Steve Turley, Managing Director of Lundbeck, has been re-elected Chair of the European Medicines Group (EMG), the UK voice of pharmaceutical companies based in continental Europe.

Robin Bhattacherjee, General Manager of Actelion, was re-elected vice-Chair of the EMG; and Mike Sumpter, CEO of Servier Laboratories, was elected Treasurer.

Issues highlighted at the EMG’s twelfth AGM included the impact of NHS reform on European-based companies and European perceptions of the UK as a pharmaceutical market and research base.

The EMG’s 15 member companies are Actelion, Almirall, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ferring, Lundbeck, Menarini, Merck Serono, Norgine, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Sanofi, Servier and UCB.

Steve Turley (pictured) commented: “We have members ranging from the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, through biotechnology specialists to emerging organisations. Yet we all share common challenges and can benefit from being able to view these through a European-focused lens.”

“How the implementation of the NHS reforms affects European-based companies is a key issue this year,” noted Robin Bhattacherjee.

“Upwards of 60% of the medicines our members have introduced in the last decade have not been subject to a NICE health technology appraisal, so... local decision making in the CCGs about the use of these remains a major focus for EMG.”

Mike Sumpter noted: “Globally the UK is viewed as a tough market where innovative new medicines aren’t adopted as readily as similar economies.

“We want to work closely with our NHS stakeholder partners to demonstrate that the UK and the NHS is worth investing in.”

Lundbeck is based in Denmark, Actelion in Switzerland and Servier in France; all three companies have major UK operations.

Novartis will cut 2,000 manufacturing jobs in Switzerland and the US – despite seeing an increase in group net sales and operating income in Q3.

The positions will be cut by 2016 after the closure of two Swiss production sites and one in Italy, plus the restructuring and relocation of R&D activities from Switzerland to the US.

Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, said the job losses are needed for the Group to “continue delivering on our mission of bringing innovative new drugs to patients.”

However, the job losses will be offset by the creation of 700 new positions in low cost and other countries, the company said.

The Group recorded a sales increase of 12% in constant currencies to $14.8 billion and saw income also grow by 11% to $4.1bn.

Sales were boosted by a strong performance from recently launched products – which contributed 25% of net sales.

Pharmaceutical sales grew 9% after Afinitor (pictured)/Votubia was approved in the EU for two additional indications, the CHMP granted a positive opinion for Rasitrio for high blood pressure and the company’s breakthrough multiple sclerosis treatment, Gilenya, won approval in Japan.

“Once again, the breadth of our business and product portfolio allowed us to deliver strong financial results and operating leverage, as well as significantly advancing the pipeline in the quarter,” said Mr Jimenez. “To strengthen our future, we have accelerated actions to reduce our cost base over the next few years.”

Halaven (eribulin) has not been recommended by the SMC as a treatment option for locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer on the NHS in Scotland.

The Consortium analysed data from Phase III trials which showed patients had 2.5 months additional survival compared to existing treatments, but considered Halaven too expensive.

Nick Burgin, European Director of Market Access, Eisai, says the company is “hugely disappointed” and plans a resubmission later in the year to “reverse this unfair decision”.

Eisai launched Halaven in the UK in April and claims the price of the drug in Scotland is at “the lowest anywhere in the world”.

The medication is a novel monotherapy treatment indicated for patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have progressed after at least two chemotherapeutic regimens for advanced disease.

Eisai says it is the first single agent chemotherapy to demonstrate prolonged overall survival who have had prior anthracycline and taxane treatment.

During the appraisal, the Consortium analysed data from the EMBRACE trials which showed a median overall survival benefit of 13.2 months for patients receiving Halaven compared to 10.5 months for patients receiving a ‘treatment of physician’s choice’.

Andrew Wilson, Chief Executive of the UK Rarer Cancers Foundation, says the decision highlights the discrimination women north of the border currently face. “Scottish women with advanced breast cancer are currently prejudiced in Scotland as their chances of accessing a life extending cancer drug are now much lower than their neighbours in England”, he said.

“Our recent report ‘Nations Divided’ uncovered a profound difference in the availability of new cancer medicines between Scotland and England. Following the implementation of the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) in England, patients in Scotland are now three times less likely than patients in England to receive the drugs that their clinician wishes to prescribe.”

Halaven is currently approved in the European Union, USA, Switzerland, Japan, and Singapore but recently failed a similar appraisal by NICE in draft guidance who raised concerns about the medication’s side effects.

Roche and Diagnostica Stago’s partnership to collaborate to market Stago’s products has been terminated, with the exception of distributions in Japan.

As of the end of 2011, Roche will stop selling Stago’s products, ending their long-term collaboration in the business of Laboratory Coagulation.

Bertrand Bonnot, COO of Stago, said: “We are convinced that, after almost 40 years of successful partnership, it is the right timing for both companies to follow independent paths. Nevertheless, both Stago and Roche are committed to work together to ensure a seamless transition in the coming years.”

However, Roche Diagnostics Japan will continue to distribute Stago’s portfolio within the Japanese market under a separate agreement.

Stago will instead sell its products directly or through other distribution channels.

Stago is an IVD company based in Paris, which develops and markets reagents and automated systems for the investigation of blood coagulation disorders, with a focus in haemostasis.

Switzerland-based Roche is a leader in research-based healthcare with strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

The first antibiotic inhaler device has been launched in the UK to treat chronic lung infections in adults and older children with cystic fibrosis (CF).

The TOBI Podhaler (pictured) from Novartis is a hand-held inhaler that delivers a new dry powder form of tobramycin to fight chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) lung infections, a common cause of death in people with CF.

The new device is estimated to save almost half an hour treatment time per day in people with CF over the age of 6, increasing their independence and quality of life.

CF affects 9,000 people in the UK. A life-threatening condition, it makes the lungs vulnerable to chronic infections.

Clinical studies have shown that treatment with tobramycin inhalation powder reduces treatment time by 72% compared with the nebulised drug.

Professor Stuart Elborn, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Queen’s University, Belfast, commented: “People with CF have to endure a lengthy regimen of treatments and physiotherapy every day, so the time saved using tobramycin inhalation powder is significant.”

The new tobramycin inhalation powder has been produced using Novartis’ patented PulmoSphere technology. In trials, it was successfully inhaled in 5–6 minutes, whereas the nebuliser solution takes 20 minutes. For a twice-daily regimen, this saves approximately 28 minutes per day.

The dry powder inhaler is also less vulnerable to bacterial growth than the nebuliser, and needs no battery.

“We are proud to be launching TOBI Podhaler: a product that clearly demonstrates how we are applying innovative technology to better meet the needs of people with CF, helping them to lead independent and active lives,” said Dr Tim Cave, Medical Director of Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK.

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis supplies a diversified portfolio of healthcare products including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and drug delivery devices.

Hitachi Medical Corporation (Japan) and Aloka Corporation (Switzerland) have combined their diagnostic ultrasound capabilities to form a new specialist company, Hitachi Aloka Medical.

The new business, one of the world’s largest ultrasound companies, will be launched in Europe at the end of August at the 13th World Congress of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB) in Vienna.

The combined team brings together two companies’ expertise and experience in diagnostic ultrasound to provide what it states is “the next generation in high-resolution imaging technology”.

Hitachi Aloka Medical is a platinum sponsor for the 13th WFUMB congress, which brings together clinical specialists, general practitioners, end users, researchers and manufacturers of diagnostic ultrasound.

The new company will present a symposium about new research on the use of high-definition imaging technologies and elastography to detect malignant tumours.

At the exhibition, Hitachi Aloka Medical will showcase the Hitachi HI VISION and Aloka ProSound Ultrasound platforms.

Based in Tokyo, Japan, the new Hitachi Aloka Medical is a subsidiary of Hitachi Medical Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is active in three core areas: diagnostic ultrasound, radiation measurement and specimen pre-processing.

Aloka was the first company in the world to commercialise medical ultrasound equipment (in 1960), and has remained a leading supplier of medical imaging systems.

Hitachi Medical Corporation is a leading global supplier of ultrasound, MRI and CT imaging systems.

CEOs of Hitachi Medical Corporation and Aloka Corporation

RSA has appointed John Callagher at its new Managing Director of RSA Switzerland.

He leaves his role as Global Managing Director of SpenglerFox and brings nearly two decades of executive search experience working for several leading global organisations.

Nick Stephens, CEO at RSA, says the company is “truly delighted” to welcome a “highly energetic and results-focussed leader with a proven track record of success”.

He joins Mark Howard who has been appointed as a Senior Consultant in the firm’s Commercial Business Unit.

“Now is a time for continued growth at RSA and we feel that with this injection of new talent to our ever expanding global network of consultants, we will increase the scope to explore new and interesting avenues of development,” added Mr Stephens.

  John Callagher

  Mark Howard