Industry news

How India got hooked on combination drugs

Krista Mahr / Reuters

Since 1961, India’s drug controller has approved more than 1,200 combination drugs, according to a list published on the website of the Health Ministry’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the national drug regulatory body. But many have also been licensed on the state level without the approval of the central government.

China's largest CRO, WuXi PharmaTech, now privately held

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Shanghai-based WuXi PharmaTech ($WX) has left the New York Stock Exchange in a management-led buyout worth $3.3 billion after a nearly 10-year run with a flurry of deals late this year pointing to the breadth of its ambitions in drug development.

15 December 2015

NovaMedica is starting construction of R&D Center for drug development using nanotechnologies

NovaMedica, a Russian pharmaceutical company, is starting construction of R&D Center for innovative drug development and pilot production in Moscow. This Center will include laboratories and production areas equipped with state-of-the-art process equipment that has never been used in the Russian pharmaceutical industry before. The total investments are estimated approximately $15 million.

Pharmaceutical research firm PPD explores sale, IPO

Carl O'Donnell and Olivia Oran / Reuters

Contract research organization Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC (PPD) is exploring a sale or initial public offering that could value it at between $7 billion and $8 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said.

Drug approvals top 2014 high but R&D returns still struggle

Ben Hirschler / Reuters

The number of new drugs approved in the United States this year has already topped last year's 18-year high, yet large pharmaceutical companies are still struggling to get a decent return on their research dollars.

CMOs Continue to Improve Overall Biomanufacturing Performance

Eric Langer / BioPharm International

Biomanufacturing efficiency is on everyone’s minds, being the single most important area of focus for global bioprocessing. And contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) are on the leading edge as they implement performance improvements. CMOs must remain efficient if they are to be competitive--so this is no surprise. Results from BioPlan Associates’ 12th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Capacity and Production (1) offer some clues as to what CMOs are doing to remain competitive.

14 December 2015

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. Completes Enrollment in Phase 2 Clinical Trial of CLS-TA for the Treatment of Retinal Vein Occlusion Using Suprachoroidal Space (SCS™) Drug Administration

Clearside Biomedical, Inc., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing innovative first-in-class drug therapies to treat blinding diseases of the eye, today announced completion of enrollment in the company’s Phase 2 clinical trial (Tanzanite) for the treatment of macular edema associated with retinal vein occlusion (RVO).  The trial uses CLS-TA, Clearside’s proprietary form of triamcinolone acetonide, injected by suprachoroidal space (SCS™) drug administration, concomitantly with aflibercept (Eylea®, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) delivered intravitreally.  Clearside expects to report top-line data from this clinical trial in the first half of 2016.

Industry navigates clinical trials through cloud computing

Peter Winter / BioWorld

Cloud-based high-performance computing is beginning to prove its worth in drug development research. The next logical step is its application in modernizing the clinical trial process by making trial enrollment and management much more efficient.

KTN Launches UK Medicines Manufacturing Landscape Portal

BioPharm International

The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), the United Kingdom’s innovation network, announced the launch of a new web portal that outlines the UK’s strengths and capabilities in medicines manufacturing.

China aims precision medicine plans at chronic diseases

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Not to be outdone by the United States, China plans to undertake its own national precision-medicine initiative, and expects to have a far easier time finding millions of contributors to a gene database.