Industry news

Med tech industry's expenditure on lobbying at an all-time high

Varun Saxena / FierceMedicalDevices

The medical device tax is costing the med tech industry money--and so is lobbying to get rid of it. At almost $33 million, the industry's 2014 lobbying expenditure was up 6% over 2013 and has more than tripled since 1998's total of $8.9 million, Mass Devicereports, citing the Center for Responsive Politics' website, OpenSecrets.org.

Nominees have been announced for Allicense Breakthrough Deal Awards

Peter Winter / BioWorld

Thomson Reuters analysts have disclosed 10 deals – five biopharma licensing and five M&A deals concluded in 2014 – as candidates for the Breakthrough Alliance Awards, with voting now open and the winner to be announced at this year's Allicense meeting in San Francisco.

Study Links Regulatory Changes during Development to Human Cerebral Cortex Evolution

GenomeWeb

By comparing the epigenetic profiles of human, rhesus macaque, and mouse cerebral cortices during development, researchers from Yale School of Medicine and elsewhere uncovered enhancers and promoters that have increased activity in humans.

Activating genes on demand: Possible?

FirstWorld Pharma

Research data published in the journal Nature Methods suggest that it may be possible to develop gene therapies to prevent and treat diseases on a highly customisable, personalised level, Science Daily reported.

Biotech buys get pharma M&A off to flying start in 2015

Ben Hirschler / Reuters

Competition for tomorrow's blockbuster drugs is now intense, inflating the cost of deals and pushing pharmaceuticals to centre stage in overall mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Which pharma needs its cash cow most? It's not just about numbers

Tracy Staton / Fierce Pharma

We regularly rank drugs by sales: Top-selling cancer treatments, top-selling diabetes drugs, top-selling heart meds--you get the picture. And if you follow the industry, you know the world's biggest prescription products already. AbbVie's Humira, for one, which brought in $12.5 billion last year.

SEC warns pharma companies to be honest about FDA correspondence

Sarah N. Lynch / Reuters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's top enforcement chief warned on Tuesday that too many pharmaceutical companies are failing to accurately portray their dealings with federal drug regulators - a problem that could get them in trouble.

Want to stay out of trouble, pharma? Compliance, disclosure are key, SEC enforcer says

Carly Helfand, Fierce Pharma

Listen up, pharma companies: The Securities and Exchange Commission sees a few places where you might get yourselves into sticky situations. But there's an easy way to avoid trouble, and that's to beef up compliance and disclosure.

U.K. panel calls for innovation fund to break antibiotic discovery dam

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech

A panel set up by the United Kingdom government to review antimicrobial resistance has called for the creation of a global innovation fund to spur the discovery of new drugs. The idea is to counter years of underinvestment by public and private players in basic to mid-stage scientific research.

How will precision medicine handle privacy concerns moving forward?

Nicole Oran / MedCity News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration switched perspectives concerning patient-centric medicine on Feb. 19 when it approved the marketing of genetics testing company 23andMe’s carrier test for Bloom Syndrome – bringing it back to life after previous ethical/technical issues.