MA confirms no new agreement in next week's budget

The global biopharmaceutical industry has come out hard against the US decision to back a move at the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property rights for the makers of COVID-19 vaccines.

It is far easier to endorse a practically worthless waiver at the WTO than to do something that would actually make a difference like not undermine COVAX or allow the export of some of the more than 70 million unused doses currently in the US supply chain.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will meet today just days before the federal government announces its 2021-22 Budget while a very large number of companies will be represented at today's hearing of the 'Zimmerman' inquiry.

The full agenda for the BioPharmaDispatch conference is now published with a range of panels and speakers that will continue to evolve in the days before the event.

Sanofi will use its appearance at today's public hearing of the 'Zimmerman' inquiry to restate its call for the federal government to launch the promised review of Australia's National Medicines Policy.

Arrotex general manager of marketing Lisa Golden says the company has seen a very positive response to the launch of biosimilar adalimumab.

CSL has announced the closing of a global commercialisation and license agreement with US company uniQure under which it will gain rights to a novel gene therapy currently in late-stage development for the treatment of haemophilia B.

The federal government has extended the biosimilar education program, implemented by the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association Education, to June 2022.

The number of COVID-19 vaccines administered globally is 1.21 billion across 174 countries, according to Bloomberg. The latest daily rate of doses administered is 19.7 million.

“Some of the stories heard by PSA are truly horrifying. The most heartbreaking aspect of this is that these problems are largely avoidable,” said PSA national president Associate Professor Chris Freeman.

The Leukaemia Foundation has announced the latest round of research funded through Cancer Australia’s priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme. 

Bastion Brands managing director Simon Davies says a critical consideration for biopharmaceutical companies in differentiating themselves with clinicians is establishing an emotional connection.

In an extraordinary move, New Zealand's health minister has publicly rebuked the country's Children's Commissioner for standing up to PHARMAC over its move to scrap a program that ensures paediatric cancer patients can access the medicines they need.

Sanofi Genzyme Australia and New Zealand head of medical, Dr Paul King, said many Australians who are living with a rare disease still face unreasonably long journeys to diagnosis. 

AstraZeneca Australia has welcomed a new TGA registration for its LYNPARZA (olaparib) for the treatment of male adult patients with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

New Zealand's PHARMAC has effectively blamed a mother campaigning for access to treatment for children with a severe degenerative disease for its decision to review and probably scrap a current program under which it subsidises any cancer medicine for children.

The new review of chemotherapy funding and access arrangements will almost certainly confront one of the issues that prevented significant change in previous reviews.