Kuwait

J&J says it has “exhausted all current viable avenues” to get its antidepressant nasal spray Spravato reimbursed on England’s National Health Service, after NICE decided against re-appraising the drug following numerous funding rejections.

UK R&D firm Futura Medical strikes third commercial agreement for its drug-free erectile dysfunction treatment MED3000, this time with Switzerland’s Labatec Pharma, which will take the drug-free gel to the Middle East. 

Saudi Arabia is set to introduce a new pricing policy that will affect the rest of the region.

France's HRA is looking to tap into consumer demand for foot care products in the Middle East by rolling out its Compeed brand in select markets across the region.

Higher sales of its Bemfola follitropin biosimilar following recent launches in Korea and Kuwait helped Gedeon Richter to raise its first-quarter Pharmaceutical sales by 2.7%.  

Device company Stryker has agreed to pay $7.8m and to hire a consultant to examine its record-keeping procedures in a settlement of SEC allegations that the company’s subsidiaries in India, China and Kuwait violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Kuwait is the latest market in the Middle East to introduce a new regulatory procedure for speeding up market entry of innovative new drugs. However, industry experts would like to see it go further.

The population of Kuwait is 2.7 million and its GDP per capita is $57,400. Healthcare expenditure is 3.5% of the budget, which in 2006 represented $628 per capita.

Amphion Innovations, which focuses on developing medical and technology businesses, has signed a partnership agreement with Kuwait University. The agreement is aimed at establishing and operating a Technology Transfer Unit (TTU) at the university. This facility will be the first in-house technology transfer facility in Kuwait.

Settlements to end Novo Nordisk's involvement in the UN oil-for-food programme kickback casel have spread into Europe, with the company issuing a payout of DKK30 million ($5.6 million) to Danish authorities.