China's WuXi PharmaTech, an R&D technology company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, has announced construction of a new manufacturing facility in Philadelphia, US designed for cell therapy products, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies. More manufacturing power is crucial to the success of this burgeoning, high-potential field.

Takeda has managed to persuade NICE, the health technology appraisal institute for England and Wales, to recommend its ulcerative colitis drug Entyvio (vedolizumab) without the restrictions the institute had previously stipulated – as long as the company offers a discount via a patient access scheme.

NICE, the health technology appraisal institute for England and Wales, has given chronic lymphocytic leukemia drug Arzerra (ofatumumab) the go-ahead in final draft guidance, for previously untreated patients. Arzerra, which was submitted to NICE by GlaxoSmithKline but now belongs to Novartis following the companies' asset-swapping deal, is to be used in combination with chlorambucil. NICE estimated that the drug's incremental cost-effectiveness ratio would be around £26,000 per quality adjusted life year gained, making it a good use of NHS resources. NICE also noted that GSK has offered the drug at a reduced price, though the details are confidential. Arzerra was previously rejected by NICE for patients with relapsed or refractory CLL, and it has also been delisted from the Cancer Drugs Fund for the same indication.