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New developments in the Pharmaceutical industry

Global survey investigating early Type 2 Diabetes launched by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company have announced the launch of the largest multinational survey to investigate early conversations between physicians and people living with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). The survey was developed in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and will include more than 10,000 people with T2D and more than 6500 treating-physicians across 26 countries worldwide. The findings will provide in-depth insights into early conversations at diagnosis and when an additional therapy may be required beyond the first medication. The survey will also investigate how these early conversations may be linked to an individual’s wellbeing and other self-reported outcomes.

Early and comprehensive management of T2D has been shown to lead to better outcomes and the reduction of diabetes-related complications. Effective communication between a person living with T2D and their physician right from diagnosis may increase the individual’s satisfaction and adherence, improve quality of life, enhance self-care, and may even improve blood glucose control and outcomes. Visit: www.boehringer-ingelheim.com

Roche and Polyphor join efforts to combat multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections

Roche and Polyphor Ltd have entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement to develop and commercialise Polyphor’s investigational macrocycle antibiotic, POL7080, for patients suffering from bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Antimicrobial resistance represents a major threat to public health worldwide, leading to 25,000 deaths and related costs of over €1.5 billion in healthcare expenses and productivity losses in the European Union alone each year. POL7080 belongs to a new class of antibiotics that kills Pseudomonas aeruginosa by a novel mode of action. It has demonstrated clinical safety and tolerability in a Phase I clinical trial and holds promise for the treatment of serious bacterial infections caused by multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas species. Visit: www.roche.com

Merck invests in research partnerships in Israel

Merck, the global pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company, is increasingly counting on partnerships with Israeli biotech companies, as demonstrated by its cooperation with Metabomed and ChanBio, both of which have now joined the Merck Serono Israel Bioincubator. Merck is already cooperating with multiple Israeli start-up companies such as Qlight Nanotech, as well as research institutes such as the Weizmann Institute of Science as it seeks innovations that could become the basis for future products.

“The innovative landscape of Israel fits in perfectly with our ‘Living Innovation’ claim,” said Stefan Oschmann, Merck’s executive board member responsible for the Pharmaceuticals businesses. “In Israel we not only have a past which has led to some of Merck’s most important products like Rebif and Erbitux, but also a promising future because we continue to find very interesting and cutting-edge science and the support here in Israel to translate that science into products.” Visit: www.merck.com

Novartis honoured by Malaria No More

IN recognition of Novartis’s significant on-going contributions to malaria control and elimination, the company has been honoured with the Global Corporate Citizenship Award at the Malaria No More International Honours annual benefit.

Since 2001 Novartis has delivered more than 600 million antimalarial treatments to malariaendemic countries across Africa, without profit. The company also adopts an innovative approach in its long-standing efforts to eliminate malaria and has invested in partnerships to maximise the impact of its efforts. In 2009, in collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture, Novartis was first to develop a sweet-tasting dispersible artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) treatment specifically for infants and children. Visit: www.novartis.com

Bayer HealthCare, Inception Sciences and Versant Ventures join forces

Bayer HealthCare has entered into an exclusive collaboration with Inception Sciences, Inc. and Versant Ventures. Inception Sciences and Bayer will jointly conduct early research in the area of ophthalmology, in a newly created company called ‘Inception 4’. The goal of this new alliance is to develop treatment options, focused on a novel target and pathway, for patients with eye diseases, such as wet age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy.

Prof. Andreas Busch, head of global drug discovery and member of the executive Committee of Bayer HealthCare, says: “Bayer is strongly committed to expanding its research efforts in the area of ophthalmology. In addition to this collaboration, numerous substances addressing retinal eye diseases are currently investigated in early research stages at Bayer. Furthermore, we are working on a promising novel drug candidate with an alternative mode of delivery as an eye drop.” Visit: healthcare.bayer.com

INDUSTRYNEWS

Pfizer acquires Poland’s leading over-thecounter heart attack prevention brand

Pfizer Inc. has announced that a wholly-owned Polish subsidiary of Pfizer has acquired the rights to Polocard, a low-dose aspirin (acidum acetylsalicylicum), and the leading over-thecounter (OTC) brand for heart attack prevention in Poland, from ZF Polpharma SA.

“Polocard is a top OTC brand in Poland, and its acquisition will enhance our Consumer Healthcare portfolio and overall position in this key market,” said Paul Sturman, president, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. “We continue to focus on strategic opportunities that will expand our portfolio of leading brands, develop capabilities in high-growth categories and extend our global reach.” Visit: www.pfizer.com

uniQure selected as Fierce 15 Company by FierceBiotech

UniQure BV has been named by FierceBiotech as one of 2013’s Fierce 15 biotechs, designating it as one of the most promising private biotechnology companies in the industry. This is FierceBiotech’s eleventh annual Fierce 15 selection.

“Once a barren wasteland of broken dreams, the gene therapy field has come alive in recent years with the help of companies like uniQure,” says FierceBiotech editor John Carroll. “There are plenty of challenges ahead, but the approval in the European Union of uniQure’s Glybera, the first gene therapy drug approved in the Western world, and other recent achievements bode well for the company’s future.” Visit: www.uniqure.com

BioAlliance approval to start ReLive (Livatag®) Phase III clinical trial

BioAlliance Pharma SA, an innovative company dedicated to the development of orphan oncology and to supportive care products, announces that it has received authorisation to start its Phase III ReLive clinical trial in primary liver cancer in the US (IND approval), following the review of the Livatag® development program by the FDA, as well as in Germany after the German health agency green light.

“The deployment strategy planned was to implement the clinical trial first in France, then to expand it to Europe and then to the United States in 2014. The schedule is currently fully respected as the study is already implemented in Europe since last summer, and clinical operations will now be able to start in the U.S in order to open investigating centres,” stated Pierre Attali, COO in charge of Strategy and Medical Affairs. Visit: www.bioalliancepharma.com

Xigduo™ receives positive CHMP opinion in the European Union

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Xigduo™ (dapagliflozin and metformin hydrochloride) for adults aged 18 and older with type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control in patients inadequately controlled on their current metformin-based treatment regimen, or who are currently being treated with the combination of dapagliflozin and metformin as separate tablets.

Xigduo™ combines dapagliflozin (tradename Forxiga®), a selective and reversible inhibitor of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), and metformin hydrochloride in a twice daily tablet. This is the first CHMP recommendation for a SGLT2 and metformin hydrochloride fixed dosage combination. The final European Commission decision will be applicable to all 28 European Union member countries plus Iceland and Norway. Visit: www.astrazeneca.com or www.bms.com

Lilly celebrates 50 years of UK manufacturing plant

Lilly staff recently celebrated 50 years of the Speke, Liverpool, manufacturing site.

First acquired by Lilly in 1963, the multi-award-winning Speke manufacturing site was originally commissioned by the UK government during the Second World War to produce penicillin for military and civilian use. At that time, Speke was the largest penicillin manufacturing plant in the world.

Today, the site retains its global impact. As one of more than 20 manufacturing sites for global pharmaceutical company Lilly, Speke exports 95% of its products to 70 different countries around the world. Lilly’s operations in Speke specialise in fermentation and biotechnology, mainly manufacturing animal health products for Elanco, Lilly’s animal health division. Over the past 50 years, Speke has manufactured many of Lilly’s medicines, including biosynthetic insulin – a world first – and a number of medicines for the treatment of depression and tuberculosis. Visit: www.lilly.com