Industry news

FDA issues final guidance on the evaluation and labeling of abuse-deterrent opioids

U.S. Food ansd Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a final guidance to assist industry in developing opioid drug products with potentially abuse-deterrent properties.

Germany's Merck KGaA sees emerging markets as bigger earnings driver than Europe

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Germany's Merck KGaA now considers the world's emerging markets as a group, with China a major driver, to be a greater revenue-producer than Europe, unit CEO Bernd Reckmann said in an interview.

Busiest Day for Health-Care Deals Is Set to Spawn More: Real M&A

Tara Lachapelle / Bloomberg

It’s the busiest day for takeovers in the health-care industry. UnitedHealth Group Inc. struck Monday’s largest purchase -- $13.2 billion for drug-benefit manager Catamaran Corp. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. made a $3.1 billion splash back into dealmaking with Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. Horizon Pharma Plc agreed to buy Hyperion Therapeutics Inc. for $866 million to treat lucrative rare diseases. And Fujifilm Holdings Corp. is acquiring Cellular Dynamics International Inc., a maker of human cells, for $239 million. All figures include net debt.

Japan pharma market on track for $80B mark by 2020, but obstacles seen

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Japan's pharmaceutical market is forecast to reach close to the $80 billion mark by 2020--up from $72.8 billion in 2013--but three big "ifs" could keep it from reaching that mark.

Online drug sale plans in China see furious smoke, no fire yet

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

China drug regulators have provided no clue as to when they will allow online sales of prescription drugs, but the players who would be involved and those with a vested interest are positioning themselves to be ready. The clearance is expected sometime this year.

Message is clear: Europe is in trouble in terms of pharma growth, experts say

Zachary Brennan / In-Pharma Technoligist

The European pharma market isn’t likely to deliver much growth over the next five years as generic markets commoditize, IMS Health VP Graham Lewis warned participants at the DCAT (Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies) conference.

Big Pharma joins the U.K.'s genomics project with eyes on drug discovery

Damian Garde / Fierce Biotech

A group of the world's leading drugmakers have joined the U.K.'s ambitious initiative to sequence the genomes of 100,000 Britons, mining the data with hopes of finding new pathways to treat cancer and rare diseases.

Hey, European countries--join forces to bring down drug prices, WHO suggests

Carly Helfand / FiercePharma

You want to reduce high prices for new meds, European countries? Here's a suggestion for you: Work together.

31 March 2015

Syndax and Merck to Collaborate on Immuno-Oncology Study Evaluating Entinostat in Combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in Lung Cancer and Melanoma

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that they have entered into a clinical trial collaboration to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining Syndax’s entinostat, an investigational epigenetic therapy, with Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the first anti-PD-1 therapy approved in the United States. 

100,000 Genomes Project taps Big Pharma dream team for data crunching skills

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech IT

The United Kingdom has wasted no time getting industry involved with its 100,000 Genomes Project. With just 3% of the sequencing work done, Genomics England has enlisted the help of a who's who of Big Pharma companies to pore over the data in search of new avenues for drug discovery.