EuroPharma Today

Parliament Passes Updated Cosmetics Directive For All 27 European States

The European Parliament has modernized cosmetics oversight by replacing the national laws of its 27 member-countries with a single regulation.

Partner With The Best And Brightest Biopharma Companies In Europe

If you in-license, out-license or invest in pharmaceuticals, you won’t want to miss Windhover’s Euro-Biotech Forum, June 29-July 1 at the Hotel Arts Barcelona, a Ritz-Carlton property. Find out who else is attending and the complete schedule at www.eurobiotechforum.com. 

Sandoz's Biosimilars Chief Warns that Wrong US Bill Could Stifle Market

There'll be no biosimilars market in the US at all, at least not if anything close to the Eshoo bill—one of two versions of biosimilar legislation currently before the House of Representatives—gets approved, according to Hannes Teissl, head of Sandoz’s Biopharmaceuticals unit.

GSK’s Vallance Teams Up With Ex-University College London Colleagues In Pentraxin Deal

After several years of talks, Professor Mark Pepys' University College London spin-out, Pentraxin, has just signed up GlaxoSmithKline to help it develop a novel treatment for amyloidosis that combines a small molecule and an antibody.

Nycomed Hires Banker For Possible Sale

Nycomed, the mid-sized privately-held European pharmaceutical company, has hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale, and could be worth as much as €10 billion, or $13.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported March 23. Goldman Sachs is also looking at the possibility of an initial public offering for the company and at licensing deals for its respiratory drug Daxas (roflumilast), which has completed Phase III clinical trials.

Older Primary Care Drugs Matter – For Cash, And For Emerging Market Access

LONDON - Europe's mid-sized pharma may be going specialist like much of the rest of the industry, including some of the biggest companies. However, few are entirely abandoning their traditional sales base of older, mostly primary care drugs.

Troubled Biotechs (UK Edition): Summit, Alizyme, ReNeuron

LONDON - No wonder the UK's biotech industry association is clamoring for government help for the sector. Over a third of UK biotechs will run out of cash by the end of the second quarter this year, according to analysts at KBC Peel Hunt. 

The Cost-Sharing Solution: The New NICE Ticket

LONDON - The pharmaceutical industry’s relationship with the UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence started out as a black and white proposition: if NICE recommended a drug for reimbursement by the National Health Service, it was commercially viable in the UK; if not, the product was finished before it got started.

EU Prepares To Adopt Test Method Using Lab-Grown Human Skin, Not Rabbits

European lawmakers are expected to ratify an adaptation to chemical testing regulations that will prohibit the use of animals in skin irritation tests, according to animal welfare organization the Humane Society.

Elder Pharma Of India To Gain Control Of U.K.’s NeutraHealth

Editors' pick reprinted from PharmAsia News, March 2, 2009

India's Elder Pharmaceuticals plans to increase its one-fifth share in U.K.-based NeutraHealth to give Elder a presence in that market.