Policy

In its latest draft standard contract for 2025/26, the National Health Service in England has proposed enhanced prescribing requirements “in recognition of the increasing importance of biosimilars in the provision of biological medicines.”

The 12 initial awards, which total almost $100m, are part of an ongoing program to develop a high-tech mobile hospital that can reach patients with limited access to health care.

Parexel's CEO Peyton Howell and India boss Sanjay Vyas talk to Scrip about the value of clinical trial diversity, AI pilots underway and opportunities for India amid geopolitical rumblings, as well as the need for standardized regulatory approaches to enhance sponsor interest.

President Trump's Executive Order creating the commission names mental health and weight-loss drugs as treatments of concern. But it does not mention vaccines, which Kennedy has criticized.

A US tariff on imports from China raises the spectre of similar action against India, but Aurobindo, the largest generics company in the US by prescriptions dispensed, assures it has alternatives in place. While trials for an opthalmology biosimilar are delayed, supply of other biosimilars to Europe is set to begin in Q2 FY26.

Trade groups say they welcome working with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on expanding and improving consumer access to OTC drugs and dietary supplements. White House “Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative” limits filling federal agency vacancies.

Discussing a new report highlighting the lack of US biosimilar competition on the cards for the majority of biologics losing exclusivity in the next ten years, the AAM’s Access! 2025 conference heard that the “sobering” findings should act as a “wake-up call for stakeholders.”

Taking a broad view of big pharma share price movements as the sector reported 2024 financials, company-specific issues were complicated by geopolitical factors including Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.

Trump’s former FDA commissioner sees ‘nothing good’ coming from negotiating a new user fee agreement in the ‘current political environment.’

Lawmaking in Germany came to a halt after the federal election was called, meaning cardiovascular detection and pharmacy legislation were put on hold. In part one of a two-part interview on key themes for industry, Martin Walger, chief executive of the IVDs industry association, the VDGH, lays out the hopes and fears of IVD companies in the run up to the late February vote.