The global market for biosimilar drugs has been forecasted to be worth $2.445 billion this year, according to a new report by British market research specialist Visiongain. The growth represents a 20% increase from last year and accounts for approximately 2% of the overall biologics market. Moreover, the global biosimilars market is expected to experience a steady growth over the next 10 years, driven by worldwide launches of such products, particularly in the EU and US. Read more »

Evidence of health outcomes is what payers want to see. As a result, biotech companies are now focussing more on demonstrating economic value, for example, by showing survival benefit of a cancer drug or superiority to branded or generic competitors. Read more »

As pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies intensify product development in biologics, they are tasked with meeting the challenges of biologic-based drug development and manufacturing. Unlike traditional small-molecule drugs, stability studies for biopharmaceuticals can be one of the most critical and challenging aspects of large-molecule drug development. The size and complexity of most proteins provide fertile ground for intramolecular changes and multiple routes of degradation, and to assess their effects, each must be correlated to the bioactivity of the drug. Pharmaceutical Technology will examine biopharmaceutical stability studies in more depth by gaining input from leading industry experts, in a live webcast, “New Strategies for Biopharmaceutical Stability Testing,” on Thursday May 9th from 2:00 to 3:00 PM EST. Read more »

Ernst & Young recently released its annual biotechnology industry report, Beyond Borders: Matters of Evidence, stating that while the major players are performing well, it is essential that small- to mid-size biotech companies focus on demonstrating the value of products in their pipelines instead of just creating a drug that works. If not, they will lose out in a challenging environment, especially now that there is a global shift towards evidence-based healthcare. Read more »

In recent years, large pharmaceutical companies have launched a variety of initiatives to restock ailing pipelines and boost business performance including mergers and acquisitions, diversifying business portfolios to non-pharmaceutical products, downsizing, spinoffs, and entering the biopharmaceutical arena.

Whatever the approach, pharmaceutical companies want balanced portfolios with programs at various stages and risk profiles, says Melinda Richter, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Prescience International in a BioPharm International podcast.

To date, most Big Pharma companies have partnered or acquired assets of biopharmaceutical companies with products in late-stage development, says Richter. However, as the availability of late-stage development opportunities shrink and the landscape becomes more competitive, Big Pharma is turning to more early-stage partnerships with academia and early-stage companies.

It is attractive to for the pharmas to go after early-stage companies because “by nature, they are smaller, they are nimbler, and they are willing to take the risks that the large pharmas just can’t. These small companies have to swing for the fences and they have to win. Pharmas have a lot to protect. They have to be more conservative,“ says Richter.

More scalable innovation opportunities are another part of the story, says Richter.

For example, last year, Merck announced a $90 million, seven-year commitment for the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), an independent, not-for-profit organization established to accelerate the translation of basic biomedical research to innovative new medicines.

However, for hands-on research, startup companies need laboratory and office space, as well as specialized equipment. Janssen Labs, located on the West Coast Research Center of Janssen Research & Development in La Jolla, Calif., offers short-term leases on wet laboratory and office space.  Tenants also have access to core research facilities and instruments.

The facility, operated by Prescience International, has a “no strings attached” policy. Janssen R&D does not take an equity stake or first right of refusal in the work of tenants, protecting the entrepreneurial rights of startup companies that choose independence.

Janssen Labs and Calibr are two options offered by Big Pharma that will be explored in the session “And Now for Something Completely Different: How Will Pharma Access External Early-Stage Innovation?” at the 2013 BIO International convention on April 23, 2013.

President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Feb. 12, 2013 touched on some issues that may directly impact the pharmaceutical industry: healthcare reform, innovation, and job creation. So how has the pharmaceutical industry responded?

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Developing and maintaining the right labor pool is an ongoing challenge for any industry, and it is one that the pharmaceutical industry also is facing. Recent attention in the pharmaceutical industry has focused on the restructuring that has occurred and that is still occurring among the large pharmaceutical companies. And while re-allocating resources, including labor resources, is always a crucial task for companies, it is a challenge made even more difficult amidst shifting industry fundamentals and a demand for higher productivity from scientific talent.

The pharmaceutical industry requires employees with a high-end scientific skill set, and PwC’s 2012 Global CEO Survey indicates that pharmaceutical companies are having a hard time finding the right people. A recent report by PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) takes a look at how changes in R&D models have affected the pharmaceutical workforce.

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San Francisco and Boston sit on opposite coasts and each has a rich history and character that make them distinct. However, they share some similarities: both cities are centers of top biotechnology hubs in the US. Read more »

Biosimilars. They bring cheap prices to patients and healthcare payers, but for biopharmaceutical companies, such products impact the sales of innovative biopharmaceuticals. The pros and cons of biosimilars have been under discussion for some time in the bio/pharma industry, but the debate is now gaining increased momentum as the US moves closer to solid guidance concerning the development of biosimilars. Read more »

Biopharmaceutical companies are touting their huge investment in R&D, which has filled the drug pipeline with more potential first-in-class medicines, including orphan drugs, personalized medicines and new therapies based on novel scientific strategies. A report by the Analysis Group for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) documents more than 5,000 new medicines in the pipeline globally, many for untreated diseases and life-threatening conditions. The promise is that this more robust pipeline will lead to more new critical therapies for patients. Read more »