UK

A series of new measures will be introduced by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to make it faster and easier to gain approval and run clinical trials in the UK. These changes represent the biggest overhaul in UK clinical trials regulation in over 20 years and are designed to make the […]

There was some good news for the UK life sciences sector in the government’s Spring Budget, but did it go far enough? DDW’s Diana Spencer takes a look at the industry’s reaction. There wasn’t much to write home about in the UK government’s Spring Budget, described by Bloomberg UK’s Marcus Ashworth as a “minimalist masterclass”. […]

Novo Nordisk has been suspended as a member of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for two years due to serious breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice. This is the eighth occasion in the past 40 years the ABPI Board has issued such a significant sanction. The ABPI says the action has […]

The ABPI Board has confirmed that Susan Rienow, UK Country President of Pfizer, will be the next President of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).   Rienow was appointed as ABPI Vice-President in September 2022 and will formally take up her role as President in May 2023.   As President, Rienow will lead the ABPI Board […]

Recent analysis has shown that more than 213,000 women are working in research and development (R&D) in the UK – more than anywhere else in the world.  UK employers have hired 67,645 more female researchers in the last decade, yet the UK ratio of women working in R&D compared to men is almost unchanged at […]

Investment in UK biotech has fallen from £4.5 billion in 2021 to just £1.8 billion in 2022, mirroring the global economic downturn impacting all sectors.  However, venture capital investment in the sector was the third-best year recorded for the UK, with £1.2 billion raised, new analysis from the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Clarivate shows.   […]

Hundreds of people with an aggressive form of lymphoma are set to benefit from the first personalised immunotherapy treatment to be recommended for routine use in the NHS.  Axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta, Kite) is a CAR-T therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) who […]

NICE has recommended Ninlaro (ixazomib) with lenalidomide and dexamethasone as an option relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) in adults who have received two or three lines of therapy.  Since its launch in December 2017, ixazomib has been funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund and has been used to treat over 4,000 patients in England.    […]

Collaborative working between the NHS and industry could reduce variations in uptake of innovative treatments across the UK, a joint report from NHS Confederation and ABPI argues.   Analysis from the report has shown a significant variation in access to innovative medicines for patients across the UK and showed that uptake of new treatments in these […]

AbbVie and Eli Lilly have left the voluntary medicines pricing agreement in protest over what they describe as “increasingly punitive revenue clawbacks”.  The companies have left the UK’s Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), a long-standing agreement between government and industry with roots going back to the foundation of the NHS.  As […]