Weekly Roundups,News

Weekly News Round-up – 24/1/20

Proventa International Weekly News 4 years ago By Bryan

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been in the news a lot this week, a fact that doesn’t often herald good news. The first, of course, was to discuss the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, against which no antidote has been found: the second centred around two recently-released reports that big pharma has not done enough to combat antibiotic resistance. In a similar vein, despite its potentially huge benefits to the pharma industry, blockchain has seen limited uptake within the life sciences.

WHO HOLDS BACK DECISION TO DECLARE CHAIN CORONAVIRUS A ‘PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY’ – The WHO has announced it will not yet declare the recent Chinese coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency, needing more information to reach a consensus. Currently over 500 cases have been confirmed, with Wuhan, Ezhou and Huanggong locked down by authorities. 

PHARMA NOT INVESTING ENOUGH IN NEW ANTIBIOTICS, SAYS WHO – New reports from WHO suggest big pharma have not invested sufficiently in countering antimicrobial resistance. The WHO found that most such research is being undertaken by small and medium-sized companies, many of whom are struggling under financial pressures. According to the reports, only eight antibacterial agents have been FDA-approved since 1 July 2017, with limited clinical benefits. The lack of investment is attributed to the limited money-making opportunities in the space. 

BLOCKCHAIN TAKE-UP STILL SLOW IN HEALTHCARE – despite its potential to add $3 billion of value to the life science sector by 2025, takeup of blockchain technology has been limited. A PreScouter report has suggested blockchain could also improve drug development, supply chain and the management of clinical trials. The consensus industry opinion, however, is that many challenges still remain to adoption, including necessary cultural and management changes. Even given this hesitance, the report estimates that 70% of all life science leaders intend to adopt a blockchain network by the end of 2020. 

In other news: 

R&D
Eli Lilly targets deals of up to $5 billion every quarter to bolster R&D
Researchers find new method of determining drug targets through protein melting

Clinical Trials
FDA panel divided over Durect’s POSIMIR painkiller
AZ/MSD prostate cancer drug Lynparza receives fast-track review

Manufacturing
Center for Breakthrough Medicines to build largest CGT facility in world
AZ unveils $520 million manufacturing investment in France

That’s all for now. See you next week!

Joshua Neil, Editor
Proventa International

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