Innovation in pharma
Pharma industry urges EU leaders to ‘re-focus’ on patients post-Brexit
The EU pharma industry has prepared for a hard Brexit scenario but this is not enough as EU leaders need to take specific measures to ensure medical supplies after the UK departure, EU pharma chief Stefan Oschmann has said.
Report from two EU agencies confirms superbugs as a rising threat
No decrease in resistance to antibiotics has been reported in the latest study drawn up by the EU's top two public health authorities, which should be a cause for alarm, according to the bloc's health boss, Vytenis Andriukaitis.
EU pharma stakeholders take action to tackle fake medicines
A number of pharma stakeholders announced on 9 February the official launch of the European Medicines Verification System (EMVS), which will make use of new technologies to improve safety in the medicines’ supply chain against fake products.
Pharma industry raises the alarm about stockpiling of generic drugs
The industry of innovative medicines is concerned with a recent vote in the European Parliament on the stockpiling of generic drugs, saying that it causes uncertainty over innovation in the pharmaceutical field.
New anti-microbial resistance business models are off the table, Romanian health minister says
Romania's EU Presidency will not look into new business models to tackle anti-microbial resistance (AMR), Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Discussion heats up over stockpiling of generic drugs under patent protection
The Commission has announced its intention to add a manufacturing waiver to supplementary protection certificates (SPC), as part of its upgraded 2015 Single Market Strategy.
Disparities remain on how to tackle lung cancer in Europe, report says
Enhanced prevention measures, especially against tobacco and electronic cigarettes, combined with access to innovative treatments can help tackle rising lung cancer cases in Europe, a new study funded by the industry has found.
Romanian health minister: Prevention and innovative drugs to kill cancer
In order to face the rising cancer incidence across Europe, governments should prioritise prevention policies, as well as access to innovative medicines under an EU-wide plan, Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Greek pharma boss: ‘We reached our limits, our sustainability is at stake’
The Greek pharmaceutical industry has reached its limits due to a number of “unreasonable” burdens imposed by the government during the crisis, Greek pharma chief Olympios Papadimitriou told EURACTIV.com in an interview. The sustainability of pharma companies is at stake, threatening 86,000 jobs, he said.
Does fast-track drugs approval in EU run too fast?
More than two years after its launch, the EU's fast-track approval process for marketing new drugs, called PRIME, is broadly welcomed by patients and industry, walking the fine line between patients' safety and expediency, and between the need to foster innovation and remaining abuse-proof.
EU generics industry slams US ‘intervention’ in SPC manufacturing waiver talks
The EU generics industry has accused the US government of intervening in the ongoing discussion in the EU on the introduction of a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) manufacturing waiver.
MEP: Need for an EU-wide cancer plan to ensure long-term pharma innovation
The creation of an EU cancer plan will improve EU citizens’ medical needs and access but will also simultaneously help bring innovations to the market, through enhanced collaboration among stakeholders, according to Belgian MEP Lieve Wierinck.
Innovation in oncology – Can science make cancer a manageable disease?
In Europe, more than 3 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But recent advances in cancer treatment have offered new hope to those battling the disease.
New drugs: how much are governments paying for innovation?
The European healthcare sector is divided over the “actual value” EU governments pay for the authorised and partly public-funded novel drugs, compared to medicines already on the market.
Estonia and Finland first to start exchanging healthcare data by end of year
Estonia and Finland will start exchanging digital prescriptions at the end of the year, in a groundbreaking move that Estonian Health Minister Riina Sikkut said she hoped other EU countries will follow.
Europe’s health sector worried about post-Brexit investment dearth
Fragmented, multilingual and over-regulated: Europe is currently not an attractive place for investors and things could get worse after Brexit, experts from the life sciences industry have warned.
Investment in digital health and access to drugs at the core of Austrian Presidency
Austria’s EU Presidency will focus on “strong” investment in digital health as well as on regulatory issues when it comes to access to medicines, Dr Clemens Martin Auer told EURACTIV.com in an interview. Dr Clemens Martin Auer is the president of the...
EFPIA President: Next EU Commission should prioritise competitiveness in pharma innovation
The next European Commission should focus on the bloc’s role in the global context of innovation, as China is “decisive” about creating a reliable framework for intellectual property and connecting biotech start-ups and digital companies, EFPIA’s President Stefan Oschmann told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
‘Vital’ UK remains part of EU clinical trials, say MPs
Continued participation in EU-wide clinical trials and the Horizon 2020 research programme is ‘vital’ to the UK’s life sciences sector, according to a new cross-party report by UK MPs.
EU and UK patients with rare diseases in Brexit limbo
It is still unclear whether the UK will participate after Brexit in the European Reference Networks, which aim to help patients with rare diseases, potentially putting at risk millions of patients.
Health care risks being forgotten in Brexit talks, industry warns
Health risks being forgotten in Brexit negotiations, potentially delaying the availability of new medicines and imposing large costs on manufacturers, public health leaders have warned.
EU unveils health technology bill
The European Commission unveiled plans for a pan-EU Health Technology Assessment (HTA) law on Wednesday (31 January), with EU health chief Vytenis Andriukaitis promising that they would help patients take advantage of “an exciting era for innovation in health".
Fake medicines? Face 15 year jail term
Twenty-one EU countries have made falsifying medicines a criminal offence, carrying a potential jail sentence of 15 years, according to a new report published on Friday (26 January) by the European Commission.
Health expert: Europe should not put its dominant pharma innovation at risk
The European Union should not create an environment more favourable to generics compared to the innovative pharmaceuticals, as it risks weakening Europe’s overall global strength in pharmaceuticals and in research, Professor Adrian Towse told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
