Patent Filing to Drug Approval: A Difficult Journey Even for the Mighty
March 20th 2012The UK Financial Times this week (March 18) flagged up data from Withers & Rogers, a London-based IP firm, showing how the numbers of patent filings from the ten leading pharma companies has dropped in recent years.
AZ's Seroquel Battle with FDA: A Mark of Desperation?
March 14th 2012Is it a mark of desperation? UK-based pharma company AstraZeneca has resorted to suing the US Food and Drug Administration in a bid to stop it from approving generic competition to Seroquel, the company’s blockbuster anti-depressant, before December 2012
Patient Assistance Programs: Are They Still Relevant?
March 12th 2012One of the key reputational assets of Big Pharma is the patient assistance program [PAP], which provides patented innovative medicines to needy patients for free or at a nominal charge – it’s the industry’s own branded version of the social safety net
Rare Diseases Lead to Unique Legislation
February 29th 2012In 1983-with the help of Abbey Meyers and the drive she had to help her son (more on that here)-the Orphan Drug Act was passed to incentivize pharma to step up and play an active role in drug development for the 30 million children and adults in the U.S.
2012 A Good Bad and Ugly Year for France's Servier
February 21st 2012Whichever way you look at it, 2012 will be a dramatic year for Servier. The French company has a number of collaborations that could lead to a new generation of products, but any positive news from these developments is likely to be overshadowed by the ongoing safety scandal of its diabetes treatment Mediator (benfluorex hydrochloride).
Can Sanofi's Expanding Predictive Modeling Technology Enhance the Productivity of R&D?
February 15th 2012As the hurdles to successful commercialization of new medicines continue to mount, the ability to find and exploit cost efficiencies in the development process has become a critical source of competitive advantage.
Patient Recruitment via Social Media: Lessons Learned
February 13th 2012All-told the Mayo Clinic’s recent pilot study on clinical trial patient recruitment using social media and online networks not only helped researchers assemble large and demographically diverse patient groups more quickly, but also less expensively than they could through other means
Shrinking Economy Hits California Biosectork
February 10th 2012A report released on Feb. 8, 2012 from the California Healthcare Institute, BayBio and PwC shows that the shrinking economy, changes in investment strategies, and pressures on the pharmaceutical market have put the brakes on one of the US’s most robust biotechnology centers
Medical Economics: New Highs for a Historic Brand
February 9th 2012Following the premise that good news needs to be shared, Pharm Exec is proud to announce that one of our sister Advanstar publications, Medical Economics, has been selected as Media Brand of the Year by Medical Marketing and Media (MM&M) magazine.