Latest Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare News

The rise of NHS spending on public services - comment from The Economist Intelligence Unit

The figures from the Nuffield Trust and the Institute of Fiscal Studies will fuel the debate about creeping privatisation of the NHS. In April, Labour opposed the new procurement regulations for GP-led clinical commissioning groups on the basis that they "let the privatisation genie fully out of the bottle". The health minister Earl Howe responded by declaring that there is no governme...

Guest blog: Commercial Value, Capacity and Intellectual Property

Commercial Value, Capacity and Intellectual Property; emerging findings from the UK’s scientific select committee report on regenerative medicine Conference chairman professor Chris Mason welcomed us [...]

Guest blog: The Biotech Bull and its impact on the future of Regenerative Medicine

‘Alternative financing models’ by Dr. Navid Malik As head of life sciences research at Cenkos securities and with a background in science, Dr. Malik’s words [...]

Guest blog: The Biotech Bull and its impact of the future of Regenerative Medicine

‘Alternative financing models’ by Dr. Navid Malik As head of life sciences research at Cenkos securities and with a background in science, Dr. Malik’s words [...]

Guest blog: Assessing the uptake and impact of the Cell Therapy Catapult Centre

CCRM and Cell Therapy Catapult Sponsored Drinks Reception VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL Cell Therapy Catapult: a global leader in bridging the translational gap of [...]

Energy-Saving: The key to affordability in healthcare

The standards of healthcare are improving throughout the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where countries are seeing an exponential improvement in quality of healthcare [...]

Neuralstem Phase I Results Encourage Market, Stimulate Buying

By Brian L. Wilson:Although it seems that investors have lost their appetite for many stem cell investments at this stage of the broader rally in the stock market, there are exceptions worth pointing out. Neuralstem (NASDAQ: CUR), for instance, has been in a strong uptrend since, on April 17th, the company finally received approval from the FDA to commence a Phase II clinical trial in 18 patients...

Prolor Biotech Buyout: Is The Opko Bear Case Now Dead?

By Daniel Lauchheimer:Last month, Opko Health (OPK) bought PROLOR Biotech (PBTH). Shareholders of PBTH will receive just under 1 share of OPK for each share of PBTH. Considering this even trade, current shareholders of PBTH will need to decide if they want to hold onto the OPK shares they receive, or deploy capital somewhere else. In this article I will take a close look at OPK, and try to assess...

Hodgkin Lymphoma: The Top Secret Strategy Of Seattle Genetics Revealed

ByMichael Webb:By now almost every investor has heard the name Seattle Genetics (SGEN), a once small, still developmental biotechnology company with a well recognized oncology drug in Adcetris. Many analysts that cover the stock including the well-respected bio-blogger PropThink are concerned these investors are over-valuing the company in light of flat revenue projections for all of 2013.Apologis...

Pricing A Highly Probable Takeover Of MannKind

By George Rho:Investors, or more accurately, speculators who have followed the MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) saga over the past several years know fully well that the end game is rapidly approaching. Wall Street research coverage has increased of late, trading volume is surging, and the stock has more than doubled in price over the past three months. The pivotal phase 3 clinical trials - Aff...

Cumberland Pharma On The Right Track... But Moving Slowly

By Vince Martin:Back in February I covered the detailed bull case for Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (CPIX), a small-cap pharmaceutical company. Cumberland, which currently distributes three products, has just a $90 million market capitalization; yet the stock offers some $70 million in cash and investments and nine consecutive years of profitability. A patent dispute concerning its top-selling drug -...

Study: Empathy plays a key role in moral judgments

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Is it permissible to harm one to save many? Those who tend to say "yes" when faced with this classic dilemma are likely to be deficient in a specific kind of empathy, according to a report published in the scientific journal P...

CFDA Announces Overall Plans For Staffing, Internal Structures, Duties

The State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform announced the overall plans on the newly established China FDA’s staffing, internal structure, and main duties.

Chinese City’s Disease Control Center Illegally Tenders For Type II Vaccines

Hunan’s department of health has cracked down on Huanggang City’s disease control center for illegally launching tender requests for lucrative type-II vaccines at RMB 120 million ($19.3 million) May 15 in the first ever city-level request which a...

CFDA Announces Schedule For E-Monitoring Of New EDL Drugs

China FDA announced plans to incorporate new formulary drugs, whether sold in public health institutes or not, into the electronic monitoring system.

Arena Pharmaceuticals - Out To Launch Or Out To Lunch?

By Spencer Osborne: Some equities have a pretty passionate following. Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) happens to be a company that carries a very passionate fan base. On its face this could seem like a great thing, but as with anything in life, there are two sides to any story. The same is true with the upcoming launch of Arena's anti-obesity drug Belviq. Is Arena out to launch, or is it out to lunch...

GSK To Shut Australia Tablet Plant, Shift Operations To Spain, Poland

GlaxoSmithKline said it would close its tablet-packaging plant in Melbourne, Australia, eliminating 120 jobs within the next two years.

India Cancels Plan Of Free Generics At Hospitals, Health Centers

India has canceled a plan of providing free generic drugs at the nation's hospitals and health centers because of an inability to formulate a drug-procurement policy along with financial restraints.

Pakistan Senator, Pharma Owner, Proposes 200% Increase In Drug Prices

A member of Pakistan's Senate has been pushing for legislation that would increase the prices of some drugs, including those considered "essential," by 200%.

Chemed's CEO Presents at 2013 UBS Global Healthcare Conference (Transcript)

Chemed Corporation (CHE) 2013 UBS Global Healthcare Conference Call May 21, 12:30 PM ET Executives Kevin McNamara – President and CEO David Williams – EVP and CFO Analysts A.J. Rice – UBS Presentation A.J. Rice – UBS Right. I think we’re going to go ahead and get started. I am A.J. Rice, the healthcare services analyst at UBS. And we’re very happy to have Chemed with u...

Hospitals’ Twenty First Century Time Warp

By Jeff Goldsmith There has been a lot of controversy in health policy circles recently about hospital market consolidation and its effect on costs.  However, less noticed than the quickened pace of industry consolidation is a more puzzling and larg...

Bird's playlist could signal mental strengths and weaknesses

DURHAM, N.C. -- Having the biggest playlist doesn't make a male songbird the brainiest of the bunch, a new study shows. "For songbirds, singing a lot of songs indicates a bird is smart, but that signal is not necessarily indicative of intelligence fo...

Electronic Health Data Gaining Favor, HHS Says

More than half of U.S. doctors have switched to electronic health records and are using them to manage patients' basic medical information and prescriptions.

Coffee Leaf Rust: It's Coming for Your Morning Joe

Oh no! Good intentions don't mean good prospects for organic farming are a sure thing down on the farm.Progressive-minded café goers have long appreciated the value of an organic cup of coffee. Not only do conventional beans require synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, what's good for the bean--an organic approach--is also good for the grower. "When you think about organic coffee," a specialty f...

Mysterious respiratory illness strikes 7 in Alabama; 2 dead

Two people have died and five others have been hospitalized in a mysterious cluster of respiratory illnesses in southeast Alabama, state health officials said.  The victims, all adults, had symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath, but the cause of the illness …