Top Ten most popular articles on Pharmafile.com this week
pharmafile | January 24, 2020 | News story | Business Services, Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
Indian pharmaceutical firms received more than double the amount of warning letters in the first ten months of 2019, compared with 2018, while Pakistan has registered cases against 200 pharmaceutical companies as it cracks down on illict pratices.
Also in the news, a team at Cardiff University have discovered a new part of the human immune system that could be harnessed to kill prostate, breast, lung and other cancers in lab tests.
A sales executive at the disgraced and bankrupted firm Insys who was accused of offering lap dances in order to persuade physicians to prescribe the company’s addictive opioid painkiller products has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison, it has emerged.
9. Jazz Pharma’s Sunosi becomes first EU-approved drug of its kind in narcolepsy and sleep apnoea
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has secured approval from the European Commission for Sunosi (solriamfetol), it has emerged, as a therapy to improve wakefulness and reduce excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in adult patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) or narcolepsy with or without cataplexy.
8. Pakistan registers cases against 200 pharmaceutical companies
The Punjab Quality Control Board has sent at least 74 cases to the drugs courts for prosecution, and has overall registered cases against 200 pharmaceutical companies.
7. China approves Roche cancer drug Kadcyla
China has approved the import of Roche’s drug for breast cancer, just after it recently won expanded approval in the US, Canada and Europe.
6. Roche’s risdiplam hits main goal in infants with spinal muscular atrophy
Roche has announced the success of its survival motor neuron-2 (SMN2) splicing modifier risdiplam in a new trial investigating its efficacy in the treatment of type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in infants aged 1-7 months.
5. Cardiff University team discovers new method of killing cancers
A team at Cardiff University have discovered a new part of the human immune system that could be harnessed to kill prostate, breast, lung and other cancers in lab tests.
4. FDA fast-tracks GSK’s multiple myeloma drug after priority review
The FDA has fast tracked GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) antibody drug conjugate (ADC) belantamab mafodotin, for the treatment of patients with refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma.
3. FDA warning letters to Indian pharmaceutical companies double in 2019
Indian pharmaceutical firms received more than double the amount of warning letters in the first ten months of 2019 compared with 2018.
2. No NICE recommendation for AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso in EGFR+ lung cancer
AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib) has been knocked back for routine use on the NHS in England and Wales by the drug watchdog NICE in the treatment of previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
1. Janssen’s ulcerative colitis medicine not recommended by NICE for use in adults
NICE has published draft guidance which does not recommend Stelara (ustekinumab) for treating moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults, due to concerns about cost-effectiveness.
