Industry news

• Drive to Add FDA Drug Police in India Delayed

  22 July 2014 Anna Edney, Bloomberg

  Five months after the top U.S. drug regulator promised to expand the office that polices Indian companies that make medicine for U.S. patients, an exodus of workers is cramping the effort.

• NIH scientists identify gene linked to fatal inflammatory disease in children

  17 July 2014 National Institutes of Health, USA

  Repurposed drugs may offer first potential therapy

• Overcoming Clinical Challenges in Russia

  17 July 2014 Beth Nuskey, Life Science Connect - Thomson Reuters

  Slated to rise from 11th to eighth place in the global pharmaceutical rankings, Russia is steadily proving to be a lucrative market for investors. With increased healthcare expenditure and governmental support of innovation through the implementation of Strategy 2020, policymaking and industry reform are shaping Russia’s drug development landscape. Efforts to localize pharmaceutical manufacturing and increase domestic R&D standing have been successful.

• Russia’s Support of Domestic Production as a Key Element in the Development of its Pharmaceutical Industry: Opportunities and risks for international players

  17 July 2014 Igor Petrushin, Head of Market Research and Consulting Division, Aston Consulting / Pharma Boardroom

  Since 2012, a 15% preferential contract price has been granted to domestic producers bidding in government tenders. Currently, there are plans to increase this preferential pricing by up to 40% of the total contract price.

• EMA Recommends 39 Drugs in First Half of 2014

  16 July 2014 BioPharm International

  Thirty-nine drugs were recommended for marketing authorization by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in the first half of 2014, compared with 44 in first half of 2013 and 33 in first half of 2012. The recommended drugs included drugs designed to fill unmet medical needs, treat diseases for which no treatments were previously available, or bring significant added benefit to patients over existing therapies.

• Russian start-up launches web-based cancer diagnosis service

  16 July 2014 Marchmount Innovation News

  Russian start-up Unim (United Medicine) has launched the Unim Histology Internet service, which will make it possible for cancer patients to send analyses remotely to the Dmitri Rogachev Federal Clinical and Research Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Immunology in Moscow,  reported  East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries. 

• Solid technology, smart decisions at the heart of Regeneron's remarkable R&D productivity

  16 July 2014 Michael Flanagan, FirstWord Lists

  Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has emerged as one of the most prolific wellsprings of new antibody drugs in the biopharma universe thanks to its success in combining innovative technologies with intelligent target selection.

• Russian patients will be available to innovative treatments for skin cancer

  15 July 2014 RU.facts

  In recent years, the world is rapidly increasing incidence of cancer including skin cancer, which accounted for Russia in the structure of malignant tumors account for 10.7% and each year this figure grows by 2-3%. This arises primarily environmental degradation and the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, having a carcinogenic effect.

• Bullish On Russian Pharmaceutical Market Despite Risks

  15 July 2014 Business Monitor: News & Views

  Demographic trends, rising incomes and greater state spending on healthcare will drive growth within the Russian pharmaceutical sector. However, we also see risks to investment and considerable barriers for foreign companies. On balance, we remain bullish on the growth prospects for Russian pharmaceutical spending, but highlight local companies as having better opportunities to realise this growth than multinationals.

• Russia may have its own curing HIV vaccine in 3-4 years

  15 July 2014 Marchmount Innovation News

  Russia is expecting to have its own therapeutic vaccine to fight HIV in three-to-four years, following a series of clinical trials. Andrei Kozlov of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, an official overseeing the vaccine project,  shared the news  with the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.