African health ministers have agreed on a treaty to set up a new pan-African agency to coordinate regional drug regulatory harmonization initiatives and pool limited regulatory expertise.

HHS secretary urges serious proposals from biopharma on enhancing price negotiation in Medicare Parts D and B, promising action from the Administration whether the industry cooperates or not.

Amgen asserts FDA improperly tied pediatric exclusivity denial to lack of meaningful labeling resulting from the studies; justices question whether Amgen's data were adequate to support exclusivity but also agency's public silence on how it decides when a sponsor has 'fairly responded' to a written request.

From 'breakthrough' designations to manufacturing hiccups, numerous review and development challenges await the combined entity.

Company is moving its galectin-3 inhibitor into Phase III in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis patients with cirrhosis – a very advanced disease setting – and also to validate endpoints that don’t require liver biopsy.

There's a lot of finger-pointing in the industry when it comes to why pharma has a bad reputation. Maybe it's time everyone who works in pharmaceuticals takes responsibility for it.

Sarepta is expecting the European Medicines Agency to recommend against EU approval of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment eteplirsen. Persuading the agency to change its mind during the appeal will be an uphill task for the company.

A new US drug spending report from IQVIA parses out how rebates impact drug spending and explores affordability for patients. The data show drug makers offset about 28% of drug spending and provide some support to industry's arguments on drug pricing. 

Johnson & Johnson will launch a Listerine mouthwash incorporating a class II device to address tooth sensitivity, Chief Technology Officer John Ghaim said during J&J’s Medical Devices & Consumer Analyst Day May 16. The company plans to launch 150 new products globally in 2018, which should help the company achieve sales ahead of the consumer health category.

Commissioner Scott Gottlieb updates US FDA's initiative to prevent potentially fatal abuse of OTC loperamide, noting that online and conventional retailers are limiting product purchases while the agency continues evaluating the appropriate number of doses per package.

Nonprescription products containing ibuprofen can now only be marketed in the US through NDAs. No companies took advantage of a proposed ibuprofen addition to the the internal analgesic, antipyretic and antirheumatic OTC monograph, issued in 2002.