The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) announcement earlier this month that current President and CEO Billy Tauzin will step down at the end of June has raised the question of who will lead the association representing the innovator-drug industry. PhRMA says that it has already begun a search, so what are some of the key issues that the association should consider in finding a new chief policy advocate? Read more »
Attention has frequently been drawn to the complexities of getting anything done in Europe. A brilliant researcher can explore visionary horizons, an ambitious entrepreneur can offer a package of goods or services of inestimable value, but the degree of control and regulation becomes more intense every year — sometimes every month or week. Read more »
The health reform proposal unveiled by the White House on Feb. 22, 2010 retains a number of provisions that directly affect drug coverage and industry revenues. The plan highlights that it will close the Medicare drug benefit “doughnut hole” by 2020 to make drugs more affordable to the elderly. Seniors will get some relief this year through a $250 rebate, and coinsurance will phase down over the next decade. Read more »
These days, mandatory furloughs and staff cuts have employees in all industries nervously glancing over their shoulders. The pharmaceutical industry is no exception. Last week, Merck (Whitehouse Station, NJ) revealed plans to reduce its workforce by 15% by the end of 2012. Read more »
There has been a surge in the number of combination product (i.e. where a drug product is combined with a medical device) launches in recent years and this trend is set to continue as more companies seek to extend the life of existing branded medicines. According to analysts, the combination product market is currently worth 8 billion Euros and will grow by a staggering 40% during the next 3 years. Read more »
Parallel trade in the EU: there are arguments for it and arguments against it, but the latest reports from the UK suggest that the trade is having a significantly negative impact on patients and the supply of medicines. Read more »
Handling the vast amount of data that can be generated from scientific research, including pharmaceutical research such as genome sequencing, can be a formidable task. Researchers may not be able to efficiently manage this task through the use of personal computers (PCs) alone, nor do they have access to supercomputers or other advanced information-technology (IT) systems. The emerging model of cloud computing, an advance in computational computing, seeks to address researchers’ difficulties by creating a community resource of computational and processing power accessible on demand through PCs. Last week Microsoft and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a partnership to increase access to cloud computing for NSF-supported researchers.
Pharmaceutical supply-chain managers have yet another item to step up their control of: tractor-trailers. A critical part of the delivery of supply, these large trucks have been used by many pharmaceutical companies for years to transport raw materials, ingredients, and final drug products. Cargo theft has always been a concern, but that concern is now growing. Read more »
I have just returned from an event in France which, I have to say, really impressed me. Not because I had the perfect excuse to visit Paris for a couple of days (although that was undoubtedly a bonus), but because I was so impressed by the calibre of presentations and new innovations that were showcased from this relatively small meeting. Read more »
The announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation late last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the foundation will commit $10 billion during the next 10 years to help research, develop, and deliver vaccines in poor and developing countries is an important pledge for global public health, a commitment that the foundation is also hoping that governments and the private sector will participate in as well. Read more »
From PharmTech.com