It is looking unlikely that Pfizer’s Bosulif (also known as Bosutinib) will be made available on the NHS, after cost regulator, NICE, released preliminary draft guidance rejecting the drug’s use in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Bosulif has already been approved in Europe as well as the US for use after treatment with one
Pfizer is believed to be cutting approximately 600 jobs this month from their primary care business. The organisation’s primary care sector have a variety of key drugs, including pain killer Lyrica, ED drug Viagra and arthritis drug Celebrex.
Pfizer are celebrating today after US regulators approved their rheumatoid arthritis drug, Xeljanz, yesterday. The treatment is the first Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor to be approved for rheumatoid arthritis. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have given the green light to Xeljanz (tofacitinib) 5mg twice-daily for the medication of adults with moderately to severely
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has authorised the use of Pfizer’s Xiapex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) on the NHS for patients with Dupuytren’s contracture, reversing their earlier decision to reject the drug. Xiapex is the first medication available for the condition, which previously was only treatable with surgery, meaning that the SMC’s endorsement good news for
Ranbaxy Laboratories has launched generic versions of Pfizer’s Lipitor in four European countries, a couple of months prior to the patents running out on the cholesterol blockbuster. Ranbaxy is launching copies in Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden and noted that market sizes in these countries are $377 million, $164.4 million and $55 million, respectively. The
Generics major Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is set to enter the lucrative market created in the USA by the patent expiry on Pfizer’s Lipitor but not until Ranbaxy Laboratories’ 180-day exclusivity period runs out. The Israeli drugmaker noted that the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) have granted tentative approval for their generic version of Lipitor,
Pfizer is to acquire Excaliard, a privately-owned company which creates drugs for the treatment of skin fibrosis, often referred to as skin scarring. As part of the acquisition, Pfizer is obtaining EXC 001, an antisense oligonucleotide currently in Phase II, which is designed to interrupt the process of fibrosis by inhibiting expression of connective tissue
The European Commission (EC) has approved a new Pfizer drug for the treatment of transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting around 8,000 people worldwide. Vyndaqel (tafamidis; formerly Fx-1006A) becomes the first treatment approved anywhere in the world to treat the disease. The condition is characterised by deposits of amyloid
Pfizer is planning to retain 650 staff at its Sandwich facility in Kent, roughly 300 more than previously announced. The BBC reported that 250 employees have relocated to other sites in the UK. About 800 people have already left their posts at the re-named Sandwich Discovery Park and a further 700 will go by the
deCODE genetics, headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, yesterday announced that they had entered into a research partnership with Pfizer. The collaboration will seek to discover “sequence variants associated with specific clinical phenotypes related to systemic lupus erythematosis by utilizing the Reykjavik-based firm’s expertise in gene discovery”. Over the next 18 months, deCODE and Pfizer will work
