Today Stories

Junior doctors are to vote on a new four-year improvement to their contract which will mean annual pay uplifts of 2 per cent and additional investment in the contract to support increased productivity and recruitment and retention.NHS Employers and the BMA have reached agreement on a set of proposals that will now be put to a referendum of the BMA’s membership (juniors) on Friday 14 June.A total of £90 million will be used to fund changes over and above the pay uplifts over the four-year year period which include: Weekend allowance uplift to ensure those working the most frequent weekends are remunerated more fairly. An enhanced rate of pay for shifts that finish after midnight and by 4am. A new nodal pay point 5: The parties propose that instead of a senior decision maker allowance, a fi…

Ingestible smart pills, 3D printed prescriptions and VR pain relief predicted by 2050 Emerging science and technology will change consumer healthcare as we know it within the next 30 years. This is according to Consumer Health Futures, a report launched today by The Future Laboratory in collaboration with international consumer healthcare company, RB. Against a backdrop of rapid environmental, socioeconomic and demographic change, the need for innovation within the consumer healthcare space is acute. With input from a panel of world-leading healthcare experts, the report analyses the trends and attitudinal shifts impacting the health and wellbeing of global consumers at every stage of their lives. Through this, it exposes the innovation requirement in consumer healthcare – and predicts how…

Sean Duggan, chief executive of the Mental Health Network, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: "We cannot provide the level of care that people with mental health problems or learning disabilities deserve and require without the right staff, in the right numbers, in the right places. Nor can we deliver on the very welcome ambitions of the Long Term Plan. "Mental health and learning disability services have the highest levels of vacancies – recruiting and retaining these staff must be an absolute priority, so it is pleasing to see that recognised in the plan. “Our members are making impressive progress in retaining nurses but there is still a way to go and the plan should help. It is also pleasing to see lived-experience being woven into improving services. "However, in order for…

Singapore, 31 May 2019 – ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ASLN, TPEx:6497), a clinical-stage oncology and immunology focused biopharma company, today announced that it has amended its license agreement with CSL Limited (CSL) so that ASLAN has full global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise ASLAN004 in all indications. The amended agreement replaces the licensing agreement ASLAN and CSL signed in May 2014. Dr Carl Firth, Chief Executive Officer of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, said: “We are very excited by the recent data we have generated on ASLAN004 and we believe that it has the potential to be a best-in-class treatment for atopic dermatitis and other inflammatory indications with a differentiated profile. The amendment of our agreement with CSL is an important achievement in our stra…

A prestigious competition that has helped innovators raise millions of pounds to take their concepts to the global marketplace is looking for 2019’s most life-changing creations. The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Emerging Technologies Competition has helped winners raise more than £32million in funding since it was launched in 2013. Backed by some of the world’s biggest companies, such as Unilever, Croda, Johnson Matthey, RSSL and Pfizer, entries are now open until 5 July for the next big success story whose mastery of the chemical sciences helped create a product that can deliver a real-world benefit for wider society. Aurora Antemir, a senior manager in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Industry team said: “In less than a decade, the Emerging Technologies Competition has gone from being an…

New Brand Identity Sets the Stage for a New Pure-play Commercialisation Partner to the Pharmaceutical Industry Yardley, PA and London, UK – May 29, 2019 - PHS Health Solutions (PHS), a leading pharmaceutical contract commercial organisation with an exemplary 35-year track record as a trusted partner for its customers, announces that beginning today, the company will operate under the new identity of Amplity Health. The new corporate brand represents a pure-play pharmaceutical commercialisation business that integrates a family of brands including Touchpoint, PDI and Tardis Medical, offering customised and multi-channel medical, remote engagement, and sales solutions, along with strategic consulting and organisational capability development for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device,…

Neuraxpharm Group, a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announces it will soon launch its first probiotic[1] in the European market following an exclusive licensing agreement with the probiotics company Bened Biomedical Co., Ltd. Bened Biomedical, an award winning 2015 spin-out from Taiwan-based National Yang-Ming University, develops functional probiotic strains that can alter human microbiome. The agreement secures Neuraxpharm exclusive rights to market its first probiotic, PS128™, in the European market. This is Neuraxpharm’s first launch of a probiotic product expanding the Company’s portfolio of marketed Consumer Healthcare products. This is in line with its ambition of covering CNS therapeutics from pr…

Pratteln, Switzerland, May 21, 2019 – Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces its collaboration with the Biozentrum of the University of Basel to advance gene therapy research for the treatment of LAMA2-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy (LAMA2 MD or MDC1A). The program is supported by public funding for innovation in Switzerland through a grant from Innosuisse – the Suisse Innovation Agency. Innosuisse and Santhera will jointly invest CHF 1.2 million into this preclinical research collaboration. Santhera has entered in a collaboration with Prof. Markus Rüegg from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, who pioneered a novel gene therapy approach for the treatment of LAMA2 MD. The simultaneous transgenic expression of specifically designed small protein domains, so-called linker p…

Greater Manchester is hosting an interactive event to kick-start a new campaign to get patients, carers and the public involved in clinical research. Be Part of Research is the new nationwide initiative from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), supported by NHS trusts across the country. A local launch is being hosted by the NIHR Clinical Research Network in Greater Manchester at Citylabs, Nelson Street, Manchester, on Friday 24 May, 10.30am to 2.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. But anyone who can’t make it can still get involved – by making a simple pledge to show their support for health and care research.* The event is an opportunity for patients, carers and the public to speak to healthcare professionals about research and see how they can get involved to help improve…

The development of the UK’s first dedicated Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) has moved a step closer with the contract to design an advanced array of laboratory and production facilities within a ‘cleanroom wrap’ environment being awarded to WHP. The multi-disciplinary engineering company has won the design work as part of plans for the specification of versatile new cGMP suites and filling rooms for the VMIC, which is being built in the Oxford area. These units will have the capacity to meet Department of Health and Social Care requirements concerning the provision of vaccines in an infectious disease emergency. The centre, which has secured £66m of funding from UK Research and Innovation, is being developed through the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (IS…

London, United Kingdom – 14 May 2019 – AXON London today announced its intention to work towards the ‘Time to Change Employer Pledge’, a growing social movement of more than 1000 employers in England, committed to changing how we think and act about mental health in the workplace and ensure employees are supported. AXON will sign the pledge upon completion and approval of a robust action plan developed collaboratively with Time to Change, aimed at reducing stigma around mental health in the workplace. The announcement of the intention to pledge coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week (13–19 May), when AXON and sister agency Madano will have several initiatives planned each day, based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, and will be showcasing how staff members can manage their wellbeing or…

Elucid mHealth has developed a smart pill dispensing solution called Pill Connect which will allow both trial investigators and doctors to effectively monitor medication adherence, either in clinical trials or in the community. Elucid is already in discussions with several top tier Pharmas, CROs, CMOs, and the NHS all of whom all keen to find effective ways to monitor patient adherence. The first clinical trial undertaken by a global CRO with healthy people has just been concluded. The trial showed that the system worked very well. How the system works Preparation - A patient has an app loaded onto their mobile phone (iPhone or android) which contains the pill regime – eg twice a day. Is trained how to use the app – 20 minutes - and given a Pill Connect bottle loaded with pills Patient us…

Frimley, UK, May 8, 2019 – Novartis today announced a new subgroup analysis of the Phase III EXPAND study of oral, once-daily siponimod (BAF312) in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). The results show siponimod, the first and only oral drug to delay disability progression in SPMS patients, has significant functional benefit on cognitive processing speed (CPS), the cognitive function most frequently affected by MSi,ii,[iv]. The new findings, presented at the 2019 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting (AAN) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, show that patients treated earlier in their disease course with less cognitive impairment benefited most from siponimod treatment vs. placeboi. This suggests that earlier treatment can lead to better cognitive outcomes,…

Healthcare Campaign  Executed Across 10 Countries to Raise Awareness of the Importance of Predicting  and Preventing Osteoporosis and Bone Fracture, Particularly in Post-Menopausal  Women Thousand Oaks, Calif. (May 6, 2019) – Amgen, together with local healthcare partners in 10 countries around the  world, set on May 5, 2019, a Guinness World Record title for the most  osteoporosis screenings for an osteoporosis campaign in 24 hours. To break the existing world  record, Amgen set out to screen at least a total of 3,000  people in 10 countries around the world -- to  help them understand their risk of having osteoporosis, a medical condition  that weakens bones and makes them more likely to fracture. The campaign took  place in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Saudi…

Cambridge, 29th April 2019: The Xaar 1201 printhead is proving instrumental in helping Nottingham-based research organisation, Added Scientific, establish the suitability of inkjet printing in the manufacture of personalised pharmaceutical pills, where dosages could be tailored to individuals on an industrial scale. Building on research conducted by the University of Nottingham, where excipients (everything but the active pharmaceutical ingredient [API]) have been developed, Added Scientific initiated a project with its collaborators Xaar and AstraZeneca to look at the long-term scalability and suitability of inkjet printing in dispensing APIs. The project was funded under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Medicines Manufacturing Challenge, with support from Innovate UK. “Inkjet pri…

Responding to Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s speech on the gender pay gap at the Royal College of Physicians annual conference, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers and NHS Confederation deputy chief executive, said:“There is urgent work to be done to address the gender pay gap. “Organisations in the NHS take seriously the need for them to address the underlying issues driving gender pay gaps across healthcare going forward.  “In September 2015 NHS Employers and the NHS Confederation launched the Health & Care Women Leaders Network to support women working across health and care. “The free network uses events, masterclasses and social media to share learning, celebrate skills and talents and connect colleagues to challenge gender stereotypes in the workplace and raise the…

London, UK – 23 April 2019: Ergomed plc, (LSE: ERGO) ('Ergomed' or the 'Company'), a company focused on providing specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry, today announces that PrimeVigilance, its pharmacovigilance, regulatory and medical information service provider, has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the second time reinforcing Ergomed’s broad leadership position as a provider of contract services. Now in its 53rd year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country. Ergomed’s PrimeVigilance has received the 2019 Queen’s Award for International Trade in recognition of its year-on-year outstanding services in the drug safety sector for its global customer base. As an International Trade winner, PrimeVigilance has dem…

Pratteln, Switzerland, April 4, 2019 - Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces that it has placed all of the remaining 500,000 registered shares from its existing authorized share capital in a private placement, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds of CHF 7.1 million. Taken together with the newly established credit line facility which, subject to certain conditions, amounts up to CHF 15.0 million, the proceeds of these near-term financing initiatives provide new liquid funds of up to CHF 22.1 million. Santhera has placed an aggregate of 500,000 registered shares with investors at a price of CHF 14.25 per share, representing a 4.5% discount to the closing price of today, raising gross proceeds of CHF 7.1 million. Santhera expects to issue the new shares during the coming days from…

Berkshire based PharmiWeb are excited to have launched a new version of of PharmiWeb.com - The new site, focusing on News, Events and Articles from the Pharma sector, brings together a wide range of content from multiple sources, to make the site an even better resource for the Pharma Industry.  Pharma Jobs  The hugely popular Job Board has moved to a new URL - PharmiWeb.Jobs. This means that for individuals looking for a the latest jobs in the pharma industry, PharmiWeb's new job board will the only place they need to go!  According to Portal Business Manager, Mike Wood - "This is the start of a very exciting growth stage for PharmiWeb, and we have a wide ranging plan of developments for the portal which will reinforce our position as one of the primary sources of global Pharma news. Our…

CeloNova BioSciences, Inc. (CeloNova), a global medical device company that offers a family of innovative products based upon its proprietary Polyzene™-F nanocoating technology, today announced that it has signed a three-year group purchasing agreement with HealthTrust for its novel COBRA PzF™ NanoCoated Coronary Stent (NCS) System. The agreement (contract number: 39949), which became effective on February 1, 2019, provides HealthTrust's more than 1,500 member hospitals and health systems with access to the world's first non drug-eluting, nanocoated coronary stent designed to help physicians safely and effectively treat patients who may benefit from short, 1-month minimum dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT).1 DAPT has been shown to increase bleeding and mortality risks, which is of greater c…