MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'european commission'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:38:44 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107899&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FRkVSK5_Bu9Y%2F Good morning, everyone, and nice to see you again. We hope the weekend was invigorating. Now, of course, the time has come to resume the routine of meetings and deadlines, even if it is a slow time of year. To get started, yes, we are brewing that mandatory cup of stimulation, so feel free to join us. Meanwhile, here are some tidibts from around the world. Hope your day goes well and stay in touch… Pfizer And UCSD Collaborate On Early Drug Discovery (San Diego Union Tribune) China’s Healthcare Push May Curb Sales For Brand-Name Pharma (Bloomberg News) Nestle Eyes Pfizer Formula Milk Powder Business (Business China) EU Approves Botox For Treating Urinary Incontinence (Reuters) Takeda Pharmaceuticals Faces Rising Number Of Actos Lawsuits (Associated Press) Bayer Is Eyeing Pfizer ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107899 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:50:32 +0100 5107899 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069818&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FrIaNzGppPTA%2F Three years after making a proposal that would have allowed drugmakers to publish product information in consumer newspapers and magazines, the European Commission is going back to the proverbial drawing board and plans to issue a new proposal this fall, an EC spokesman writes us. The move comes after its initial effort was widely criticized and rejected by the European Parliament. “The European Commission will revise the proposals to clarify and harmonize the rules in what companies can and can’t say to patients,” Peter Arlett, who heads pharmacovigilance and risk management at the European Medicines Agency, tells Bloomberg News. The EMA, he adds, recently received a letter from the EC about its intention to revise its proposal. The original EC effort, which was unveiled in ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069818 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:04:00 +0100 5069818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008155&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZM20phiwWic%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of the rating agencies. I’ve warned in TV interviews that they generally wait too long before downgrading profligate governments. So when the rating agencies finally catch up to everyone else and lower their outlook for failing welfare states such as Greece and Portugal, one would think that this would be seen as a useful – albeit late – warning sign. But European politicians are not very happy about this development. At the risk of mixing metaphors, they want everyone to keep their heads buried in the sand and to continue complimenting the emperor on his new clothes. Here are some excerpts from a BBC report. The European Commission has strongly criticised international credit ratings agencies following the downgrade of Portugal by Moody�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008155 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:29:15 +0100 5008155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4976210&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Frveg3vLj9MY%2F The UK government has filed a lawsuit seeking about $351 million in damages against Servier Laboratories over charges the French drugmaker “abused” its dominant position by delaying rivals from launching generic versions of a blood pressure drug, The Financial Times writes. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and more than 150 primary care trusts claim that between July 2001 and July 2007, Servier schemed to prevent a generic form of Aceon, or perindopril, from reaching the market, the paper continues. Consequently, the National Health Service paid “elevated prices.” The Servier patent on Aceon expired in 2003, but a generic did not appear in the UK until July 2007. The lawsuit cites documents showing Servier applied to the European Patent Office for another patent during t... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4976210 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:07:38 +0100 4976210 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522288&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F9JI7t-4bhHU%2F Last month, FDA device chief Jeff Shuren committed a diplomatic faux pas. While speaking with reporters about varying approval standards and safety issues in the US and Europe, he quoted a surgeon who supposedly said “under the EU system, the public are being used as guinea pigs.” And then he added his own two cents by saying that “we don’t use our people as guinea pigs in the US.” Not surprisingly, someone in Europe has taken exception - Paola Testori Coggi, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, wrote a letter to FDA commish Margaret Hamburg to complain. “I am deeply concerned that a senior official of the FDA should publicly discredit the regulatory system in Europe in this way,” Coggi wrote in the Feb. 18 ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522288 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:56:19 +0100 4522288 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361306&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FUuhSDJneggs%2F One month after yet again raiding offices of various drugmakers (back story), the European Commission is now taking a more polite approach and telling several companies - including Bayer and Roche - to submit details of their settlements over patent disputes. The EC asked a “selected number of originator and generic companies” to submit a copy of all patent settlement agreements relevant to the 27-member EU region and which were concluded between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010, according to an EC statement. Like the US Federal Trade Commission, the EC has been probing these pay-to-delay deals in the belief that they stifle competition and, therefore, delay entry to the marketplace of lower-cost medicines (read about the FTC efforts here). This followed a report from the Europe... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361306 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:20:42 +0100 4361306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225657&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FdczYYLlP0h4%2F Once again, European Commission antitrust regulators have raided the offices of several drugmakers seeking evidence that they struck anticompetitive deals or used their dominant market positions to squeeze rivals. So far, though, only AstraZeneca has confirmed that it received a visit. “The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have acted individually or jointly, notably to delay generic entry for a particular medicine,” the commission says in a statement. This could be a potential violation of EU antitrust rules.” The focus of the raid on AstraZeneca was its Nexium heartburn med, which is a $5 billion global seller but faces generic competition across Europe. “Earlier this week, competition authorities commenced inspections at a small numbe... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225657 Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:18:40 +0100 4225657 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4142737&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1dQt1jt-1WM%2F By Jim HarperThe recent European Commission proposal to create a radical and likely near impossible-to-implement “right to be forgotten” provides an opportunity to do some thinking about how privacy norms should be established. In 1961, Italian liberal philosopher and lawyer Bruno Leoni published Freedom and the Law, an excellent, if dense, rumination on law and legislation, which, as he emphasized, are quite different things. Legislation appears today to be a quick, rational, and far-reaching remedy against every kind of evil or inconvenience, as compared with, say, judicial decisions, the settlement of disputes by private arbiters, conventions, customs, and similar kinds of spontaneous adjustments on the part of individuals. A fact that almost always goes unnoticed is that a ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4142737 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:06:11 +0100 4142737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795055&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F_tKJw58uuGI%2F Here’s a question for you: if a company wants to convince regulators that it did nothing wrong in connection with an investigation, should the company cooperate or should the company provide misleading info in hopes of throwing them off any perceived scent? The European Commission says Servier somehow made the wrong choice. And so the EC has charged Servier and Les Laboratoires Servier with providing bad info to the agency, which is seeking evidence that drugmakers in several countries struck anticompetitive deals to stall cheaper generic versions of their own meds after patents had expired or used their dominant market positions to squeeze rivals. EU regulators have said they suspected that Servier did deals with generic rivals Krka, Lupin, Matrix, Niche Generics and Teva to thwart ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795055 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:45:04 +0100 3795055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3733154&cid=t_150160_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fstandards-naming-medical-devices Discussion of medical device issues has become part of the mainstream press such as last week's Boston Globe article about their security.   A year ago, I wrote about a breakthrough in medical device interoperability standards for content, vocabulary and transmission.   (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3733154 Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:15:23 +0100 3733154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3730096&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FLnS1R8Akp9w%2F That’s the implication of a new survey released by the European Union, whose antitrust regulators have been raiding drugmakers in several countries seeking evidence they struck anticompetitive deals or used their dominant market positions to squeeze rivals. Last year, EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes issued a report saying delays in bringing generic drugs to market cost consumers and healthcare providers billions (back story here and here). Now, the EU says the number of patent settlements that are “potentially problematic” under EU antitrust rules fell to 9, or 10 percent of 93 such deals between July 2008 and December 2009 compared with 45, or 22 percent of the 207 deals in the period covered in last year’s inquiry, which was January 2000 to June 2008. And... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3730096 Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:46:31 +0100 3730096 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718382&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsPvhQSrvB5M%2F By Daniel J. MitchellMany people assume that Europe is the land of high-tax welfare states and America is an outpost of laissez-faire capitalism. We should be so lucky. The burden of government in America is still lower than it is in the average European nation, but the United States is a lot closer to France than it is to Hong Kong — and the trend is not comforting. We recently endured the embarrassing spectacle of President Obama arguing with Europeans that they should increase the burden of government spending. Now we have a new report from the European Commission indicating that the average corporate tax rate in member nations of the European Union has plummeted to just 23.5 percent while the corporate tax rate in the U.S. has stagnated at 35 percent. In the past dozen years a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718382 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:10:33 +0100 3718382 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3573939&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fzo7NBIKNNso%2F How gloomy is the outlook among pharma execs? A new survey finds 82 percent predict big drugmakers won’t be able to innovate sufficiently internally to replenish their dwindling pipelines. And this deperation will lead to still more acquisitions - 68 percent believe substantial acquisition activity will occur within the next two years and 19 percent anticipating “major activity” within the next year. Those who believe the glass is half full think the improved economic situation means pharma should have confidence to proceed with mergers - 63 per cent think the climate for doing business and access to funding have improved in the past year. The survey of 381 pharma execs was just released by Marks & Clerk, a large patent law firm in the UK, so it’s hard to know ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3573939 Tue, 18 May 2010 15:55:58 +0100 3573939 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3398891&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjRIfgHvCGxE%2F By Daniel J. MitchellGreece’s fiscal disarray is a visible manifestation of Europe’s future, but the most appropriate symbol of what’s wrong with the continent comes from Brussels, where there are three “presidents” fighting over the right to represent Europe at international gatherings. The contestants include the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council, and the European Union President (which rotates every six months among different national leaders). While these three personalities fight over who gets to sit where and shake hands first, the real problem is that they all agree that government should be bigger, taxes should be higher, and power should be more centralized as part of the effort to create a superstate in Bruss... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3398891 Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:47:22 +0100 3398891 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3342894&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F3sVDL2lxzTA%2F A confidential report issued last fall by Novartis on behalf of several drugmakers that sell ADHD meds concludes it isn’t feasible to conduct an observational, comparative long-term study to validate a signal of adverse psychiatric or cognitive outcomes from the long-term use of methylphenidate in children and adolescents with ADHD. Methylphenidate is sold as Ritalin and Concerta, for instance. The 18-page report, which recently began circulating on the Internet, was compiled in response to a requirement issued last year by the European Commission to conduct such a study after the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use expressed concerns about safety issues, including sudden death, cerebrovascular disorders and psychiatric disorders as well as the effects on growth (see here)... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3342894 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:43:34 +0100 3342894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331276&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPF4QysQiVgg%2F By Daniel J. MitchellFiscal crises have a predictable pattern. Step 1 occurs when the economy is prospering and tax revenues are growing faster than forecast. Step 2 is when politicians use the additional money to increase government spending. Step 3 is that politicians do not treat the extra tax revenue like a temporary windfall and budget accordingly.Instead, they adopt policies – more entitlements, more bureaucrats – that permanently expand the burden of the public sector. Step 4 occurs when the economy stumbles (in part because more resources are being diverted from the productive sector to the government) and tax revenues stagnate. If the resulting fiscal gap is large enough, as it is in places such as Greece and California, a crisis atmosphere is created. Step 5 takes pla... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331276 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:53:29 +0100 3331276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283667&cid=t_150160_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fclinicalit.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Feurope-has-no-mobile-health-policy.html Europe "has no mobile health policy," is what Jaakko Aarnio, a project officer in the European Commission's Information Society and Media directorate, told me at the recent mHealth Initiative conference in Washington.Want to know more? Read the story I wrote for E-Health Europe last week. (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283667 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:50:00 +0100 3283667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3193697&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FX0t9lgDap4g%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAmerica may have dodged the bullet of Obamacare thanks to voters in Massachusetts, but even if the left ultimately succeeds in expanding government’s control of health care, the United States will still have more freedom than Europe. It seems that the European Union’s governing entities, the European Commission and the semi-ceremonial European Parliament, combine the worst features of statism and collectivism from the entire continent. The Euro-crats make lots of noises about subsidiarity and other policies to leave decision making in the hands of national and local governments, but virtually every policy coming from Brussels is a new power grab for unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. The latest example is possible EU-wide driving laws for the purposes... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3193697 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:59:50 +0100 3193697 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171882&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F421zmODqqbw%2F By Sallie JamesThe nominee for EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht has taken the brave step of opposing carbon tariffs, called for by many European politicians (including, notably, French President Nicolas Sarkozy). In the first day of his confirmation hearings, Mr. de Gucht expressed concern that carbon tariffs were a possible first step in a “trade war” and implied that they were in any event inconsistent with current trade law. (I agree.) He also called for abolishing tariffs on goods beneficial to the environment as a trade-friendly way to reduce greenhouse gases, and expressed support for the Doha round of multilateral trade talks. (More here.) While the Trade Commissioner’s influence over actual trade policy in the EU is arguably limited, it is good to have some... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171882 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:45:08 +0100 3171882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3139027&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5cnr37D9Ntk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWhile American politicians are experts when it comes to squandering money, they may not be the world’s most profligate group of lawmakers. To be sure, American politicians sometimes give big piles of other people’s money to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the politicians at the European Commission in Brussels engage in similar forms of corporate welfare with their Emissions Trading Scheme. The overall burden of government is heavier in Europe, so that certainly suggests that there are greater opportunities to waste money, but what makes the European Commission special is that it is insulated from democratic accountability and there is no system of checks and balances. So even though the actual amount of money spent by Brussels is small compared to ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3139027 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:15:22 +0100 3139027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075768&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FhLbbtK8CMzs%2F European Union antitrust regulators have raided drug makers in several countries seeking evidence they struck anticompetitive deals or used their dominant market positions to squeeze rivals. No companies were named and the raids were described as a preliminary step in an antitrust investigation (see the statement). Two months ago, the European Commission raided several drugmakers, including Sanofi-Aventis and Novartis, on suspicion they violated antitrust rules by deliberately stalling cheaper generic versions of their own meds after patents had expired. Last July, you may recall, European Union competition commissioner Neelie Kroes issued a report saying that delays in bringing generic drugs to the market had cost consumers and healthcare providers billions. Until now, the EU has only g... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075768 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:54:03 +0100 3075768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3008398&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Ft6ZU5VDBXYA%2F European regulators will ask brand-name drugmakers for details of their deals with generic companies as part a crackdown on firms suspected of blocking cheaper treatments, a European Commission official disclosed, according to Reuters. Last July, you may recall, European Union competition commissioner Neelie Kroes issued a report saying that delays in bringing generic drugs to the market had cost consumers and healthcare providers billions. And last month, the European Commission raided several drugmakers on suspicion they had violated rules against restrictive business practices and abuse of a dominant position. “We will ask companies to give a copy of patent settlements between July 2008 to December 2009,” Dominik Schnichels, who heads the commission’s pharma taskforce,... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3008398 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:54:42 +0100 3008398 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2995721&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fy3R99EEk9EE%2F The clever folks at the Taxpayers Alliance in the United Kingdom have a new video documenting some of the wasteful European Union programs that are imposing a heavy burden on average people. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2995721 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:13:03 +0100 2995721 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2561208&cid=t_150160_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Frk5rlbNLXNk%2F The European Union has helped create a continental European market and knock down protectionist barriers, which is good.  But it also has created another opportunity for meddling bureaucrats to interfere with people’s lives.  Now consumer protests have led to at least one victory for liberty.  Reports London’s Sun newspaper: Now the European Commission has finally scrapped the 20-year ban on 26 types of fruit and veg including asparagus, celery and aubergines. They ruled they can now be sold - as long as they are labelled as “intended for processing”. Sainbury’s spokeswoman Lucy Maclennan said: “We are delighted to have played a part in winning the wonky veg war against these bonkers EU regulations.” Tesco spokesman Adam Fisher said: “It&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2561208 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:48:02 +0100 2561208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1996752&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F468333044%2F European Union regulators accused drugmakers of costing consumers in 17 countries as much as $3.8 billion by using patent lawsuits and other alleged anti-competitive tactics to keep cheaper generic medicines off the market. An investigation of several major drugmakers - including Pfizer, Glaxo and Sanofi Aventis - showed they blocked or stalled generics from entering the market to prevent losing revenue on their more profitable drugs, according to the European Commission. Regulators say pharma filed disputes, lawsuits and multiple patent applications for the same drug. In one case, 1,300 applications were involved. Patent litigation lasted on average three years, and generic drugmaker won some 60 percent of the cases, but brand-name drugmakers also struck deals that limited how generics c... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1996752 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:20:26 +0100 1996752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1907884&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F430655480%2F The European Commission’s widely anticipated “package” of proposed pharmaceutical legislation, which was due to be presented this week, has been delayed, and no date has been given for when it might be released, PharmaTimes writes. An EC spokesman says that “technical changes” were needed before the legislation could be issued, and Guenter Verheugen, the EC vp and Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry who has responsibility for the pharmaceutical sector, stresses the need to “place quality ahead of speed” in delivering the proposals, according to PharmaTimes. The proposed legislation consists of a ‘communication’ on the future of the European Union single market for pharmaceuticals, a proposal for a directive on strengthening and rationalizing E... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1907884 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:10:21 +0100 1907884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1871108&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F416662940%2F Drug distributors who arbitrage the price differences across the European Union could see their $5.5 billion annual trade severely curtailed under proposed legislation set to be unveiled by the European Commission later this month, The Financial Times reports. The new rules are designed to crack down on the trade in counterfeit medicines that would make it difficult for wholesalers legally to move pharmaceuticals across the EU’s open borders. Specifically, restrictions would be placed on the repackaging of medicines, a process required to ensure the correct language and coding information is used on packaging and information leaflets, the FT writes. The repackaging controls, drafted for Günther Verheugen, EU trade and industry commissioner, as part of broader reforms to laws governi... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871108 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:18:29 +0100 1871108 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1852740&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F410212798%2F The proposal was endorsed by the European Union’s Pharmaceutical Forum as part of an effort to provide more reliable medical advice at a time when the Internet allows widespread dissemination of questionable info, even as companies that develop drugs are prevented from circulating data. However, the recommendation weakens current EU restrictions on contacts between drugmakers and patients, including a strict ban on US-style direct-to-consumer advertising, which critics say encourages the inappropriate use of medicines, The Financial Times writes. The forum statement echoes draft legislation set to be published this month by Gunther Verheugen, the EU’s enterprise and industry commissioner, which would ease marketing rules and allow drugmakers to communicate to the general public in ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1852740 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:33:32 +0100 1852740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1478220&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F300509084%2F Drugmakers are not an appropriate source of general info on prescription meds to the public, mainly because of potential conflicts of interest relating to financial matters, according to nearly half the responses to the European Commission’s now-completed public consultation on the provision of medicines information to patients, PharmaTimes writes. Responses received from health care professionals and payers were “mostly suspicious” of drugmakers as information suppliers, while those from media, patient info groups and industry itself were generally supportive. A significant minority suggested that, if there was a clear distinction between advertising and information, companies would be a valuable source because they know the product. Most responses agreed that drugmakers should be a... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1478220 Thu, 29 May 2008 12:03:31 +0100 1478220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1409903&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F280899326%2F New Jersey may be the nation’s medicine chest, but that’s nothing compared with being the pharmacy of the world. But where is that pharmacy located? Right now, many would argue it’s the US. But the European Commission and members of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations today are releasing details of plan to end Europe’s declining international role in medical research, Reuters reports. To be called the Innovative Medicines Initiative, the effort will offers grants to academic institutes and small companies to research ways of beating bottlenecks in the drug development process. Teams of commercial and not-for-profit researchers will be able to seek support on condition that their findings are publicly shared in an effort to stimulate... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1409903 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:43:39 +0100 1409903 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356375&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F266275688%2F The European Commission plans to allow drugmakers to sidestep a ban on DTC by allowing them to provide “information” about their drugs to the public on TV, the internet and in print. And while consumer groups agree that better info is needed, they argue that one-sided information from a drugmaker is little more than advertising, The Guardian reports. They warn that companies which have failed to warn of the risks of drugs such as the painkiller Vioxx, which caused heart attacks, and Seroxat, which can make young people feel suicidal, cannot be trusted as sources of unbiased information. “The proposal is clearly driven by the pharmaceutical industry’s commercial concerns - not by the interests of patients,” according to the Picker Institute, an authority on pa... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356375 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:09:52 +0100 1356375 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1297933&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F250254341%2F Now that Thailand’s new government has indicated it will proceed, after all, with plans to issue compulsory licenses for three cancer meds, speculation is growing that the European Commission will pursue litigation under World Trade Organization rules. However, activists who support Thailand’s efforts are circulating a statement from an EU spokesperson that quashes the notion. According to the message we received, European Union reps say the allegations are untrue. And asked if the EU was considering a WTO challenge, an EU official stated that the EU has made never threatened a challenge, does not plan a challenge, and acknowledges that Thailand’s actions comply with WTO rules. This is the statement… “The commission has been in constant contact with the Thai a... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1297933 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:44:00 +0100 1297933 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1156045&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F217620899%2F Several drugmakers were raided as part of a European Union probe into whether companies stifled competition in the world’s second-biggest pharma market. Inspectors from the EU’s antitrust authority in Brussels collected “highly confidential” info about the use of intellectual property rights, litigation and settlements in patent disputes, the commission says in a statement. Among those visited - Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck, Astra-Zeneca and Sandoz, according to various reports. “If innovative products are not being produced, and cheaper generic alternatives to existing products are in some cases being delayed, then we need to find out why and, if necessary, take action,” according to European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroe... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1156045 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:00:53 +0100 1156045 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1108783&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F203610295%2F The European Commission is poised to agree a $2.9 billion partnership this week designed to win back Europe’s place as a center for global medical innovation, The Financial Times reports. The Innovative Medicines Initiative, financed equally by pharma and the EC, will support research by academic and industry groups over seven years designed to speed up the predictable safety and efficacy testing. The move aims to boost collaboration between commercial companies, universities and regulators to more rapidly develop “pre-competitive” tests and accelerate the launch of innovative drugs, the FT writes. It reflects long-standing worries that Europe has been losing out in medical innovation to the US, and increasingly to parts of Asia, where large pharmaceutical companies and s... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1108783 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:03:26 +0100 1108783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1076926&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F196623139%2F Several associations have accused the European Commission of supporting pharma companies in trying to make direct-to-consumer advertising for medicinal products legal. Four groups representing complementary health insurers, independent medical bulletins and patient advocates have issued a joint press release claiming: “The European Commission is supportive of the industry’s moves: its ‘consultations’ are little more than an attempt to sway public opinion.” The press release was issued on Wednesday by the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), the Medicines in Europe Forum, Health Action International (HAI) and the Association internationale de la mutualité (AIM) and charge that the EC is trying to overlook the “underlying risks to health”... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1076926 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:55:41 +0100 1076926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=931297&cid=t_150160_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F165747783%2F This could be the new pharma theme song if the new EU rankings are to be believed. The 2007 edition of the European Commission’s annual scoreboard of spending on R&D shows an overall 10 percent increase by companies, compared with 5.3 percent growth in 2006. The world’s biggest investor in R&D, by the way, is Pfizer, not that the drugmaker has much to show for it these days. (Please click on the chart to see it in greater detail). Pharma and biotech, however, is now the top R&D investing sector, overtaking technology. Many drugmakers showed what the EU called a “strong increase” in R&D investment - Merck rose 24.3 percent; AstraZeneca and Roche both increased 15.5 percent; Johnson & Johnson added 12.9 percent, and Glaxo was up 10 percent. Fo... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=931297 Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:20:31 +0100 931297