Astellas has exercised an option to acquire Potenza, paying up to $404.7m in cash for the private US venture in a deal that will boost its presence in immuno-oncology.

The Japanese pharmaceutical companies will work with the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership on screening targets for utility against WHO-listed priority pathogens. Avacta and LG Chem collaborate around the former’s Affimer technology.

The still somewhat loosely defined concept of 'digital health' continues to take concrete forms through recent deals in Japan, where major pharma firms are building initiatives related mainly to patient well-being.

Following an exchange decision that Samsung BioLogics should remain listed, the company has vowed to improve management transparency by beefing up internal controls and supervision over accounting. The decision is set to ease worries over the possible negative impact of an accounting probe on contract development and manufacturing orders, although the company still faces a court battle with financial authorities over its accounting standards.

China's new so-called “4+7” drug bidding pilot scheme, already expected to be a killer for some companies, has cut prices by as much as 90%, leaving all but two multinationals to bid successfully and accept the revised levels. The big reductions could also lead to further price erosion for the winning products.

The majority of pharmaceutical companies in the UK work closely with the NHS and In Vivo spoke to one of them – Janssen – to see how successful industry, health care providers and payers have been in breaking out of their silos and collaborating.

Lucia and Giovanni Aleotti have been cleared of fraud against the Italian health system, and will continue to lead the Florentine company transformed into a major multinational by their father.

The international biopharma industry is backing the UK life sciences sector, with UCB spearheading the charge with a £1bn commitment to R&D in the nation still in a state of flux regarding its exit from the European Union in 2019.

Payers are increasingly likely to implement new strategies to manage price negotiations for immuno-oncology combinations, as competition  heats up among the drug class. Mechanisms allowing for the negotiation of different prices for combination therapies do not exist at present, but payers insist that new tools must emerge.

Alligator Bioscience’s Per Norlen discusses the latest addition to its pipeline, a first-in-class bispecific tumor-localized antibody targeting the checkpoint inhibitor CTLA-4.

Novartis is to move its UK headquarters to London to be at the heart of the new technology and life sciences in the west of the city.

Astellas has exercised an option to acquire Potenza, paying up to $404.7m in cash for the private US venture in a deal that will boost its presence in immuno-oncology.

In a strategic shift confirmed by the German company, BI's Humira biosimilar Cyltezo will only be launched in the US while its version of Avastin has been abandoned altogether.

Medicare proposed rule exposes Part D protected class drugs to threat of formulary exclusion if price increases exceed a certain threshold. Here's how it might play out for cancer and HIV drugs.

Dr Reddy’s can re-launch its generic version of Indivior’s Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) sublingual film in the US following a crucial court ruling that has gone its way. Indivior faces significant turbulence ahead if a generic entry materializes soon.

Roivant Sciences has added iNtRON Biotechnology’s novel biologic candidate to its existing anti-infective portfolio in a sizable licensing deal amid recent increased global health attention on antimicrobial resistance issues but generally decreasing pharma industry interest.

Germany's pain-focused specialty pharmaceutical firm is adding America to its commercial reach, through acquiring New York's Averitas Pharma to jumpstart its push to commercialize products on its own account, via a niche approach.