Essential medicines

Roche launches three new Factor Xa inhibitor coagulation tests to meet growing patient need

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 12, 2024

"Diseases such as CAD and PAD can have serious consequences and urgently need better diagnosis and treatment.

Key Points: 
  • "Diseases such as CAD and PAD can have serious consequences and urgently need better diagnosis and treatment.
  • "These numbers and our growing understanding of these diseases are leading to a sharp rise in global demand for direct oral anticoagulants.
  • We want to help labs meet this increased need for testing to better inform patient care.
  • These tests can be used for both assessing the anti-Xa activity of heparin therapy as well as the three authorised Factor Xa inhibitors.

GreenShield welcomes Sabrina Ladha as Vice President, GreenShield Cares

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 2, 2023

TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2023 /CNW/ - GreenShield is pleased to announce the appointment of Sabrina Ladha as Vice President, Social Impact, GreenShield Cares.

Key Points: 
  • TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2023 /CNW/ - GreenShield is pleased to announce the appointment of Sabrina Ladha as Vice President, Social Impact, GreenShield Cares.
  • Through its social impact brand GreenShield Cares , the company reinvests its earnings and self-funds the deployment of its wholly-owned health services to support underserved and marginalized communities.
  • As part of GreenShield's transformational journey, Ladha will lead GreenShield Cares, with a focus on "Creating Shared Value" (CSV).
  • Through GreenShield Cares, the company reinvests its earnings and self-funds the deployment of its wholly owned health services to support underserved and marginalized communities.

Critical agreement paves way for new model to accelerate access to important antibiotics for serious bacterial infections

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Launched in June 2022, the project represents a new model for bridging global gaps in equitable access to important antibiotics.

Key Points: 
  • Launched in June 2022, the project represents a new model for bridging global gaps in equitable access to important antibiotics.
  • Even though populations in low- and middle-income countries face a high burden of death from drug-resistant bacterial infections, their access to antibiotics with activity against resistant bacteria is usually delayed by more than a decade .
  • That situation may worsen given that the number of serious, potentially life-threatening, infections due to carbapenem-resistant bacteria has been growing across multiple regions , including South Asia and Latin America.
  • By addressing barriers that have historically limited the availability of important antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries, this innovative project aims to accelerate appropriate access for an affordable, quality-assured antibiotic to treat drug-resistant Gram-negative infections.

Antheia Achieves Major Commercial Milestone

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 24, 2023

MENLO PARK, Calif., Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Antheia, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer transforming essential medicine supply chains, today announced the successful completion of its first 116,000L scale manufacturing run with a commercially-relevant fermentation titer for its debut product. The company also unveiled its initial product pipeline, which includes thebaine, oripavine, and scopolamine, all of which are KSMs (key starting materials) or APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) for producing critical medicines. Antheia's pipeline aligns with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization's Essential Medicines lists and the company's platform supports growing efforts to improve global access to essential medicines.

Key Points: 
  • Antheia was founded on the belief that synthetic biology can be leveraged to produce highly complex pharmaceutical molecules at commercial scale with greater efficiency than current approaches.
  • With Antheia, customers can gain greater control and visibility over their pharmaceutical ingredient supply chains," said Christina Smolke, PhD, CEO and co-founder at Antheia.
  • "It is exciting to see the convergence of our commercial progress with our mission to transform pharmaceutical supply chains for more equitable access to medicines."
  • Today's announcement demonstrates Antheia's strong scientific and commercial trajectory, and also signals how synthetic biology can – and will – deliver on its promise to revolutionize major industries.

The World Health Organization Includes the Cardiovascular Polypill Developed by the Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research and Ferrer in its List of Essential Medicines

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 2, 2023

The cardiovascular polypill developed by the Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) and Ferrer has been included by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its List of Essential Medicines 1.

Key Points: 
  • The cardiovascular polypill developed by the Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) and Ferrer has been included by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its List of Essential Medicines 1.
  • This cardiovascular polypill includes three active ingredients (acetylsalicylic acid, ramipril and atorvastatin) and has been proven to be effective in preventing cardiovascular events after a heart attack, reducing mortality from cardiovascular causes by 33%.
  • This was evidenced by the SECURE 2 study, with results published in August 2022 in the New England Journal of Medicine 3 (NEJM).
  • As stated in the WHO report , “essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of a population.

GREENSHIELD ANNOUNCES PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL MEDICINES TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 13, 2023

Today, GreenShield launches a first-of-its-kind program to provide essential medications to low income Canadians without public or private drug coverage.

Key Points: 
  • Today, GreenShield launches a first-of-its-kind program to provide essential medications to low income Canadians without public or private drug coverage.
  • More than 97 per cent of Canadians have some form of coverage for essential medicines, which is why the GreenShield Cares Essential Medicines program is a solution designed to fill the gap for the one million without coverage.
  • For this program, GreenShield Health's digital pharmacy, The Health Depot, will dispense and deliver essential medicines at no cost.
  • "  Through its social impact brand GreenShield Cares, GreenShield reinvests its earnings and deploys its wholly owned health services to underserved communities.

Ginkgo Bioworks and Centrient Pharmaceuticals Announce Expansion of Partnership Following Success of Initial Project to Bring Sustainable Innovation to the Generic API Space

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Ginkgo's ongoing partnership with Centrient focuses on improving the sustainability of fermentation and enzymatic syntheses of beta-lactam antibiotic APIs.

Key Points: 
  • Ginkgo's ongoing partnership with Centrient focuses on improving the sustainability of fermentation and enzymatic syntheses of beta-lactam antibiotic APIs.
  • In the first phase of this project, Ginkgo delivered an enzyme with significantly improved efficiency, reducing the environmental footprint of enzymatic production of amoxicillin and cephalexin APIs.
  • "Our partnership with Ginkgo is fully aligned with our main purpose: to improve lives through innovative and sustainable manufacturing of medicines," said Jorge Gil-Martinez, Chief Scientific Officer at Centrient.
  • "We are inspired by the early success we've already seen in our partnership and look forward to expanding our joint efforts to ultimately support better patient outcomes."

New asthma medicine restrictions will hurt the poorest children the most

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Last week, without warning, the federal government significantly restricted the subsidy for an important and safe asthma medicine for children.

Key Points: 
  • Last week, without warning, the federal government significantly restricted the subsidy for an important and safe asthma medicine for children.
  • The medicine, fluticasone propionate 50mcg, is a metered-dose inhaler, more commonly known by the brand names Flixotide Junior or Axotide Junior.

The importance of asthma prevention

    • When a child has asthma, inflammation and sensitivity causes airway narrowing, which makes it hard to breathe.
    • About one in ten Australian children has long-term asthma.
    • Children with persistent or severe asthma symptoms need medicines to reduce airway inflammation.

How medicine subsidy decisions work

    • To be sold in Australia, all prescription medicines must be registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which assesses the safety and efficacy of the medicine.
    • The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a list of medicines our government helps to pay for.
    • To get a drug on the list, the manufacturer needs to convince the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) the medicine is cost-effective.

The new rules

    • The new PBS rules are complicated.
    • First, no one over the age of six will get any government subsidy to help with the cost of this medicine.
    • Alternatively, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee may place restrictions on the population for whom the medicine is subsidised.

What does it mean for families?


    In children over the age of six, several alternative medicines can be prescribed. But in children under five, there are no good alternatives, with no other age-appropriate low-dose steroid inhalers approved by the TGA. In the under-five age group, GPs now have three options if they think their patient needs inhaled steroids:
    • The use of private scripts will mean families need to pay whatever their local pharmacy charges them.
    • The Australian Asthma Handbook is a project of the National Asthma Council Australia.
    • The National Asthma Council Australia has received funding from GSK for some activities, but is not a sponsor of the Handbook.
    • The Australian Asthma Handbook is a project of the National Asthma Council Australia.
    • The National Asthma Council Australia has received funding from GSK for some activities, but is not a sponsor of the Handbook.

STATEMENT OF DANCO LABORATORIES REGARDING MIFEPREX®

Retrieved on: 
Friday, March 17, 2023

The hearing laid bare both the unprecedented nature of the plaintiffs' legal theory and the speculative nature of their factual allegations.

Key Points: 
  • The hearing laid bare both the unprecedented nature of the plaintiffs' legal theory and the speculative nature of their factual allegations.
  • This too would upend the pharmaceutical industry and has no basis in (and in fact contradicts) the statute, FDA's regulations or case law.
  • The plaintiffs ultimately were forced to admit that they could point to no precedent consistent with their view of the federal statutes at issue.
  • Danco joined this lawsuit in order to ensure that the FDA approval of Mifeprex® remains in force and people continue to have access to this safe and effective product.

Purchaser Business Group on Health Hires Raymond Tsai, M.D. M.S. to Lead Primary Care Strategic Initiative

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

as its new Vice President of Advanced Primary Care.

Key Points: 
  • as its new Vice President of Advanced Primary Care.
  • In this role, Dr. Tsai will lead the member organization’s strategic initiative to implement advanced primary care in markets across the country.
  • Dr. Tsai brings to the role a broad range of experience and expertise in the primary care delivery system.
  • “PBGH is committed to building on our pioneering work to transform primary care in the U.S.,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, President and CEO of PBGH.