Companies involved in the parallel trade of pharmaceuticals have
been boosted by a court ruling which gives them the right to re-box
products shipped into the UK from another country in the European
Union.
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a new rule that
makes it a requirement for most prescription and some
over-the-counter pharmaceutical products to carry bar codes. The
move is aimed at reducing the number of medication...
Italy's Bonfiglioli Pharma Machinery has launched a new machine for
testing that freeze-dried vials contain a vacuum that is much
faster than current methods.
In Russia, the Health Ministry suspended the licences of 321
companies manufacturing or trading in counterfeit medicines last
year, and a further 200 may also lose their licences following
ongoing investigations, according to the...
The expansion of the European Union to include 25 member states
after May 2004 presents significant opportunities for the
pharmaceutical industry to tap new markets, but companies should
think twice before launching new products there.
As reported last week, Mark McClellan looks set to leave his post
as Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to run
the agency that oversees Medicare and its new prescription drug
programme for the elderly and disabled.
MeadWestvaco Intelligent Systems has launched a radio frequency
identification (RFID) inventory system that enables manufacturers
to more accurately monitor drug delivery from production to
pharmacy distribution.
Management consultancy firm Accenture has formed a group of
industry leaders that will work together to evaluate the potential
of new radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to improve
pharmaceutical product manufacturing,...
The US Food and Drug Administration issued its final report on ways
to combat pharmaceutical counterfeiting and identifies
radiofrequency identification (RFID) as a primary means of tackling
the problem.
UK pharmaceutical packaging firm Jaycare has been sold to venture
capitalists for the second time in four years, in a deal worth more
than £45 million (€67m).
The development of new drugs, rooted within the pharmaceutical
industry, is inefficient and unsustainable and a new model is
needed to reduce the cost of medicines and improve access to them.
Despite widespread recognition of the dangers of misprescribing,
one in 12 visits to the doctor in the US results in the patient
receiving dangerous medications, according to new data from the
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention...
Drug major Eli Lilly has provided a detailed response to a US
congressional committee request for details of how the firm intends
to tackle the issue of drug counterfeiting.
US packaging giant MeadWestvaco has reported a 38 per cent increase
in fourth-quarter profits, helped by cost-cutting, cash from the
sale of forest land and strong sales of consumer packaging
materials.
A rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by Franco-German company
Aventis has been linked to the deaths of five patients in Japan,
prompting the company to warn against prescribing the drug to
people with respiratory problems.
A new metal detector capable of picking up ferrous and stainless
steel contamination within aluminium foil wrapped products has been
developed. Manufactured by German technology firm Sartorius, the
product, called the Observer, promises...
The number of novel pharmaceutical compounds approved for marketing
- a traditional benchmark for the industry's R&D performance -
has seen a welcome increase after years of declines.
A US congressional committee has asked five drug makers for advice
on the measures they are taking to combat the counterfeiting and
diversion of prescription drugs.
The US Biotechnology Industry Organisation has come out in support
of European legislation that it says will require extensive tests
to be conducted on so-called 'biosimilar' versions of biological
drugs.
The US government's attempt to reform the federal Medicare system
to provide a prescription benefit for the elderly and disabled has
been slammed by the Democrats, who believe it will prevent US
states from negotiating price...
European clinical researchers have launched a campaign calling on
the European Parliament and Commission to repeal a new Directive on
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) on the grounds that it will hinder the
conduct of non-commercial trials.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has thrown out
allegations by the European Commission that Bayer, the German
pharmaceutical firm, had established a cartel agreement with its
wholesalers to restrict the trade flow of its...
Japan has said that it intends to require all prescription drugs to
carry bar codes in a bid to prevent medication mix-ups, but
hospitals are worried about the cost implications of the move.
The Indian government has proposed draconian new penalties for
individuals found making counterfeit pharmaceuticals, after a
number of fatalities associated with bootleg drugs.
For the past 10 years, drug companies have paid the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) fees to review each drug they want
approved, on the grounds that the increased funding for the agency
would accelerate review times and shorten...
A UK-based animal rights group has passed video footage of alleged
animal cruelty at a facility in Germany run by US contract research
company Covance to the Ministry of Environment in
Northrhine-Westfalia.
In response to growing concerns about counterfeit drugs in the US
drug supply, an industry group has submitted a report to the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) as a commentary on policy issues
surrounding prescription drug counterfeiting,...
Mark McClellan, the US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner,
has given the strongest hint to date that generic versions of
biological drugs may be approved without the need for extensive
clinical trials.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Internet sales of
prescription drugs should not be permitted in European Union member
states but that over-the-counter drugs may be sold on-line and
through mail-order.
Companies filing for approval of their drugs in the US market must
now supply all information on the product's labelling and package
insert in an electronic format, according to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).
Bar code scanning systems, which scan medications and patient
identification bracelets at hospital bedsides to verify patients
are receiving the correct medications, were voted the top choice
for preventing medication errors in a...
The US authorities have arrested another individual for suspected
involvement in the distribution of fake copies of Pfizer's
blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin).
The pharmaceutical industry has welcomed the passage of new
legislation by the UK Parliament that will give police new powers
to intervene in public order offences, including those carried out
by animal extremist groups.
Three individuals have been formally charged in the US for their
alleged involvement in the counterfeiting of Pfizer's Lipitor
(atorvastatin) as investigators try to unravel the intricate web of
conspirators behind the case.
New legislation in the US to give the elderly and disabled rights
to reimbursement for prescription drugs under the federal Medicare
system has been passed by the Senate. It has been estimated that
the measure could expand the revenues...
The European Parliament's Environment Committee takes a vote
tomorrow on the review of the EU medicinal product directive, set
to define the boundary between dietary supplements and
pharmaceuticals. Europe's pharmaceutical...
The US has passed a new bill that will see the country invest €3.1
billion in nanotechnology over the next four years and should
cement its position as a leader in this emerging technology sector.
The prospect of a prescription drug benefit for the elderly in the
US has led to share price hikes in Euro pharma companies; SG Cowen
analyses the impact.
Industry-backed group says UK should help support the country's
biotech companies by setting up a national agency to organise
clinical trials and boost companies' liquidity.
Japan is losing out competitively at the expense of its rivals in
the global pharmaceutical industry, says EFPIA, and must take steps
to improve the environment for drug companies.
Avecia has scored a world first with the certification by all
European Union member states of its DNA medicines production
facility at Grangemouth, Scotland.
The globalisation of the marketplace for pharmaceuticals means that
it is becoming more common for medicines destined for consumption
in the European Union to be manufactured in distant lands. As a
consequence, the EMEA has started...
The REACH framework for chemicals will contrary to the industry's
view, actually improve conditions for innovation in Europe,
according to EU Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.
AstraZeneca is roundly rebuked by The Lancet in an editorial that
describes the firm's development of its new cholesterol-lowering
drug Crestor as a "triumph of marketing over science".
The UK High Court has issued injunctions against a number of
individuals found to be involved in the harassment of staff working
for UK-based Japanese pharmaceutical companies.
The US FDA's task force on counterfeiting of drugs issued its
preliminary report on schedule at the end of last week, and said
that it would be preparing a final document for early in 2004.