“Advinus Therapeutics Ltd., the TATA promoted Pharmaceutical R&D Company, announced today that it has received the second milestone in its Research and Development Collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. The achievement of this milestone substantiates the successful path of the collaboration and confirms Advinus’ proven strength in providing innovative solutions with speed and quality – essential ingredients for discovery of safe and effective medicines. Takeda’s approval of the milestone underscores the trust and confidence the company has placed in Advinus’ young and creative talent. A payment of $ 3 M has been made by Takeda to Advinus to mark the achievement.”
Read more – PRNewswire
November 5, 2014 | Greg
“Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Astellas Pharma has announced a three-year collaboration to research and develop small molecule inhibitors of oncogenic K-Ras for the treatment of cancer, including lung cancer.”
Read more – Pharmaceutical Business Review
November 5, 2014 | Greg
“Hiring and keeping good employees is as much of a challenge in the drug business as it is anywhere else. So, it’s always nice to know that would-be job seekers think your company is swell.
Here’s the latest gauge of drugmakers’ status in the world of recruiting: LinkedIn ranked the 100 most “InDemand Employers” in the world, using a combination of various stats drawn from its membership ranks and its members’ online activities. Pharma didn’t exactly dominate the list–far more tech companies populate it, for instance. But a few drugmakers stood out.”
Read more – FiercePharma
November 5, 2014 | Greg
“The high cost of drugs has been a topic of debate among many people, including me and Dr. Peter Bach, the eminent Director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Essentially, Dr. Bach and I disagree on the importance of pricing on sustaining innovation in pharmaceutical drug R&D. This is an important debate to have, as all can benefit by understanding the issues at hand.”
Read more – Forbes
November 4, 2014 | Greg
“Germany’s Bayer has completed acquisition of China-based provider of over-the-counter (OTC) and herbal traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products, Dihon Pharmaceutical Group, for CNY3.6bn (€470m).”
Read more – Pharmaceutical Business Review
November 4, 2014 | Greg
“Criticizing big pharmaceutical companies for their inaction, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reportedly said that no Ebola vaccine has been developed even 40 years after the virus first emerged because it previously affected poor African nations only.”
Read more – Zee News
November 4, 2014 | Greg
“A risk-simulation study by a Newark-based catastrophe risk specialist predicts that the United States could face as many as 130 Ebola cases by year-end, or a few as 15.”
Read more – San Francisco Business Times
November 4, 2014 | Greg
“Jobs abound in Asia and Europe. Find out which nations are the ones to watch.
Below is a listing of regions in seven countries outside the U.S. that hold promise for securing a biopharma job based on the size of their clusters of research universities, businesses, and nonprofit research institutes, as well as the locations of job openings posted on the websites of eight pharma and biotech corporate giants—Amgen, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis, Pfizer, Roche—as well as the employment website LinkedIn, based on GEN visits to those websites October 17–23.”
Read more – GEN
November 3, 2014 | Greg
“China is already one of the world’s top three drug markets, and growth in the percentage of its population over 50 years of age in the coming decades will further expand sales. Which Chinese entrepreneurs in pharmaceutical and healthcare-related fields may be poised to benefit from that growth? Here’s a list of the country’s 10 richest from those sectors from the 2014 Forbes China Rich List unveiled last Tuesday.”
Read more – Forbes
November 3, 2014 | Greg
“After I wrote about the problems of high cancer drug prices in this space (See: “Could High Drug Prices Be Bad For Innovation“), John LaMattina, the former head of R&D at Pfizer and a regular Forbes contributor, took issue with my arguments. He writes:
Dr. Peter B. Bach is a physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Director of its Center for Health Policy and Outcomes. He is a passionate advocate for patients and often eloquently expresses concerns on the high prices of drugs, particularly new cancer therapies. When he speaks, many people including myself pay close attention. However, his guest post on Forbes.com entitled “Could High Drug Prices Be Bad For Innovation” unfortunately is off-base.”
Read more – Forbes
November 3, 2014 | Greg
“Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Barack Obama on September 30, US and India issued a joint statement: “Agreeing on the need to foster innovation in a manner that promotes economic growth and job creation… committed to establish an annual high-level Intellectual Property (IP) Working Group with appropriate decision-making and technical-level meetings as part of the Trade Policy Forum.” Earlier, the US had put India on its 2014 “Priority Watch List” and initiated the current Out-of-Cycle Review of India’s Intellectual Property laws (IPR). Indian authorities have disagreed with such unilateral measures by the US government.
Over the last two decades, patent laws have taken a perverse direction from seemingly protecting novel ideas and products of intellect to being used by major corporations to establish monopolies over necessities like seed, food and medicines. Such monopolies violate Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to life.
It is time to re-visit our IPR policies in the context of our civilisational imperative, our Constitution and to protect India, her people and businesses. Patents on life violate the “Ordre Public” or moral order embodied in the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — all beings on earth are family. IP laws need to be subjected to ethical criteria, criteria of justice, and on a clear definition of invention.”
Read more – Deccan Chronicle Opinion
October 31, 2014 | Greg
“US drug maker Eli Lilly and Company said on Thursday that it had shared the manufacturing technology for two antibiotic drugs meant for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with India’s Shasun Pharmaceuticals Ltd as part of its ongoing programme to increase access of these medicines in countries including India, China, Russia and South Africa, where drug-resistant TB is most prevalent.”
From – Livemint
October 31, 2014 | Greg
“The band behind FerroKin BioSciences, a pioneer of the virtual biotech model, has gotten back together to take a stab at epigenetics, raising $26.5 million from some A-list investors to develop new treatments for orphan diseases.
The new company, Imago BioSciences, is working up a preclinical program with the potential to treat some undisclosed blood disorders. Clarus Ventures led the biotech’s A round, joined by Frazier Healthcare, Amgen ($AMGN) Ventures and Merck ($MRK) Research Labs Venture Fund.”
From – FierceBiotech
October 31, 2014 | Greg
“About 240 workers at a Boehringer Ingelheim complex in Virginia will have something special to celebrate this Thanksgiving: the prospect of keeping their jobs. Just weeks ahead of closing the facility and laying off all its workers, Boehringer has found a Chinese buyer that intends to add to the head count there.”
From – FiercePharma
October 31, 2014 | Greg
“Leading Indian drugmakers have urged the US Trade Representative’s Office to recognise the renewed business confidence in Indian economy after the new government has taken over and appreciate that some concerns on India’s intellectual property policy climate and its judiciary are ‘overstated’ and ‘misplaced’.”
From – The Economic Times
October 30, 2014 | Greg
