United Kingdom

The Bulgarian Health Ministry is planning to restrict the prescribing of UK firm AstraZeneca's breast cancer treatment Zoladex (goserelin acetate) to women under the age of 35 in... 2006-07-13

Japanese firm Eisai has launched Prialt (ziconotide) in the UK for the treatment of patients with chronic pain who do not respond to or cannot tolerate existing treatments like morphine.... 2006-07-11

The importation of cheaper medicines from other EU countries resulted in savings of EUR237mn (US$304mn) for the UK healthcare system in 2004, making the UK the largest market for... 2006-07-07

Brazilian foreign ministry officials have announced that the country is to become involved in new international drug purchasing mechanisms. A new US$300mn scheme - including France,... 2006-07-07

To the detriment of less common ailments, almost two thirds of UK health research funding is spent on just four diseases areas, with cancer receiving a quarter of funds overall, according... 2006-07-05

The UK pharmaceutical cost-effectiveness regulator - NICE - has decided that beta-blockers should not be used in the treatment of hypertension because they "perform less well" than... 2006-06-30

UK clinical trials services group Synexus Clinical Research has acquired fellow CRO Diagnostic Units Hungary (DUH) for up to EUR2.75mn (US$3.46mn) to increase its presence in Central... 2006-06-20

The UK's medicines cost/benefit agency - NICE - has tentatively recommended use of Swiss firm Roche's Herceptin (trastuzumab) for the treatment of early stage breast cancer, which... 2006-06-12

Swiss firm Novartis has offered US$569mn to acquire UK drugmaker NeuTec Pharma and its investigational medicines for infectious diseases. The Novartis bid represents a 109% premium... 2006-06-08

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is eliminating some bureaucratic practices involved in the administration of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. The... 2006-06-08