SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors indicted Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee on charges of manipulating stock prices and breach of trust in order to cement control of the group, a prosecution official said on Tuesday. Considering the gravity of manipula... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – Countries with significant active spread of coronavirus must prevent amplifying events, as opening up without the virus being under control would be a “recipe for disaster”, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO director-general ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Healthcare company Sanofi Aventis France said it had been placed under formal investigation on charges of manslaughter over Depakine, which is an epilepsy drug that caused birth malfunctions and slow neurological development when taken during... More »
(Reuters) – The United States might have more COVID-19 testing capacity than any other country. So why have we seen laboratories overwhelmed and many patients again waiting a week or more for results? At the heart of the crisis is a reliance by public and priv... More »
(Reuters) – Emergent BioSolutions Inc said on Monday it signed a $174 million agreement with AstraZeneca to develop and manufacture the British drugmaker’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. AstraZeneca in June picked Emergent to help produce 300 million doses of its... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Early tests of COVID-19 vaccines yield promising results R... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Full dexamethasone trial results released The full results... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Lung radiation may hasten COVID-19 pneumonia recovery A lo... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – One in three South Korean patients seriously ill with COVID-19 showed an improvement in their condition after being given Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral remdesivir, health authorities said. More research was needed to determine if the improv... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Tuberculosis vaccine may limit COVID-19 deaths A tuberculo... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Coronavirus tricks the body into attacking the brain Numer... More »
LONDON/BERLIN/MILAN (Reuters) – It’s tough to do any useful work when you’re stuck at home, struggling to home-school bickering kids, let alone when you’re trying to produce a COVID-19 vaccine. British drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L) had spent years preparing fo... More »
PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A deal between AstraZeneca and four European countries for COVID-19 vaccines involves doses being shared by European Union members on a pro rata basis based on population, a source at the French President’s office said on Monday. The... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared a new version of Abbott Laboratories’ continuous glucose monitoring device, helping the company build upon the success of its fastest-growing diabetes product. FreeStyle Libre 2, which was app... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis won European approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for the hereditary disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday, adding it is in talks over price with countries in hopes of a quick launch. The Euro... More »
(Reuters) – The United States will announce on Tuesday that it has signed a $354 million contract with a company to make generic medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients in the country needed to treat COVID-19, the New York Times reported late on Monday. The m... More »
(Reuters) – Vir Biotechnology Inc and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc plan to begin human testing of their COVID-19 drug candidate by the end of the year, as drugmakers across the globe scramble to find therapies for the highly-infectious virus. The are currently ... More »
(Reuters) – Moderna Inc and Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group AG said on Friday they would accelerate the manufacturing of the U.S. drug developer’s potential coronavirus vaccine. The announcement comes at a time when drugmakers are pausing clinical trials ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drugs and pesticides company Bayer said the economic downturn has prompted it to take a tougher stance in talks to settle claims its glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer, even as its earnings rose. The pandemic has significant... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland faces a shortage of the raw material needed to make disinfectant to tackle the coronavirus pandemic after the country abandoned its emergency reserve of 10,000 tonnes of ethanol two years ago, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss government on Friday boosted its powers to order companies to raise production of critical medical supplies like drugs and protective gear should more be needed in the fight against coronavirus-caused COVID-19. “If the supply…canno... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Shionogi & Co (4507.T), creator of the blockbuster cholesterol treatment Crestor, said on Monday it would tie up with Ping An Insurance Group Co of China (601318.SS), selling a 2.05% voting stake for 33.53 billion yen ($311 million). ... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan on Monday identified the country’s first case of coronavirus as reported cases outside China jump. Ferozuddin Feroz, the minister of public health, told a press conference in Kabul one of three suspected cases had been confirmed i... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – ObsEva struck a pact with China’s Yuyuan BioScience Technology to develop and commercialize the fertility drug nolasiban, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday as it seeks to inject new life into a medicine that had flopped a trial. In November... More »
LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – A cluster of more than 50 pneumonia cases in China’s central city of Wuhan may be due to a newly emerging member of the family of viruses that caused the deadly SARS and MERS outbreaks, World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesd... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it had approved Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd and AstraZeneca Plc’s drug to treat an advanced form of breast cancer, three months ahead of schedule. AstraZeneca in March signed a licensing and collaborat... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (SRPT.O) soared 31% on Friday after U.S. regulators shocked Wall Street by approving the company’s treatment for a muscle-wasting disorder less than four months after rejecting the drug over safety concerns. The F... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Friday approved expanding the heart benefit claims Amarin Corp can make in promoting its drug Vascepa to include reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients, opening a multibillion-dollar market op... More »
(Reuters) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and bluebird bio Inc said on Friday their experimental therapy for a type of multiple myeloma met the main goal in a mid-stage study. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the therapy, Ide-cel, in patients who had r... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Aquestive Therapeutics’ treatment for neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Shares of the company, which developed riluzole oral film (ROF) and will market the film under... More »
(Reuters) – China-based drugmaker BeiGene Ltd on Friday priced its drug, Brukinsa, to treat a rare form of lymphoma at $12,935 for a 30-day supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the drug, giving a boost to the company’s strategy of... More »
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada does not have a large enough supply of prescription drugs to meet U.S. demand, and importing medicines from Canada would not significantly lower U.S. prices, Ottawa’s acting ambassador told U.S. officials in recent meetings, according... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s treatment for a second rare blood disorder, the company said. The treatment, Ultomiris, has already been approved in the United States, Japan and the European Un... More »
(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said on Friday its investigation into asbestos contamination of its baby powder could take 30 days or more, after announcing it planned to recall about 33,000 bottles of the product in the United States. The company said it had re... More »
(Reuters) – CVS Health Corp said on Saturday it will discontinue sales the popular Zantac heartburn treatment and its own generic ranitidine products from its pharmacies after traces of a known carcinogen were found in some of the products by the U.S. Food and... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice examined using fentanyl in lethal injections as it prepared last year to resume executing condemned prisoners, a then untested use of the powerful, addictive opioid that has helped fuel a national crisis of o... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis (NOVN.S) plans to answer a U.S. senator who demanded details about data manipulation related to its gene therapy Zolgensma, amid scrutiny of the Swiss drugmaker’s decision to delay informing regulators until after the treatment’s ap... More »
(Reuters) – AbbVie Inc has priced its new rheumatoid arthritis treatment at $59,000 a year after gaining U.S. approval on Friday, a big boost for the drugmaker struggling with rising competition for Humira, its blockbuster therapy for the same condition. A fou... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian government announced final regulations on Friday that should cut billions of dollars from patented drug prices that are among the highest in the world, overcoming heavy opposition from pharmaceutical companies who may eventuall... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering unveiling, as early as September, his healthcare plan as part of his presidential re-election campaign strategy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The plan would lay... More »
WINDSOR, Ontario (Reuters) – U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders joined diabetes patients as they drove across the border on Sunday to buy cheap insulin in Canada, highlighting his argument in favor of federally negotiated prescript... More »
(Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday a late-stage study testing its initial maintenance therapy, Zejula, in patients with ovarian cancer who have undergone platinum-based chemotherapy showed positive results. Zejula, which belongs to a promising class of... More »
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would buy Array Biopharma Inc for $10.64 billion in cash, a deal it hopes will help make it a leader in colon cancer and build up its pipeline of oncology drugs. The largest U.S. drugmaker agreed to pay a hefty premium ... More »
(Reuters) – VBI Vaccines Inc said on Monday a late-stage study was unsuccessful in showing two doses of its hepatitis B vaccine were as effective as three doses of an older vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, sending its shares plunging 66%. The study tested VBI’s S... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Doing things one at a time in drug development is not a luxury that GlaxoSmithKline can afford any longer, the head of pharmaceuticals at Britain’s largest drugmaker told Reuters. Luke Miels, who joined GSK in September 2017 after a contract... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday tossed the convictions of a co-owner and former employee of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy accused of conspiring to help it evade regulatory oversight before its drugs caused a deadly 2012 fungal meningitis ou... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Malachi Anderson was diagnosed with a rare and often deadly disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as an infant nearly four years ago, his parents Tina and Torence had a decision to make. In years past, many of the babies born w... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. states filed a lawsuit accusing Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc of orchestrating a sweeping scheme with 19 other drug companies to inflate drug prices – sometimes by more than 1,000% – and stifle competition for generic drugs, state pr... More »
GV, Alphabet Inc’s venture capital arm, led a $58.5 million investment to launch Verve Therapeutics, a new biotech focused on developing therapies that edit the human genome to treat heart diseases. Gene editing therapies are seen to have huge scope in treatin... More »
(Reuters) – British drugmaker Vectura Group Plc said on Saturday that it won a patent infringement litigation case against GlaxoSmithKline Plc in the United States and has been awarded $89.7 million in damages for the period from August 2016 through December 2... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top legislature will consider tougher rules on research involving human genes and embryos, the first such move since a Chinese scientist sparked controversy last year by announcing he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies.... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a drug developed by Sanofi SA and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc intended for use with insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes, the companies said on Friday. The decision comes about two month... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators said on Friday a third cancer-causing toxin was found in some blood pressure pills recalled by India’s Hetero Labs Ltd a day earlier, adding to a global recall of commonly used drugs to treat hypertension. The U.S. Food and D... More »
(Reuters) – Drug developer UniQure NV said on Friday its gene therapy to treat hemophilia B increased the levels of a protein that helps in blood clotting after 12 weeks in a small study. The company’s shares rose 5.5 percent in light premarket trading. The up... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it was taking action against certain retailers including Walgreen Boots Alliance for repeatedly flouting tobacco sale rules, including sale of cigars and menthol cigarettes to minors. Walgreens... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of U.S. gene therapy companies sank on Thursday after drugs developed by two small firms failed to show promise in separate clinical trials, underscoring the challenges in an emerging, lucrative field of biotech. Experimental treatments deve... More »
(Reuters) – Hours into his new job, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Monday that could dramatically reshape the way prescription drugs are paid for and acquired in the most populous U.S. state. The order, along with another naming ... More »
(Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline Plc will actively look to buy early-stage assets and partner with companies, the drugmaker’s chief executive officer said on Tuesday. Britain’s biggest drugmaker is also likely to evaluate licensing deals and would continue to inves... More »
(Reuters Health) – – Isotretinoin, a drug for severe chronic acne, has long been linked to miscarriages, birth defects and other serious problems, but a research review suggests much of data on the drug’s safety, effectiveness and side effects may be unreliabl... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Friday Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s rare blood disorder drug Ultomiris, an early backing that also solidifies the company’s dominant market position. The company’s flagship drug, Soliris, was the l... More »
(Reuters) – Israel-based RedHill Biopharma Ltd said on Monday its combination antibiotic met the main goal of a late-stage study testing the drug in patients with a type of bacterial infection that affects the stomach and small intestine. The drug, Talicia, er... More »
(Reuters) – Insys Therapeutics Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its opioid painkiller, citing potential safety concerns. Insys shares slid nearly 9 percent to $6.62 on Friday, hitting their lowest level in more than ... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff reviewers have raised doubts over the effectiveness of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s drug Nucala in treating a disease that limits airflow to the lungs. Nucala, already approved for treating severe asthma patients, i... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Life sciences company Bayer AG said on Friday it would discontinue the sale of its birth control product Essure in the United States, citing a decline in sales of the implantable device that made the business no longer sustainable. The dec... More »
(Reuters) – Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its treatment for a type of leukemia, the first targeted drug for patients with a specific genetic mutation. The company plans to launch the drug, Tibsovo, in t... More »
(Reuters) – CTI Biopharma Corp said on Monday its treatment for a type of blood cancer did not meet the main goal of a late-stage trial, sending its shares down 17 percent. The drug, Pixuvri, did not show improvement in the length of time patients survived wit... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A number of high blood pressure and heart drugs containing an ingredient made in China are being recalled across Europe after an impurity that may cause cancer was found in them, officials said on Thursday. The European Medicines Agency said... More »
(Reuters) – A Missouri appeals court on Friday threw out a $55 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using talc-based products, including J&J’s baby powder, citing a U.S. Supreme court ... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator approved GW Pharmaceuticals Plc’s epilepsy treatment on Monday, making it the first cannabis-based drug to win approval in the country and opening floodgates for more research into the medicinal properties of cannabis. The... More »
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Monday a combination of its breast cancer drug, Ibrance, and another drug was not statistically significant in extending overall survival in certain patients, the secondary goal of a late-stage trial. Ibrance is Pfizer’s blockbus... More »
(Reuters) – Eli Lilly & Co said on Monday that its drug Jardiance, along with insulin therapy, met the main goal of two trials testing it in patients with type 1 diabetes. Jardiance, although not approved for type-1 diabetes, is approved for use in adults with... More »
(Reuters) – Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Monday it would stop developing its experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer after it failed to meet the main and secondary goals in a mid-stage trial. The company said it would now focus on developing othe... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Monday proposed to change intellectual property rules to let pharmaceutical companies produce generic drugs for export to countries and regions where they are not under extended patent protection. Supplementary p... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May will call on Britain’s health service, charities and artificial intelligence sector to work together to better identify patients with the early stages of cancer and stop thousands dying each year. May, who is strug... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Americans do not agree on much these days, but we are united on the cost of medicine. Large majorities of Republican, Democratic and independent voters say they would ... More »
(Reuters) – Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said on Monday he is seeking to reinstate the death penalty for mass murder and killing a police officer, a move that comes when capital punishment nationwide is at lows not seen for about a quarter century. Rauner, a... More »
(Reuters) – A trial for a lawsuit alleging that Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder was responsible for the death of a woman due to her exposure to cancer-causing asbestos began in South Carolina on Monday in the latest case against the healthcare conglomerate and a... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate the cost of drugs by giving private payers a role in setting the price of medicines administered in hospitals and doctors’ offices, Health and Hum... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Novartis AG’s combination therapy to treat an aggressive type of thyroid cancer. The therapy, which uses Novartis’ Tafinlar and Mekinist, was approved to treat anaplastic thyroid cancer that ... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb on Thursday questioned whether rebates that drugmakers provide to health insurers should remain protected by federal law, sparking new concerns on Wall Street over efforts to curb drug pricing.... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – In London’s world-famous Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, Dr. Karin Straathof is excited about a new cell-based medicine that offers hope for toddlers with incurable nerve tissue cancer. Her progress with a handful of children for wh... More »
(Reuters) – Fourteen more people fell ill from an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, U.S. health officials said on Friday, bringing the number of people affected to 98 across 22 U.S. states. The reported strain of E. coli, which produces poisonous sub... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Allergan Plc on Friday announced positive results from a second Phase III trial for the 50 milligram dose of its drug for acute migraine, reproducing results from the previous trial. A lower dose of the drug, ubrogepant, failed to meet one... More »
(Reuters) – Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc topped analysts’ forecasts for quarterly profit on Thursday, led by stronger-than expected sales of its latest cystic fibrosis drug as well as double-digit growth in sales of older treatments. Boston-based Vertex, like ot... More »
(Reuters) – AbbVie Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, on higher sales of its rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira and its Hepatitis C drugs, leading the company to raise its full-year earnings forecast. The company’s shares, whi... More »
LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Gene-editing technologies that alter mosquitoes’ DNA could prove critical in the fight against malaria, Bill Gates said on Wednesday, and ethical concerns should not block progress in such gene-modifying research. Speaking at the M... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A $117 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and a supplier in favor of a man who said his asbestos-related cancer was caused by long-term use of J&J’s Baby Powder could open a new front for thousands of cases claiming the wide... More »
(Reuters) – Apricus Biosciences Inc said on Monday it was considering options for the company and looking to sell the U.S. rights to its erectile dysfunction cream Vitaros, after the Food and Drug Administration asked it to make a new formula for the product. ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will remove import tariffs on cancer drugs from May 1, state media reported on Thursday, citing a meeting of the State Council, or cabinet, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. China will also strengthen intellectual property right protecti... More »
(Reuters Health) – Some oncologists may be more likely to prescribe certain cancer medicines when they receive payments from the companies that make these drugs, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on payments drug companies made to doctors in 201... More »
(Reuters Health) – Most Americans aren’t aware of cancer drug shortages that might lead some patients to receive less effective or more toxic treatments, a U.S. study suggests. In a nationally representative survey of 420 adults, just 16 percent said they knew... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday slapped restrictions on the sale of Bayer AG’s implanted birth control device Essure, two years after the agency put a severe warning label on the product. The FDA said here some women were not ... More »
(Reuters) – Arkansas’ attorney general on Thursday joined the widening mass of litigation against opioid manufacturers, accusing three drugmakers of promoting addictive painkillers in ways that falsely denied or trivialized their risks. Arkansas Attorney Gener... More »
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc’s experimental drug to treat a rare and fatal disease linked to heart failure reduced deaths and need for hospitalizations in a late-stage study. The company’s clinical study investigated the efficacy, safety and tolerability of an oral ... More »
FILE PHOTO: Swiss drugmaker Novartis’ logo is seen at the company’s plant in the northern Swiss town of Stein, Switzerland October 23, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis’s (NOVN.S) new Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan is remaking ... More »
(Reuters) – One of the most severe flu seasons in the United States this past decade is proving to be a shot in the arm for U.S. hospital operators that have struggled with tepid patient admissions in recent quarters. Hospital operators Tenet Healthcare Corp (... More »
FILE PHOTO: A surgery nurse is seen beside the heart beat monitor in the operating theatre of the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin (UKB) hospital in Berlin, Germany February 29, 2008. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch /File Photo LONDON (Reuters) – Drugmakers are racing to scoo... More »
(Reuters) – KemPharm Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its opioid painkiller Apadaz for the short-term management of acute pain, sending the shares of the drugmaker up as much as 36 percent in late afternoon trading. The company... More »
FILE PHOTO: – A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday declined to approve Apricus Biosciences In... More »
FILE PHOTO: – A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday declined to approve Apricus Biosciences In... More »
