PharmAware Blog

International aid agencies have urged the Indian government to reject a free trade agreement it is negotiating with the European Union. The agreement may undermine India’s ability to produce cheap generic drugs. The concern stems from leaked sections of the text showing that the EU wants India to accept a data exclusivity provision which would force India’s generic manufacturers to submit their own data on safety and effectiveness to register the generic products. It will force generic manufacturers to repeat clinical trials already done by industry to get their drugs approved.BMJ 2011, 342, 1480

Emergency Medicine Australasia announced that they will stop accepting pharmaceutical advertisement. They say that the move is a response to growing evidence about the effects of the drug industry in medicine and claims that industry distorts research findings.

BMJ 2011 342 d884

The NHS in England could save £200m a year if it switched patients with hypertension from candesartan to losartan without any loss of clinical benefits. BMJ 2011 342, d890

Pfizer is planning to close its research and development plan in Kent as part of a plan to trim research spending from over $8bn to less than $7bn. They plan to focus on areas that offer the greatest promise such as cancer and vaccines.

BMJ 2011 342, d771