Business Services

Florida firm Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is suing the FDA after the agency approved a rival’s drug.

The lawsuit alleges the approval of Jacobus Pharmaceutical’s Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) drug Ruzurgi (amifampridine) infringes on Catalyst’s drug Firdapse’s right to market exclusivity.

Jacobus claim that Ruzurgi will compete with Firdapse through being prescribed off-label. Firdapse costs twice as much as Ruzurgi.

Image Credit: Sobi

Swedish rare disease specialist Sobi has agreed to buy Swiss firm Novimmune ion a deal worth more than £400 million.

The deal will see Sobi gain access to world class R&D facilities in the area of immunology. The deal worth 515 million Swiss francs will see Novimmune hand over IP relating to the antibody Emapalumab alongside the experimental immune-oncology drugs NI-1701 and NI-1801.

A California court has said Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive must pay a total of nearly $10 million to a woman who developed cancer.

Colgate and J&J must pay Patricia Schmitz $4.8 million in damages each. The ruling comes after Schmitz developed mesothelioma after using J&J’s Baby Powder and Colgate’s Cashmere Bouquet. Schmitz was not awarded punitive damages.

Image Credit: AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca’s new headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom are expected to cost more than double the sum of £330 million that the firm budgeted for in 2013.

At a cost of £750 million so far, AstraZeneca’s new donut-shaped HQ is set to become one of the most expensive corporate buildings in the UK.  

According to AstraZeneca, the construction costs associated with the building of the 580,000 metres square headquarters on a biomedical campus south of Cambridge have soared due to “increased investment in new technologies and equipment.”

Vectura is on course for a new leader to take up the company’s reins after it was revealed that CEO James Ward-Lilley is to step down from his role on 30 June.

During his time at the head of the company, Ward-Lilley served Vectura at a “critical time”, the company said, and this included presiding over its merger with Skyepharma. Prior to this, he spent 28 years in roles of increasing seniority at AstraZeneca.

Image Credit: By BHCSocialMedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38594945

French drugmaker Sanofi has revealed that its CEO Olivier Brandicourt is to retire from the role, to be replaced with Paul Hudson (pictured), CEO at Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

The decision was made on 6 June, when Sanofi’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve Brandicourt’s replacement. Hudson will take up the mantle on 1 September this year.