Tag: drugs

European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen has called for the revival of the stalled directive on providing information to patients, which has been held up by EU health ministers.

Carrying out regular drug tests over time to amass "longitudinal data" on athletes may help improve the accuracy of testing, argues a July 2008 analysis compiled by economics consultancy Oxera.

As a first step towards expanded transatlantic cooperation on medicines regulation, the EU and US drug administrations have agreed on a common format to allow pharma and biotech companies to request market approval of so-called orphan drugs by both jurisdictions with a single application.

Scientists call for a more rational debate about the relative risks posed by drugs as a study shows that alcohol and tobacco cause more physical and social harm than some illicit substances.

EU incentives for R&D on orphan drugs have proven successful, 22 new drugs have reached the market in five years. Patient organisations argue they cannot afford them.

An OECD report on biopharmaceuticals innovation recommends national governments to co-ordinate their various policies related to the innovation chain to boost competitiveness and innovation of the biopharma sector.

The Commission has decided to speed up market authorisation of orphan drugs and of medicines responding to public health emergencies such as bioterrorist attack or influenza pandemic.

A recent study on development of drugs for rare diseases suggests that pharmaceutical companies need more incentives to develop solid dossiers for applications for orphan drugs.

Luxembourg Health Minister Mars di Bartolomeo has told the Parliament that the Presidency’s policy on drugs was to focus on combating supply as well as lowering demand.

The potential high social and economic benefits resulting from the biotech innovations are "on ice" due to the long regulatory processes for the approval of new products, says European bioindustry.