10 things you need to know about Canada's best-kept market access secret
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Some of you will be familiar with it, many of you may not even have heard of it, but the pharmaceutical industry needs to know about it; we're talking about Canada's pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA). Currently run with no formal office or resources, by people who have taken it on as extra work on top of their usual day job, the pCPA has still managed to become a formidable market access force in Canada since its inception in 2010. Its decisions are make or break for pharmaceutical companies targeting the market, and changes on the horizon mean its importance is set to increase.
You may also be interested in...
WuXi eases CAR-T manufacturing burden with new US plant
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.
NICE lifts Entyvio restrictions after Takeda offers discount
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 recommends Arzerra in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
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institute for England and Wales, has given chronic lymphocytic leukemia drug Arzerra (ofatumumab) the go-ahead in final draft guidance, for previously untreated patients.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.