Coface, the international credit insurer, released its latest industry risk review covering Pharmaceuticals sector last week. 7 Aug 2012
Global health agencies and western donors have made great efforts in recent years to subsidise and improve the supply of medicines for diseases affecting the world's poorest people, particularly malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and other deadly infections. 11 Jul 2012
Growing demand for expensive biologic drugs - highly specialised drugs used for chronic conditions - is sharply pushing up the medicines bill at SA's biggest medical scheme, Discovery Health, the company warned yesterday, 4 June 2012. 5 Jun 2012
The Gauteng Health Department has set aside R1.4 billion to ensure a steady supply of medicine, with the bulk of the amount to be allocated to the Medical Supplies Depot. 4 Jun 2012
WASHINGTON, USA: A panel of experts on Thursday, 10 May 2012, urged US regulators to approve what could be the first new anti-obesity drug on the market in more than a decade - Lorcaserin, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals. 14 May 2012
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Yale University will partner to design a new class of molecules to target disease-causing proteins. This is the latest in a string of deals between Yale's academic researchers and global pharmaceutical companies. 2 May 2012
NEW YORK, USA: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is close to reaching a US$9 billion deal to sell its infant nutrition business to Nestle, according to the Wall Street Journal. 18 Apr 2012
SA's biggest drug manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, on Friday welcomed the announcement by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies that the pharmaceuticals sector had been designated as one in which the government would purchase selected products exclusively from domestic manufacturers. 17 Apr 2012
The SA pharmaceutical industry has not only weathered adversity in an unfavourable local trading environment, but is extending its reach to the rest of the continent. 16 Apr 2012
The government has put measures in place aimed at reviving the waning pharmaceuticals production sector, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Friday, 13 April 2012. 16 Apr 2012
WASHINGTON, USA: US regulators will decide in July whether to approve Qnexa, the first obesity drug in more than a decade, extending the initial deadline by three months, the California-based drug-maker VIVUS said. 13 Apr 2012
WASHINGTON, USA: The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, 3 April 2012, warned consumers not to take a product called "Japan Rapid Weight Loss Diet Pills" because they contain a suspected cancer-causing agent. 5 Apr 2012
The Biovac Institute will be partnering with multi-national pharmaceutical company, Sanofi Pasteur, in a technology transfer to locally manufacture one of the leading combination vaccines, it was announced yesterday, 2 April 2012. 3 Apr 2012
Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has, as a precautionary measure, recalled the painkiller Excedrin in South Africa. 27 Jan 2012
With opportunities in developed markets slowly drying up, international players in the skin care market are likely to make moves to increase their share of sales in Africa and the Middle East where growth forecasts are strong, a research report has predicted. 5 Jan 2012
Adcock Ingram management and staff eligible for the executive incentive bonus scheme received no bonus this month as the group had failed to meet the internal targets set, the pharmaceutical group's annual report released on Friday showed. 4 Jan 2012
Litha Healthcare Group has purchased the South African subsidiary of Dutch health and wellness company, OTC Pharma International, OTC Pharma South Africa, which will see the healthcare group increase its portfolio in the natural health market. 19 Dec 2011
An agreement undertaken by Litha Pharma, a subsidiary of the Litha Healthcare Group and Gland Pharma, a leading Indian based generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, will see the healthcare group expanding its presence in the injectable generics market. 14 Dec 2011
Despite public perceptions that prescription drugs are in some way different to and less dangerous to use than illicit narcotics, the fact is that during 2007, overdoses of opioids (synthetic versions of opium i.e. codeine-like medication) caused more deaths in the USA* than heroin and cocaine combined. Costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for society and the workplace. So what are the signs of opioid dependence - and how can it be tackled in order to treat the condition and transform the life of the person concerned, to the benefit of both employer and employee? 2 Dec 2011
In recent news, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has called on government to revise the Patents Act to reduce the patent protection available to pharmaceutical inventions, which the organisation believes is responsible for the high cost of medicines and a delay in the availability of generic medicines. 23 Nov 2011
Let's do Biz