Industry news

13 January 2015

LA BioMed develops promising vaccine to combat MRSA

Sandy Mazza, Daily Breeze

Grappling with one of the world’s deadliest contagions for more than a decade without a breakthrough, the country’s leading infectious disease researchers have high hopes for a vaccine developed locally.

Russian government takes steps to prevent further drug price increases

ThePharmaLetter

The Russian government is designing a number of measures aimed at preventing a further increase of drug prices in the domestic market, reports The Pharma Letter's local correspondent. According to Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the current situation in the market remains complex, which is reflected by the ever-increasing drug prices, caused by currency fluctuations and other factors. 

FDA to publish guidance on social media and clinical trial e-consent in 2015

Nick Paul Taylor, FierceBiotech

The FDA has released a list of almost 100 draft drug guidance documents it plans to introduce or update in 2015. The documents cover a range of biotech IT-related topics, including electronic informed consent in clinical trials, links to third-party sites in social media adverts and statistical approaches to showing biosimilarity.

Medvedev Orders Stockpiles of Medicine as Russia's Ruble Slumps

The Moscoe Times

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the Health Ministry to stock up on life-saving medications to ensure medical supplies aren't affected by the drastic devaluation of Russia's ruble currency.

China regulator to strengthen "grim" food, drug safety control

Adam Jourdan / Reuters

Food and drug safety in China is "grim" and will get stronger oversight, the food and drug regulator said on Wednesday, after a series of scares last year hit the reputations of global firms such as McDonald's Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

France and Italy ban products from Indian companies

Eric Palmer / FiercePharma Manufacturing

While FDA regulatory action against Indian companies has drawn the media spotlight the last couple of years, European regulators also have been finding problems with some Indian plants. Both France and Italy took action against Indian drug manufacturers last month, finding them out of compliance and limiting product sales as a result.

In nanorod we trust: magnetic pulse tech breakthrough for cancer drug delivery

Gareth MacDonald, In-Pharma Technologist.com

A magnetic pulse technology that can align and push nanoparticles to points distant to magnet surfaces could finally make magnets attractive for deep tissue drug delivery according to researchers.

Analysts name top stock picks as EU biotechs enter 2015

FierceBiotech

Analysts at Jefferies marked the new year by picking out their top trends and companies in European biotech. The analysts named Ablynx (EBR:ABLX), Cosmo Pharmaceuticals (SIX:COPN) and Genmab (CPH:GEN)--all of which are up at least 25% over the past year--as their top stock picks for 2015. Of the group, Genmab has the most significant, near-term data readout for its FDA breakthrough designated treatment, daratumumab.

BioWorld's top 10: Bringing you the biggest news makers and trending stories of 2014

Jennifer Boggs, Anette Breindl, Shannon Ellis, Michael Fitzhugh, Nuala Moran, Randy Osborne, Marie Powers, Mari Serebrov, Cormac Sheridan and Peter Winter / BioWorld

To say that 2014 was a good year for the biopharma industry would be a radical understatement. The flourishing capital markets, the record-breaking number of companies successfully going public via initial public offerings and the validation of scientific breakthroughs that only a few years ago had been mere theories all made for a banner year for the sector. Yet as BioWorld compiled its annual list of the most impactful stories, the top story was one that dominated headlines worldwide.

VCs give the gift of capital; 2014 was a banner year for start-ups

Brian Orelli, BioWorld

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, joyous Kwanzaa. Whatever you celebrated, the venture capitalists gave the biopharma industry a mighty large gift in 2014. Investments in private drug companies tracked by BioWorld Snapshots rounded out the year at $3.85 billion, up substantially from the $2.6 billion in 2013 in the U.S.