Industry news

Achieving Cost-Effective Bioprocesses

Randi Hernandez / BioPharm International

BullStorm/Getty Images; Dan WardAlthough many of the newest methods to optimize process economics focus squarely on the implementation of single-use systems and the realization of continuous processing, there are other methods of cost cutting that could help a bioprocess become more sustainable. Operators should look to methods to optimize the use of solvents, get the most from their resins, explore hybrid approaches and miniature bioreactors for improved process understanding, and investigate alternatives to mammalian vectors to improve cost calculations.

Generic-Drug Production and Oversight Challenge FDA and Manufacturers

Jill Wechsler / BioPharm International

It’s well known that generic drugs account for 88% of prescription drug sales in the United States and have saved billions for patients and healthcare systems since Congress enacted the Hatch-Waxman Act more than 30 years ago. That growth, though, has created difficulties for FDA in processing the hundreds of resulting abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and in inspecting an expanding number of generic-drug manufacturers and ingredient producers all over the world.

Advertising drives traffic, especially Millennials, to pharma websites: Survey

Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

Patients today are armed with more information than ever, and they're looking for active roles in their treatment. How can pharma companies make sure they're part of the mix?

Study: The FDA's 'breakthrough' program is speeding up cancer approvals

Damian Garde / Fierce Biotech

Since the FDA unveiled its breakthrough therapy designation in 2012, cancer drugs brought into the program won approval roughly three months faster than other oncology therapies, according to a new study.

BioPhorum Operations Group Invites Industry Stakeholders to Participate in Technology Roadmap

BioPharm International

The BioPhorum Operations Group is inviting industry stakeholders including academics, supply partner R&D heads, regulators, and regional hubs to participate in the group’s Technology Roadmap for the future of biopharmaceuticals. 

The most influential people in biopharma today

FierceBiotech

Biopharma is in for a transformational year in 2016. Lawmakers are clamoring for drug price reform. Patients are protesting for faster FDA approvals. Patents are under fire from value-seeking hedge funders. And the industry's least-welcome spokesman is live-streaming the whole thing.

China drug price pilot signals volume for cost-cuts formula

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Negotiations to cut the prices of 5 imported or patented drugs in China are progressing under a pilot program that would jibe with wider national insurance coverage to leverage volumes for cost savings.

NIH-funded researcher making progress on nature-inspired 'smart' contact lens

Varun Saxena / FierceMedicalDevices

By taking his inspiration from nature, including the elephant nose fish, insects and arthropods, the University of Wisconsin's Hongrui Jiang is making progress on a "smart" contact lens that can automatically refocus, to the benefit of those with presbyopia, or the stiffening of the eye, which causes difficulties focusing on nearby objects.

Express Scripts says U.S. drug spending rose 5.2 percent in 2015

Caroline Humer / Reuters

U.S. spending on prescription drugs rose 5.2 percent in 2015, including the impact of rebates, driven by an 18 percent increase in specialty drugs, Express Scripts Holding Co said on Monday.

Generic-Drug Production and Oversight Challenge FDA and Manufacturers

Jill Wechsler / BioPharm International

It’s well known that generic drugs account for 88% of prescription drug sales in the United States and have saved billions for patients and healthcare systems since Congress enacted the Hatch-Waxman Act more than 30 years ago. That growth, though, has created difficulties for FDA in processing the hundreds of resulting abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and in inspecting an expanding number of generic-drug manufacturers and ingredient producers all over the world.