Eurordis, the network of rare disease patient organizations, has defended EU proposals on wider cooperation on health technology assessments and rejects complaints lodged by member states.

Recent and upcoming US FDA advisory committee meetings and a summary of topics covered.

US FDA Commissioner tells Congress that agency is 'very open' to considering use of active ingredients in marijuana to ease chronic pain.

In an interview with the Pink Sheet, Delaware District Judge Sleet discusses patent reform fallout and major issues facing district courts.

The message is unmistakably clear: new policies are putting China first to make drugs more accessible and affordable, including widely prescribed products for cancer. Tactics including compulsory licensing, tax incentives, and substitution to support the use of domestic generics should ring alarm bells for multinationals, observers say.

Data from AACR puts use of tumor mutation burden as biomarker for lung cancer outcomes in spotlight, but some experts argue the test is not ready for prime time.

Protocol-driven approach could generate reliable data about investigational drug's efficacy and safety in patients who do not qualify for clinical trials, PhRMA's Moscicki says; Johns Hopkins' Sharfstein cautions this could turn expanded access programs into burdensome studies that take away from primary purpose of providing access to investigational therapies.

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. 

Regulators in the US and the EU urged manufacturers to follow the general principles set in International Conference on Harmonization guidelines in developing new oligonucleotides and peptide drugs. They say that in the absence of tailored guidance, sponsors should take a science- and risk-based approach in developing these products, which have flooded the development pipeline.

'Knowledge management platform' will identify agency's scientific precedents; Commissioner Gottlieb says it is one of FDA's top three initiatives, along with continuous manufacturing and real-time safety monitoring.

Regulators report that an international collaboration on GMP inspections of API sites has bolstered the exchange of information between participating health authorities, yet the information technology system that supports the system could use some improvement.

Analysts say firm’s consumer health division is showing signs of a comeback, with worldwide sales up 5.3% to $3.4bn, boosted 3.7% from currency exchange on strong beauty segment sales, driven by increased online marketing, and strengthening OTC drug sales.