According to the Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, grief has five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Although the development of biosimilars should not be an inherently grief-stricken business, it nevertheless appears to be closely following this path, certainly from the perspective of the...
Unfair! DoH temper tantrum is no help to generic drug pricing policy in the UK
The UK generics industry has been waiting for over a year to find out what the CMA’s final decision would be on the Pfizer/Flynn phenytoin case, following its preliminary ruling in August 2015 that the two companies were guilty of abuse of a dominant...
Pharma pricing in the spotlight
The general – understandable – obsession of the generics industry with low prices tends to obscure the fact that some generics are actually quite expensive. This is particularly noticeable in the US, where pricing is effectively free and is constrained only by the need...
Introspection in Athens: Thoughts from the EGA meeting 2013
It is perhaps appropriate that the EGA (European Generics Association) met this year in Athens, cradle of philosophy, as the organisation appears to be undergoing something of an existential crisis. With an increasing number of its members turning their backs on generics as the...
The waning power of brands
Not so long ago, it was possible to make a simple distinction between branded and unbranded generic markets in Europe. In unbranded markets, either doctors wrote INN scripts or else pharmacists were happy to substitute generics against a branded prescription. As a result, manufacturers...
The sun shines (briefly) over Budapest
The last couple of weeks have seen positive news for Richter, slightly lifting the gloom over the company’s prospects in an increasingly tough pricing environment. Firstly – and more immediately significantly – the EMA approved Esmya, Richter’s innovative treatment for uterine fibroids. This product...
Watson partners Amgen and takes a leap forwards in biosimilars
Watson announced yesterday that it is tying up with Amgen to develop biosimilars of ‘several’ oncology monoclonal antibodies. Under the terms of the deal, Amgen will have the main responsibility for the actual development work, as well as manufacture and initial commercialisation (under a...
No happy Christmas for Turkish pharma producers
Just in time for Christmas, the Turkish government has announced another round of price cuts for pharmaceuticals. As of this month, the maximum prices of generics and off-patent brands will be set at 60% of the originator price pre-patent expiry, vs 66% previously. In...
End of an era in Poland as Valeant plans closure of Jelfa facility
It was announced in May that the US specialty pharma company, Valeant, had agreed to buy the Lithuanian drug company Sanitas for €314m, a deal that is expected to close by the end of Q3 this year. At its Q2 results conference call last...
Squawks from Turkey: EastPharma issues a profit warning
EastPharma yesterday issued a profit warning, citing the recent increase in the mandatory discount that generic companies have to pay to the state health insurance fund. This rebate was hiked from 11% to 20.5% on December 18th last year and according to EastPharma, it...