Industry news

04 April 2017

Syndax Pharmaceuticals Adds Biopharmaceutical Industry Leader Keith A. Katkin to Board of Directors

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Syndax,” the “Company” or “we”) (Nasdaq:SNDX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing entinostat and SNDX-6352 in multiple cancer indications, today announced the appointment of Keith A. Katkin to its Board of Directors.

New analysis: More than half of patients’ out-of-pocket spending for brand medicines is based on full list price

PhRMA

More than half of commercially insured patients’ out-of-pocket spending for brand medicines is based on full list prices, according to a new analysis from Amundsen Consulting, a division of QuintilesIMS. Even though rebates paid by biopharmaceutical companies can substantially reduce the prices insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) pay for brand medicines, insurers use list prices—rather than discounted prices—to determine how much to charge patients with deductibles and coinsurance. 

Pharma's most-valuable brands? J&J, Pfizer and Merck. Valeant, not so much

Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

U.S. pharma brands jumped in value almost across the board in Brand Finance's annual look at the nation’s most valuable. The lone exception? Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Cancer Death Rates Continue to Decline

U.S.National Institute of Health

Overall cancer death rates continue to decrease in men, women, and children for all major racial and ethnic groups, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2014. The report finds that death rates during the period 2010-2014 decreased for 11 of the 16 most common types of cancer in men and for 13 of the 18 most common types of cancer in women, including lung, colorectal, female breast, and prostate cancers. Meanwhile, death rates increased for cancers of the liver, pancreas, and brain in men and for liver and uterine cancer in women. The report finds overall cancer incidence rates, or rates of new cancers, decreased in men but stabilized in women during the period 1999-2013.

31 March 2017

Clearside Biomedical Enters into Strategic Collaboration with EyeKor to Support Clinical Development Efforts

Clearside Biomedical Inc.  (Nasdaq:CLSD), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class drug therapies to treat back-of-the-eye diseases, announced today that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with  EyeKor Inc.  to support Clearside’s ophthalmic clinical trial activities. 

National agency pushback against EMA fast track continues

Nick Paul Taylor / FierceBiotech

Germany’s healthcare cost watchdog is continuing to push back against the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) plans to accelerate the approval of new medicines. The German institute worries fast-track drug approvals based on limited clinical trial data or real-world evidence will become the norm—and that this will undermine attempts to gauge the true safety and efficacy of medicines.

Brexit: Why U.K. life science is optimistic in the face of threats to R&D, funding

Nick Paul Taylor / FierceBiotech

In the run-up to the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership, leaders from Big Pharmas, biotechs, academic groups and regulatory agencies based across the region warned repeatedly of the risks of Brexit. Now, two years out from the scheduled EU exit date, the tenor of the debate has shifted. Uncertainty and concerns remain, but the life science sector is increasingly confident about its post-Brexit prospects. 

The World Laboratory Market is $108.5 Billion Market and Growing

Kalorama Information

The global market for clinical laboratory services reached $108.5 billion for 2016, according to a new report from Kalorama Information. In addition to diagnosing patients, medical lab testing is performed to evaluate disease progression, monitor drug treatment and conditions, and determine individual therapy, among other reasons. 

Why wait? Trump mounts an early raid on NIH’s ’17 budget in search of some spending money

John Carroll / Endpoints News

Pres­i­dent Trump is look­ing for some extra cash this year. And to get it he’s ready to start slash­ing NIH fund­ing now, rather than wait until the next bud­get year gets started.

New Study Demonstrates the Importance of Long-Term Funding for Cancer Research

Bentley University

New drugs to treat cancer that are now emerging are the end products of research begun in the 1970s and '80s, a new study by Bentley University has found, demonstrating the importance of long-term research in bringing new therapies to market. The research, published in the journal PLOS One, appears as Congress considers deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health, whose budget funds research into cancer and other diseases.