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The pharma industry briefing

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

Data: News
in Numbers

$1.2tn

The amount that sales of worldwide prescription drugs are forecast to reach by 2024, according to a new report from EvaluatePharma. Progress in the market is expected to be driven by the launch of novel therapies and increased access to medicines.

10%

The percentage of all medicines in low and middle-income countries that are either substandard or falsified, according to new research from the World Health Organisation

4,320

The number of investigational Ebola Zaire vaccine V920 doses that Merck shipped to the World Health Organisation in May when an Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

86%

The percentage of biopharma firms that expressed interest in expanding into China during a survey by L.E.K. Consulting. But three-quarters of respondents would prefer not to enter the market alone

$600

million

$600

million

The amount of money Pfizer is investing in biotechnology and emerging growth companies through its venture investment arm. The company pledged to dedicated 25% of the funds to finding promising early stage neuroscience companies

Researchers Commence Trials of a Saliva Test for Prostate Cancer

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have begun a trial of a DNA test on saliva samples that aims to identify the 1% of men who are at highest risk of developing prostate cancer during their lifetime. The test combines 63 new gene variants linked to the disease with more than 100 previously known DNA variants to spot men with the highest inherited risk and analyse whether advice or preventative treatment could reduce cases of prostate cancer among these men.

Source: The Guardian

European Commission proposes EU's biggest ever research and innovation programme

The Commission has proposed €100 billion for the next European Union research and innovation funding programme, Horizon Europe, between 2021 and 2027. The new programme will build on the achievements of Horizon 2020, but it will put even stronger emphasis on turning research into results, in areas such as medicine, food and tackling climate change.

Source: The European Commission

Virtual reality is helping chemists discover new life-enhancing drugs

Drug discovery company C4X Discovery (C4XD) has developed its own VR tool, 4Sight, to help its chemist visualise the structure of complex molecules and come up with new drugs.

C4XD develops new drugs for conditions like cancer and chronic addiction – the company is, for instance, working with pharmaceutical company Indivior.

Source: Wired

HIV treatment breakthrough boosts GSK

An innovative treatment for HIV, which uses two drugs instead of the normal three, has proved effective in a major clinical trial, in a big boost for its manufacturer ViiV, a division of GlaxoSmithKline. The trial, called Gemini, could significantly enlarge GSK's share of the $20bn a year market for HIV treatment, with analysts predicting sales of at least £1.1bn annually by 2025.

Source: Financial Times

FDA approves Keytruda in cervical cancer

An innovative treatment for HIV, which uses two drugs instead of the normal three, has proved effective in a major clinical trial, in a big boost for its manufacturer ViiV, a division of GlaxoSmithKline. The trial, called Gemini, could significantly enlarge GSK's share of the $20bn a year market for HIV treatment, with analysts predicting sales of at least £1.1bn annually by 2025.

Source: Pharmaphorum

AZ’s Tagrisso wins new NSCLC first-line approval in Europe

AstraZeneca has widened the licence for its cancer drug Tagrisso (osimertinib) in Europe after regulators gave it the green-light for first-line use against additional types of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Tagrisso’s new marketing authorisation from the European Commission will allow it be used in adults with locally-advanced or metastatic NSCLC with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.

Source: AstraZeneca

FDA. Approves First Drug Designed to Prevent Migraines

The first medicine designed to prevent migraines was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, ushering in what many experts believe will be a new era in treatment for people who suffer the most severe form of these headaches.

The drug, Aimovig, made by Amgen and Novartis, is a monthly injection with a device similar to an insulin pen. The list price will be $6,900 a year.

Source: New York Times

Ascletis Receives NDA Approval from China FDA

Ascletis announced today that China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has approved its Category 1 new drug, Ganovo (also known as Danoprevir or ASC08), for the treatment of viral hepatitis C.

Ganovo is the first Direct-acting Anti-viral Agent (DAA) developed by a domestic company in China and has been selected as a National Science and Technology Major Project for "Innovative Drug Development".

Source: Pharmaceutical Business Review