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Articles by Sophie Cairns
Delytact: The world's first oncolytic virotherapy for brain cancer
The world’s first oncolytic virus therapy for brain cancer was approved earlier this month – but it was not, as you might expect, in the US, where most innovative new drugs are first launched. Or Europe, where innovative products tend to be launched soon after the US. And nor was it in China, which is increasingly developing new, domestic cancer drugs.
In Her Stories - In Her Strength
In Her Stories is a series of monologues written by women with experience of homelessness. Women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and we wanted to shine a light on these often hidden narratives, while providing paid employment for as many artists as possible. Written by 8 women after 6 online workshops running November 2020 – January 2021.
Japan’s new CEA-based price adjustments set to maintain pricing pressure on innovative drugs
Over the past several years, Japan – which reimburses 99% of all medicines approved in the country – has introduced a raft of policies that have led to increasing pricing pressure on pharmaceuticals, including cost-effectiveness assessments (CEAs). Last week, Japan set a new milestone by applying cost-effectiveness criteria for the first time to its price assessments.
China’s young biosimilars sector
China’s young biosimilars sector saw a major milestone in December which underlines the sector’s rapid growth and significant promise: the first marketing approval of a domestically-developed biosimilar of Avastin. Ankada, developed by Qilu Pharmaceutical, has received marketing approval from the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of metastatic or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic colorectal cancer.
South Korean pharma dreams struggle
In September, South Korean drugmaker Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed a collaboration agreement with US biotech Phanes Therapeutics focusing on dual- and multi-antibody-based immunotherapy treatments. While the deal was one of many that took place in the pharma sector that month, it came as Hanmi pharmaceutical, and fellow South Korean drug maker Kolon Life Science, struggle to recover from several high-profile setbacks.
Inconsistent application of pricing policies in China contributes to pockets of high prices
China’s efforts to rein in high medicine prices seem to have hit warp speed. In the last two years alone, China has negotiated steep price cuts for imported treatments, updated the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), and slashed tariffs to zero for more than fifty cancer treatments.
50 Finds from Berkshire
Every year thousands of archaeological artefacts are discovered by the public, mostly through metal detecting but also while digging in the garden or while out walking the dog in the countryside. Since first coming to Berkshire in 2003, the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) has recorded nearly 10,000 archaeological artefacts from the county, all of which have been found by the public. The Royal County of Berkshire has a long and rich archaeological heritage.
HTA adoption in Asian emerging pharma markets
Asia’s emerging markets – such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines – may provide a significant growth opportunity of pharmaceutical multinationals. Compared to the more mature pharma markets in Japan, South Korea and Thailand, for example, Asia’s emerging pharma markets typically boast a younger, growing population, less domestic competition and a hunger for innovative treatments. However, those days may be numbered.
Regulatory convergence or divergence for Asian pharma
Asia is seeing increasing convergence between some of its major markets and the United States and Europe, according to the conclusions of the first panel discussion at The Pharma Market Access and Pricing Summit Asia that opened on the 19th. China, for example, has introduced priority review pathways, including for hepatitis C treatments and life-threatening, which have helped shorten the drug approval gap between China and major overseas markets.
Culture shift at Takeda a sign of things to come
Takeda‘s pursuit of UK pharma major Shire has not only made headlines over the last few months, it also heralds a sea change within Japan’s largest drugmaker. The proposed deal has led to a clash between Takeda’s centuries-strong corporate culture and the drive for growth from overseas markets, thanks to the company’s first non-Japanese CEO, Christophe Weber.
US tariffs likely to mostly affect US generics makers
On 3 April, the Trump administration threatened to place tariffs of 25% on more than 1,300 Chinese goods worth approximately USD50 billion annually. The proposed tariffs – which would apply to a wide range of products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and medical devices, as well as several treatments including vaccines, antidepressants, insulin, and antibiotics – was met with a threat of retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese government.
China’s new clinical trial regulations a win-win for all | IHS Blogs
Earlier this month, China took an axe to a swathe of red tape that has infuriated overseas drugmakers for years: the requirement for local clinical data as part of the drug approval process. On 9 October, China’s State Council announced that data from overseas clinical trials can now be used for drug registrations in the country.
In China drugmakers walk increasingly fine line between lower prices and making a buck | IHS Blogs
In mid-July, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS) announced that it would add another 36 medicines to the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), after months-long negotiations between the government and global drugmakers. The addition of the 31 Western medicines and five Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) was expected.
Outcry over patient death puts Hong Kong’s drug reimbursement system into spotlight | IHS Blogs
Hong Kong’s drug reimbursement process has come under renewed scrutiny following a public outcry over the death of a patient from a rare genetic disease, after the Hospital Authority (HA) refused to subsidise Afinitor, which could have saved her life. In particular, there is increasing public debate over whether Hong Kong’s cash-rich government should give more public funding to rare rare-disease medicines.
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