Top Ten articles in the Pharma Industry this week
pharmafile | October 7, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications |
The beginning of October has seen the failure of big drugs in clinical trials have a big knock-on effect for their companies. It was a particularly painful week for one company that lost close to half their value on the failure of one key drug in their portfolio. We’ve gone through our news stories and features to pick out the most read and the must-read stories of the week
10. FDA warns that certain hepatitis C drugs can have serious side-effects
The FDA has warned that drugs that treat and can potentially cure hepatitis C may also come with a risk of causing hepatitis B to become active again.
9. AstraZeneca agrees $250 million licensing agreement with Allergan
The research and development arm, MedImmune, of the British-based pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, has agreed a deal with Allergan for the licensing of MEDI2070.
8. Roche’s Alecensa receives second FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation
Roche’s drug Alecensa, developed by its Genentech unit, has been granted a second Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its ALK inhibitor.
7. Novartis axes 175 jobs globally in operations reshuffle
Firm is to shut down research operations in Switzerland and China in an effort to cut costs and centralise its drug discovery programmes.
6. “Incorrect classification” of EpiPen leads to $1 billion bill for US government
Mylan’s EpiPen scandal continues to deepen as CMS contends that they underpaid rebates to state Medicaid programs
5. Merck’s Keytruda suffers rejection at hands of NICE
Merck’s Keytruda (penmbrolizumab), used to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has received a knockback from NICE.
4. Roche granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by FDA
Roche’s Actemra given breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA after recently announcing positive results from a Phase III clinical trial.
3. AstraZeneca wins major drug approval by NICE
AstraZeneca’s lung-cancer drug, Tagrisso, will be made available to people with a certain type of lung cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
2. Alynlam shares plunge on the news of 18 deaths in a clinical trial
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals suffered a huge blow to its market value after a catastrophic failure in a Phase III trial.
1. 80% of Chinese Clinical trials’ data fabricated
The big news of last week continues to fascinate readers, with the China’s regulatory body finding that 80% of data in clinical trials was “fabricated”.
