• Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said two leading health insurers in Switzerland agreed to fully reimburse the cost of Scenesse (afamelanotide 16-mg implant) for erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare disease characterized by severe phototoxicity. Read More

The FDA issued a complete response letter to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. last week regarding new drug applications for alogliptin and fixed-dose combinations of alogliptin and pioglitazone for Type II diabetes, products partnered with Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc. Read More

LONDON – The industry in the UK is hitting back at government cuts to the drugs bill, setting up a task force to liaise with National Health Service (NHS) payers and promote the use of innovative drugs. Read More

Faced with an increasingly complex system of committees, which threatens to undermine the coherence of pharmaceutical regulation in Europe, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has come up with the perfect bureaucratic response: establish another committee. Read More

LONDON – AstraZeneca plc is expected to boost dealmaking and M&A activity after CEO David Brennan gave in to pressure from shareholders last week and agreed to resign his post. Read More

LONDON – The search for additional genes that play a role in the development of pancreatic cancer has uncovered a new tumor suppressor gene that has, until now, been overlooked. Read More

The privately held UK specialty oncology firm EUSA Pharma Ltd. is to be acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a $700 million cash deal that is motivated by the early commercial success of EUSA's Erwinaze treatment for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), approved by the FDA in November 2011. Read More