20 - 26 Feb 2012

Market Review: Who's winning in the antihypertensive market

Competition among antihypertensive drugs in the Australian market is robust as older options, especially ramipril, feel the heat from new fixed dose combinations that are showing rapid growth » more

News

Instant Update: Thurs 23 February
	Don't go direct GMiA warns - Tells pharmacists, beware of Budget changes; Sigma cuts trade terms again - Hit by high cost of PBS reform and unexpected charge; CSL buoyed by Gardasil - Royalties 50% higher than forecast » full report

Pfizer generics plan bears PBS fruit
	Pfizer's grand plan to develop its generics business in the face of competition for Lipitor has come to fruition with the company due to list 14 products on the PBS from March 1 » full report

Apotex attacks Roche's Valcyte
	Less than three weeks after registering the first generic versions of Roche's Valcyte, Apotex will appear in court seeking revocation of a patent protecting the product » full report

PBS growth in long-term decline
	The most recent round of PBS spending data shows the continuation of a 30 year decline in average rates of growth, reports the Medicines Partnership of Australia » full report

Leflunomide judgement appealed
	Apotex is challenging last year's court decision that ruled it had threatened to infringe a patent on Sanofi's Arava and Arabloc for psoriatic arthritis and restrained it from supplying the product for that indication » full report

Biosimilars pact proving elusive
	Agreement on mechanisms for the regulation and reimbursement of biosimilars still appears to be some way off with the Department of Health and Ageing suggesting the ball is in industry's court » full report

Continuous dispensing passes Reps
	Legislation underpinning the Pharmacy Guild's continuous dispensing initiative has passed through the House of Representatives, with Guild National President Kos Sclavos confident it will ensure "optimal outcomes for patients without jeopardising relationships" with doctors » full report

Aust safe from methotrexate shorts
	Australia looks to be unaffected by the US shortage of preservative-free methrotrexate used to treat childhood leukaemia, the TGA has said, after making contact with suppliers of the product here » full report

Spider venom painkiller attracts J&J
	Johnson & Johnson has signed a deal to fund and collaborate with the University of Queensland's main commercialisation company on research to develop spider venom as a treatment for pain » full report

Latest ARTG registrations
	MSD's new glaucoma treatment, Saflutan, appeared on the ARTG this week ahead of its consideration at the March meeting of the PBAC » full report

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Comment

Action in generic space shows how market is changing

This week we've taken another look at the forthcoming PBS listings for March and it shows how much the Australian pharma market is set to change this year » full report

Missed Anything? Catch Up Here

Instant Update - Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 Feb
Special Report - Big pharma takes cover for 2012
Analysis - Anticoagulants in the PBS spotlight
Market Review - Oral antidiabetics in a time of change
Drug Tracker - Review of PBAC trends from 2011

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UCB to file Cimzia extension - Looks for use in psoriatic arthritis - » full report
Actelion trial records 100 deaths - PAH drug may not extend life - » full report
Bionomics pursues Alzheimer's compound - Applies for patent after animal model success - » full report