GOLD looks back at some of the top pharma news stories of the past month, including industry uproar over price regulations, new poll results and a plan to prevent drug shortages this winter
Words by Jade Williams
2 October
Two days after filing a lawsuit claiming that the Inflation Reduction Act violates the First and Fifth Amendments, Novo Nordisk says it will participate in the Medicare negotiation process, despite it viewing it as not “the right approach” to improve access to medicine.
4 October
Sandoz successfully completes its long-awaited separation from Novartis on schedule. The newly independent company is valued at CHF 10.3bn (about $11.2bn). The spin-off will allow Novartis to “complete its transformation into a leading, focused healthcare company”.
9 October
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) says 20 industry leaders are against the upcoming changes to the UK’s Statutory Scheme for branded medicines, which would see a continuation of an “arbitrary” cap on growth of the branded medicines market.
12 October
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) releases a statement claiming that if the US Supreme Court doesn’t reverse its ruling against abortion pill mifepristone being deliverable by mail, FDA’s authority on medicines will be undermined.
16 October
PatientView’s latest survey reveals that the pharmaceutical industry’s reputation amongst neurology patients improved over 2022. In fact, 60% of neurology patient groups believe the industry to have a good or excellent reputation, up from 2021’s figure of 53%.
19 October
FDA publishes its new list of authorised artificial intelligence-enabled medical devices for 2023, adding 171 new products to the now 692-strong list. The vast majority of devices, at 76% of the list, are in radiology, followed by cardiovascular, neurology and haematology.
Innovate UK and medical research organisation LifeArc band together to invest £30m in the UK’s pre-clinical antimicrobial resistance pipeline, which will help establish a platform for early-stage R&D projects across discovery and diagnostics in the country.
24 October
The European Commission launches the European Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism. This is a short-term plan whereby a Member State that has a stock of medicines could be asked to redistribute them to other Member States in order to prevent drug shortages this winter.
