How GSK and AstraZeneca might stop advancing treatments if drug spend is reduced February 19, 2015 Big pharmaceutical companies thrive off the invention of new drugs, but their success relies on those drugs being purchased at the end of the line. If the maximum amount spent by the NHS on new medicines was seriously lowered, as a report released today suggested, it would not only limit access to some [...]
Viiv Healthcare IPO: Banks onboard for GlaxoSmithKline’s £17bn pharma float February 4, 2015 Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has hired banks to analyse the pros and cons of a float of its HIV medicines business next year, in what would be the one of the UK’s biggest initial public offerings of the last decade. Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said banks, believed to be Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan [...]
GSK takes over in the Ebola race: Experimental vaccine Sent to Liberia for main tests January 23, 2015 Trials of GSK's experimental vaccine to prevent Ebola are about to begin in west Africa. Some 300 doses will be transported to Monrovia, capital of Liberia, and the intention is to inject the first subject within the next few weeks. Ultimately, researchers plan to inoculate 30,000 volunteers, including health-workers. The vaccine was created [...]
Johnson & Johnson catches up with GSK in race to develop Ebola vaccine – human safety trials begin in Oxford January 6, 2015 Johnson & Johnson has started human trials of its new Ebola vaccine, which is intended to stop the spread of the epidemic that has already killed thousands of people in west Africa. Trials are taking place on 72 people at Oxford University, and similar tests will soon get going in the US and three [...]
Glaxo abandons sale of its older drugs portfolio December 4, 2014 British pharma giant GlaxoSmith-Kline revealed late yesterday afternoon that it would not be going ahead with the sale of a portfolio of old drugs that had been valued at over $3bn (£1.9bn). Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty had talked up interest in the selection of off-patent treatments last summer, with several private equity firms believed [...]
How does GSK’s new Ebola vaccine work? US safety trials show immunity with no side effects November 27, 2014 GSK's Ebola vaccine could soon be used to protect people against the disease in west Africa, after trials in the US gave volunteers immunity to the deadly virus without causing any negative side effects. Some 20 healthy people were administered the vaccine in an early-stage clinical trial, and all developed antibodies within four weeks, [...]
Is there a cure for Ebola? GlaxoSmithKline sees success in first human vaccine trials November 26, 2014 The first Ebola vaccine to be tested on humans has shown promising results in early trials, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said last night. GSK said the vaccine, co-developed with the US National Institutes of Health, was “well-tolerated and produced an immunological response in each of the 20 healthy adult volunteers in the US who received it”. The [...]
GSK to start Ebola vaccine trials in west Africa next month November 13, 2014 GSK says its Ebola vaccine will begin trials in west Africa next month. Safety clinical trials will take place in Mali at a treatment centre run by the charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which has been at the forefront of tackling the virus since the epidemic started in December last year. It is hoped [...]
Is there a cure for Ebola? Inhaled vaccine could provide answer to injection worries of GSK, NewLink and Johnson & Johnson November 4, 2014 Could a newly-developed inhaled vaccine soon be used to stop the spread of Ebola between humans in west Africa? Developed by a team of researchers at a university in Texas, it has already been shown to provide long-term protection for non-human primates against the deadly virus. The formulation took seven years to create, and [...]
GlaxoSmithKline considers £17bn HIV wonder drugs split with Viiv Healthcare IPO October 22, 2014 Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is considering floating its HIV drugs business in a move that would see Viiv Healthcare among the top 40 companies in the FTSE 100 with a market valuation of up to £17bn. Chief executive Andrew Witty told reporters yesterday: “In line with our commitment to identifying ways to realise shareholder value, [...]