Industry news

• US biotech stocks soar to new record high

  17 February 2014 Arash Massoudi and Michael Mackenzie / Financial Times

  Investors are buying further into booming US biotechnology stocks, with the sector soaring to a new record after delivering double-digit returns in 2014.

• Illumina and Yuri Milner will back a genomics startup incubator in San Francisco

  14 February 2014 Galen Moore / FierceMedicalDevices

  Illumina ($ILMN) is throwing its cachet and its $1,000 genome sequencing system behind a San Francisco genomics startup incubator backed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner.

• U.S. rep rips the FDA's efforts to speed up drug approvals

  11 February 2014 Damian Garde, FierceBiotech

  Over the past few years, the FDA has unveiled a spate of new approval pathways in hopes of getting much-needed treatments on the market faster. But in the rush to accelerate drug development, the agency has wound up putting patients at risk, according to one congresswoman, fast-tracking unproven therapies despite serious safety concerns.

• Nuvo Research Announces the U.S. Commercial Launch of PENNSAID® 2% by Mallinckrodt

  11 February 2014

  

  Nuvo Research Inc. (TSX: NRI), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a diverse portfolio of topical and immunology products today announced the U.S. commercial launch of PENNSAID (diclofenac sodium topical solution) 2% w/w (PENNSAID 2%) by its U.S. commercial licenseeMallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK). 

• BRICS Medical Device Market Reports

  10 February 2014 ReportLinker

  With a combined population of 3 0 billion people and with significant unmet medical need, the challenges and opportunities of the BRIC markets are considerable The economic downturn has affected these markets varyingly; for example, the Brazilian import market may be affected by disadvantageous US$ exchange rates, but China is affected more by a weak economy in the USA, its major market Significant growth rates are impressive, but the low starting point – along with a range of other operational issues – means companies must be targeted in the opportunities they pursue.

• Reports Of U.S. Biomedical R&D Demise – A Great Exaggeration

  06 February 2014 Rob Wright, Life Science Leader

  Prior to heading out to the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last month, I stumbled across several article headlines indicating the United States’ domination of global biomedical R&D was fading. What metric was used to determine this? R&D spend. According to “new” research from the University of Michigan Health System, the U.S. share of the global biomedical R&D business declined from 51 percent to a mere 45 percent from 2007 to 2012. 

• Russian physicians visit ARMC, learn about healthcare and hospital systems in US

  06 February 2014 April Burkhart, Online Athens

  Delegates of Russia’s health care community toured Athens Regional Medical Center on Tuesday as part of trip sponsored by Rotary International and the Athens Rotary Club to learn more about health care practices in the United States and technology used in American hospitals.

• Collaborations between foreign and domestic pharma companies in Russia mark the start of a trend

  05 February 2014 Kavita Rainova, IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis

  Over the past few months, there has been a steady inflow of news about collaboration between foreign pharma companies and Russian firms, along with news about foreign companies basing production processes in Russia. 

• Cold Russian winter boosts sales of over-the-counter drugs

  03 February 2014 ITAR TASS

  Russia ranks second by the pharmaceutical market of over-the-counter medications, goes a report of the multinational pharmaceutical corporation Novartis.

• UK-Russia firm launches breakthrough drug-free gel to treat arthritis

  03 February 2014 Voice of Russia - UK

  British Prime Minister David Cameron this week hailed the launch of a breakthrough treatment which uses nanotechnology to combat crippling arthritis pain. The drug-free gel, manufactured by Anglo-Russian company Pro Bono Bio, is the first over-the-counter product in Britain to use cutting-edge nano-physical science to ease arthritic pain.