The European Medicines Agency’s main scientific committee has recommended that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection before or after a liver transplantation be given the opportunity to be treated with the experimental drug sofosbuvir.
MorphoSys AG has revised upward its profit forecast for 2013 in light of stronger than anticipated revenue, and lower than expected costs for the development of a therapeutic antibody for cancer which is partnered with Celgene Inc.
An advisory panel of the US Food and Drug Administration has unanimously recommended approval of the Johnson & Johnson/Medivir AB treatment for patients infected with hepatitis C virus, simeprevir, in combination with interferon and ribavirin.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported a 1% increase in turnover for the 2013 third quarter to £6.5 billion at constant exchange rates. Operating profit advanced by 1% in reported terms but on a core basis it was up by 11% to £2.1 billion.
Diversification helped the Swiss healthcare company, Novartis International AG, post a 3.8% increase in sales for the third quarter to $14.34 billion. For the first nine months revenue rose by 2.4% to $42.84 billion.
Anergis SA of Switzerland has provided further data on its lead vaccine for birch pollen allergy which showed that the treatment increased allergen-specific antibody levels by a factor of 20, indicating an immunological response.
Evotec AG has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to explore compounds and targets for the treatment of chronic kidney disease. The agreement involves an undisclosed upfront payment as well as performance-related milestone payments.
Network pharmacology is an approach to drug discovery and development that is gaining increasing attention from the medical community.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Opsumit (macitentan), a new drug for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The developer is Switzerland-based Actelion Ltd.
The German reimbursement authority, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), has given a positive opinion to an ophthalmic product developed by ThromboGenics NV of Belgium for the treatment of vitreomacular traction, a condition that affects many older people.