Industry news

AstraZeneca opens plant in Russia

Eric Palmer / FeircePharmaManufacturing

AstraZeneca ($AZN) has laid out a host of new manufacturing projects in recent months, including new biologics plants in Europe and the U.S. But while those projects are in the works, it has a new tablet plant in Russia that has just gone online.

Third Quarter – A Reality Check: The Cost of Innovative Drugs Moves into Politicos’ Crosshairs, but Biotech Will Recover

Peter Winter / BioWorld

Warning signs that the biotech sector’s marathon five-year positive run had finally hit the fatigue wall were there for all to see at the end of the second quarter. Most thought that the industry was ripe for a major correction and that it had finally arrived when investors headed for the hills on news that China’s economy appeared to be in rougher shape than originally forecast sending the markets south. Although biotech valuations were dragged down late August in the wake of market turbulence, investors did return as the markets rebounded. 

Siberian solution to pin down cancer at very early stages?

Marchmont Innovation News

Scientists at the Novosibirsk-based Vektor Virology and Biotechnology Research Center in Siberia are said to have developed a test system to diagnose very early stage cancers by DNA data, the Russian news agency TASS  reported , citing Vitaliy Kuznetsov, a research fellow at Vektor and one of the developers of the new test system. 

Survey: Current Labeling of Biosimilars Inadequate

Randi Hernandez / BioPharm International

Current labeling requirements for biosimilars are not transparent enough, according to a new survey of more than 400 pharmacists. The survey, conducted by the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM), asked pharmacists to rate the importance of the appearance of certain criteria on a biosimilar’s label, including information on whether or not a product is identified as a biosimilar, whether it is interchangeable with existing products, whether the original source of the data on the label are from the originator company or the biosimilar sponsor, and whether the data apply to one indication or all indications of the originator product.

Indian pharmacies hold national strike to protest online sales

Matthew Driskill / FiercePharmaAsia

Some 800,000 brick-and-mortar pharmacies across India held a one-day strike this week to protest what they say are "illegal" online sales of medicines that are affecting up to 50% of their business, according to various reports.

22 October 2015

Transcend Medical Submits Final Module of FDA Premarket Approval Application for the CyPass® Glaucoma Micro-Stent

Transcend Medical, Inc., a pioneer of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), today announced the submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the final module of the company’s Premarket Approval (PMA) application for the CyPass® Micro-Stent.

23andMe raises $115M as investors buy into data-driven drug discovery vision

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech

23andMe has bounced back from a difficult couple of years with a $115 million fundraising round that values the company at $1.1 billion. The cash will enable 23andMe to set up new lab space to fire up its nascent in-house drug discovery program and invest in a next-generation sequencing facility.

EU consortium creates large toxin database for drug discovery

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech IT

A European consortium has created what it claims is the world's largest database of toxins. The resource, which is the result of a large sampling and bioinformatic analysis program, is now set to be applied to the discovery of drugs against cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes.

Shift in diagnostics landscape laden with far-reaching consequences

Mari Serebrov / BioWorld

"Proceed with caution" is the advice the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) handed Congress in a report on the availability of confirmatory gene-based testing.

Pharma Can Learn from US Auto Industry

BioPharm International

A CPhI report suggests that the pharma industry should be careful not to outsource to lower labor-cost countries rather than investing in manufacturing technology and innovation.