United Kingdom

The UK government’s blueprint to deliver an NHS "fit for the future" was released on July 3.

As Biocon Biologics picks up the latest approvals in Europe for its Stelara biosimilar, Blake Leitch, the firm’s head of Europe, talks to Generics Bulletin about what lies ahead for Biocon and for biosimilars more widely in the region – including tackling the “biosimilar void”.

The NHS 10-Year Plan officially released on July 3 will crystalize NICE’s Rules-Based Pathway – a new concept for medtech evaluation that will come with a guarantee of funding – but only for a select number of products. Government to also introduce “innovator passport” to speed innovation into NHS.

GSK tells Scrip about timelines for data expected from two Phase II trials for its Bharat Biotech-partnered shigella vaccine candidate, which puts it ahead of Limmatech/Valneva. Meanwhile, a global-first malaria vaccine, also partnered with Bharat, sees an over 50% price cut

Healthcare product industries await publication of the NHS 10-Year Plan, due out the coming days, which will focus on health generally not just the NHS, UK health secretary Wes Streeting said during a final prelaunch event on 24 June.

The Modern Industrial Strategy is the first of this summer’s UK blueprints for supporting life sciences industrial activity and transforming NHS healthcare delivery. The UK market must also benefit from its own innovation activity, says industry.

Celltrion has reinforced its commitment to the UK by opening a new central operations hub in Uxbridge, while acknowledging that “major questions over the attractiveness of the market” need to be addressed to encourage development and ensure a sustainable environment for UK biosimilars.

England’s Court of Appeal has upheld a Competition Appeal Tribunal’s 2023 finding that Advanz and its former owner Cinven abused their dominant position in the UK market for liothyronine tablets by charging prices that were many orders of magnitude higher than the benchmark for fair pricing.

As UK players face increasing competitive pressures on “vanilla” generics – including potential new market entrants from China – Ben Ellis, Lupin’s UK and Ireland general manager, explains how the company is focusing on more complex opportunities that require a hybrid generic and branded mindset.

Wales-based group launches with $140m series A.

As multiple molecules experienced triple-digit percentage price rises in May, pioglitazone once again led the way after already topping our table of price increases in April.

16 June marked the first major new regulatory instrument in the UK’s post-Brexit transition to a standalone device regulatory system for Great Britain.