Roche will stop supplying drugs on credit terms to hospitals in Spain and Portugal, with supplies to Italy also in doubt.

The economic crisis spreading through Europe means that many hospitals are years behind with drug payments.

Patients in the worst-affected countries are facing critical shortages of expensive cancer drugs from Roche and other suppliers.

Roche has already refused to supply medicines to Greek hospitals on credit terms, and the company is adopting a hard line on unpaid bills.

A total of 12 hospitals in Spain and 23 in Portugal face a blockage on drugs from Roche, while Italian hospitals have been threatened with similar measures.

Roche’s spokesperson Silvia Dobry said that in Spain, “There are several hospitals that have not paid their bills for more than two years.” If they were able to reduce their level of debt, she added, credit might be resumed.

The Ministry of Health in Valencia said representatives of the region’s health and finance departments and the pharmaceutical industry have met to discuss the problem, which “will be remedied shortly”.

Spain’s regional governments are in talks with the pharmaceutical industry to defer payments.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of the first drug to treat the underlying genetic cause of cystic fibrosis (CF).

Kaydeco (ivacaftor) from Vertex Pharmaceuticals has been recommended by the agency for people with CF aged over 6 who carry the G551D gene mutation.

The drug has the potential to help an estimated 1,100 people in Europe in whom this mutation causes CF.

In people with the G551D mutation, Kalydeco helps the defective protein synthesised by the mutant gene to function more normally.

In two major placebo-controlled phase III studies, patients taking Kalydeco showed sustained improvements in lung function, gained weight and were 55% less likely to suffer exacerbations.

Stuart Elborn, President of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society, said: “While there has been great progress in cystic fibrosis treatment during the last few decades, we are still only treating the symptoms and complications of the disease. Kalydeco is a fundamentally different approach to the way we treat cystic fibrosis because it targets the underlying cause of the disease.”

“Since 1998, Vertex has been committed to developing new medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis,” commented Peter Mueller, Chief Scientific Officer and Executive VP of Global R&D at Vertex. “We look forward to working with the EMA to bring Kalydeco, our first new medicine in Europe, to people with CF as quickly as possible.”

CF is a life-threatening genetic disease affecting 35,000 people in Europe.

Development plans for the current 23 NHS Commissioning Support Service (CSS) organisations have been outlined by the NHS Commissioning Board.

Following its ‘Checkpoint 2’, which three CSS providers did not get through, the Board has identified CSS priorities including better customer engagement, gaining CCG buy-in and clarifying need for external help.

A commissioning support simulation exercise highlighted ‘key learnings’ from the independent sector, such as long-term planning and customer focus.

Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, said that CSSs were “critical to the success of the new NHS commissioning system”, and that they would guide the Board authority as well as the new CCGs.

He also highlighted the importance of support for communications and commercial engagement, saying: “We will be seeking a new business model that provides appropriate connectivity across the system based in common NHS values, principles and behaviours.”

The 23 NHS CSSs will receive individual development plans outlining the progress they need to make in preparation for ‘Checkpoint 3’ in August. A range of issues to be addressed have been identified, including: lack of management, planning and urgency; lack of customer engagement and CCG buy-in; and lack of clarity over costs, pricing and external help.

A ‘hub and spoke’ model will be developed in June and July to link all CCSs and CCGs together with local communications and engagement services, with four to six hubs spread across England.

A real-time CSS simulation exercise identified the need for relationship development, clarification of responsibilities and contingency planning – as well as ‘key learnings’ from the independent sector including risk management, long-term planning and customer focus.

Joe Rafferty, Director of Commissioning Support, commented: “Overall, we know from Checkpoint 2 that CSSs are on track, but clearly there are some key areas – such as supporting those CCGs which want to exercise their choice of commissioning support, and ensuring CSSs provide greater innovation – which need further development.”

New innovations from ten of the world’s leading drug companies will compete for the most prestigious distinction in pharmaceutical research later this year – a globally revered Prix Galien medal.

Twelve medicines have made the shortlist for the final of UK Prix Galien, which will return to the House of Commons this coming September.

The shortlist reflects the strength and diversity of pharmaceutical innovation, with treatments for a broad range of disease areas set to be assessed by Prix Galien’s esteemed judging panel – led by NICE Chairman Professor Sir Michael Rawlins. Medicines developed to treat schizophrenia, hepatitis C, MS, DVT, constipation, coronary disease and a variety of cancers will battle it out for the Innovative Drug Award. A treatment for the rare bone cancer in adolescents, osteosarcoma, will be considered for the Orphan Drug Award. All shortlisted products were launched or granted a new indication in the UK between 1 January 2010 and March 31 2012.

The 2012 ceremony comes at a time when the value of medical innovation finds itself under great scrutiny in the UK. The Innovation Health and Wealth Review, published at the end of 2011, outlined the growing need to accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovation in the NHS – setting out a blueprint designed to ensure innovations that can improve health outcomes actually reach their target patients.

“The challenge for the UK pharmaceutical industry is to demonstrate that its medicines truly add value, and can help the NHS meet its quality and productivity goals. The ethos of Prix Galien is very much aligned with the aspirations of both QIPP and Innovation Health and Wealth. It provides the perfect platform for the UK industry to promote its position as world leaders in pharmaceutical research and development,” says Karen Westaway, Joint Chief Executive at WG Consulting, which has owned the UK Prix Galien franchise for eight years and managed the process since 1996.

UK Prix Galien takes place every two years and is judged by a highly respected panel of influential, eminent and experienced NHS professionals. Alongside Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, the judging team includes experts such as Professor Dame Carol Black, Professor Parveen Kumar, Professor Gordon Duff and the current National Cancer Director, Professor Sir Michael Richards.

“The judges are all high-achieving, influential stakeholders who have shaped, and are still shaping, healthcare,” says Karen Westaway. “Their continued commitment to Prix Galien is itself an endorsement of the process.”

UK Prix Galien 2012

The 2012 ceremony will take place on Wednesday 26 September at the House of Commons, London. The Rt. Hon. Kevin Barron, MP, a former shadow health minister and chair of several all-party parliamentary groups including those relating to the pharmaceutical industry and health, takes over from Lord Walton of Detchant as the Parliamentary Sponsor. Current Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, is a long-standing supporter of UK Prix Galien and was the Parliamentary Sponsor for many years. The Health Secretary presented the most recent UK Prix Galien awards in 2010, describing them as a ‘fascinating occasion’ that allows people to acknowledge ‘the volume of innovation and new medicines that have been coming through.’

The 2010 Prix Galien medal for innovation was won by Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Bayer Healthcare’s revolutionary treatment for the prevention of venous thromboemolism (VTE). Shire Pharmaceuticals’ Firazyr (icatibant), a treatment for hereditary angioedema, won the Orphan Drug Award.

Prix Galien around the world

Prix Galien is internationally renowned, with a further ten national franchises conducting ceremonies around the globe, as well as an International Prix Galien every two years. The award has been described as ‘the highest distinction which may honour a pharmaceutical product’, and ‘a prestigious testimony and acknowledgement of the vitality of our pharmaceutical research.’ In 2008, US President Barack Obama said: “The Prix Galien is a welcome initiative to stimulate creative research and promote excellence.”

For more information about UK Prix Galien, please visit www.prixgalien.co.uk