Pharma News
GlaxoSmithKline may eye five percent stake in Dr Reddy's
There is speculation that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is in talks to buy a 5% stake in Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in a deal likely to be valued at US$150 million (Euros 101.47 million), an Indian newspaper reported on 18 September 2009.
European patent will make medicines cheaper
Big pharmaceutical concerns manage to keep out cheaper medicines, even if the patents have expired. These firms would not be so good at this if a European patent would exist, says Mr André den Exter of the Institute of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam/Erasmus Observatory on Health Law at Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
Big Pharma chiefs warn of ‘sea change’ in drug industry
Product pipelines are under serious pressure as pharmaceutical companies face competition from generic rivals and smaller biotechnology groups are struggling to secure backing from venture capitalists because of the recession. The industry has seen a string of so-called mega-mergers, including Pfizer's US$68 billion (Euros 48.66 billion) deal for Wyeth, but AstraZeneca CEO Mr David Brennan will reiterate his opposition to this type of deal and claim collaborations are essential to boosting drug development.
Radical treatments for difficult times
The economic downturn is only one of many factors forcing the drug industry to rethink its strategy reported Financial Times pharmaceuticals correspondent Mr Andrew Jack in the British Medical Journal. According to him, large drug makers such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Pfizer are being forced to adapt at an increasing pace to a range of growing pressures.
API opportunities in biologicals, biosimilars and generics
The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) market, traditionally dominated by small-molecule drugs, is currently witnessing a rapid shift towards biopharmaceuticals. At the same time, the manufacturing volume outsourced to contract manufacturing firms is on the rise. As plain vanilla generics continue to get highly competitive, API manufacturers are searching for newer avenues such as the production of high-potency APIs to differentiate themselves from competition.
