAVA™ (eravacycline) for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections.


Source: Nasdaq

Takhzyro

Shire’s Takhzyro has been approved in the US for the prevention of attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in patients 12 years of age and older.

Source:The Pharma Times

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