A lipid lowering agent called Lojuxta, which has been approved for treating a rare inherited cholesterol disorder has shown a better effect on patients in clinical practice than it ever did in the trials leading up to its approval.
ReNeuron Plc has decided to put priority on bringing its cell therapy for stroke into Phase 3 and expand an early-stage programme in ophthalmology as part of a portfolio review that took into account recent clinical data and a manufacturing breakthrough.
Sanofi SA offset a decline in sales of its insulin products with gains from specialty medicines and vaccines, giving total group sales for the 2017 first quarter of €8.6 billion, up by 11.1% from a year earlier. The result was also helped by favourable exchange rates.
A research and development first was achieved by Roche in the 2017 first quarter when its treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration – opening up a new market for the Swiss multinational.
AstraZeneca Plc expects both sales and core earnings per share to decline again this year as the former blockbuster medicine Crestor loses market share to generic competitors. But the pressure should ease by July as the Crestor losses taper off and new products gain sales momentum, Pascal Soriot, the company’s chief executive, told journalists on 27 April.
Presenting GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s 2017 first quarter results, Emma Walmsley, the new chief executive, said the company would focus on commercial execution going forward which means producing fewer and more differentiated products.
Novartis reported a 22% drop in operating income to $1.9 billion for the 2017 first quarter following a write-off for the failure of a late-stage heart failure drug and generic competition for the leukaemia treatment Gleevec.
The European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion for the antisense oligonucleotide medicine Spinraza (nusinersen) to treat patients with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and a progressive loss of movement.
Vernalis Plc has had its application for the cough-cold medicine CCP-07 turned back by the US Food and Drug Administration, with the result that the product will not reach the US market as quickly as planned.
GE Healthcare has expanded its capacity for industralising cell therapies with the acquisition of Asymptote Ltd, a UK consultancy with technology for simplifying the freezing of cells intended as therapies, and thawing them before their use in patients.