Balancing innovation and access: The policy conundrum
RIO DE JANEIRO – I was in college when I first read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Safe within the privileged and idealistic bubble of academia, I found myself agreeing with Rand at every turn, filled with the pro-capitalist and individualist…
A little irony here? FDA’s technical difficulties on social media webinar send folks a’Twitter’
For more than five years, the FDA was criticized for failing to provide clear guidance on how drug developers could use social media without running afoul of its marketing restrictions. Last month, the agency finally came through with two crucial…
Old news, yet still making headlines
High drug prices are old news. Old, as in 19th century old. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t breaking news today. Breaking, as in breaking the family budget. One of the speakers at the Institute of Medicines National Cancer Policy…
Pigoons, politicians and the periodic table: BioWorld’s 8th annual biotech summer reading list
Ah, the summer holidays. Time to unplug – for minutes, hours or days at a time – prop up your feet and kick back. But what about a good read? Should you grab a relaxing snoozer that won’t tax your…
ASCO strides provide cold comfort
This isn’t exactly “funny” – nothing about cancer is – but during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago I couldn’t help noticing the multitude of hand-sanitizer vending devices posted around McCormick Place. They seemed … odd…
Capturing cancer drugs’ true value calls for clear thinking
As the biggest names in cancer care gather at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 50th annual meeting in Chicago, talk of the exorbitant cost of new cancer drugs is no doubt echoing in the halls of McCormick Place. Outrage…
Let the conversation begin
“Communication about how certain treatments are working in certain patients is happening through a multitude of media around the globe. These conversations between and among doctors, patients, researchers, and scientists in academia and industry should be facilitated. This includes the…
U.S., EU biotechs shouldn’t dally on oft-cited ‘China strategy’
SUZHOU, China – Global intellectual property lawyers and consultants are quick to advise U.S. and European biotechs that they need a “China strategy” – guidance that usually generates a response akin to Scarlett O’Hara’s famous “I’ll think about it tomorrow”…
Mystic moldy pizza: Food for thought from Allicense 2014
SAN FRANCISCO – When talking trends in biopharma there’s no shortage of metaphors – Tuesday’s health care debate, for example, went for the timely baseball terms, referencing singles and home runs – or oft-overused industry buzzwords, of which the recent…
Hamburg: Society needs to weigh in
Including the patient voice in the drug approval process could produce a fundamental shift in the risk-benefit equation of a new drug. But first, the FDA has to figure out how to do it, and that may take a broader…
