Welcome to the real world Matthew Gordon examines the differences between observational studies and phase III clinical trials(more)
Drug regulation: still room for improvement The Medicines Act is 40 years old this year, but regulations and regulators have to change to keep up with rapid changes in medicines and society, says Les Rose.(more)
Conflict of interests halt Seroxat inquiry A Government inquiry into the safety of the SSRI class of antidepressants has been scrapped and must start again from scratch after potential conflicts of interest were uncovered...(more)
Humanitarian disaster looms in Iraq Fears of a humanitarian crisis in Iraq are growing as civilians are forced to flee or stay in the heavily bombarded cities of Basra and Baghdad...(more)
Celltech takes 10% stake in OGS The battle to buy Oxford GlycoSciences has intensified following the acquisition of a 10% stake in the company by Celltech...(more)
Government to limit pharmacy reform The Government has signalled it will limit the recommended de-regulation of pharmacies, after warnings that 6,000 community pharmacies could go out of business...(more)
Clinicians are the new NHS bureaucrats New bodies intended to allow doctors and nurses to cut through red tape and re-build services around the patient have added to NHS bureaucracy and are stifling faster reform...(more)
Miscalculation throws GP contract into crisis The fate of the new GP contract is hanging in the balance after doctors claim to have found a massive miscalculation that would see them worse off under the new agreement...(more)
CellFactors secures £1.1m UK cell therapy company CellFactors has made progress in its fundraising efforts as it seeks to secure a short-term revenue stream...(more)
Elan sues King Pharma over drug sales Elan is taking legal action to force King Pharmaceuticals to buy two drugs it urgently needs to divest to help tackle debts of $1.3 billion...(more)
OGS withdraws CAT offer recommendation Oxford GlycoSciences has withdrawn its support of Cambridge Antibody Technology's £110 million all-share bid for the company, despite believing a merger with its rival is in shareholders' best interests...(more)
Generic threat to Lilly's biggest seller A court challenge to Eli Lilly's patent on its number one drug Zyprexa could spell serious trouble for the company, still recovering from a generic onslaught against former blockbuster Prozac...(more)
Parliamentary showdown for foundation trust plans Health Secretary Alan Milburn has published the final plans for the controversial foundation trusts with the promise that all NHS hospitals could become self-governing within four or five years...(more)
Generic threat to Lilly's biggest seller A court challenge to Eli Lilly's patent on its number one drug Zyprexa could spell serious trouble for the company, still recovering from a generic onslaught against former blockbuster Prozac...(more)
Parliamentary showdown for foundation trust plans Health Secretary Alan Milburn has published the final plans for the controversial foundation trusts with the promise that all NHS hospitals could become self-governing within four or five years..(more)
Industry reputation under fire at home and abroad Continuing conflict over access to medicines in developing countries and growing distrust of big pharma in domestic markets is threatening to irreparably damage the industry's reputation...(more)
Levitra brings three dimensions to ED market Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline's new erectile dysfunction treatment Levitra has been launched in the UK, its first market after receiving European marketing authorisation...(more)
Trusts warned over fixing waiting times All NHS trusts will have to review how they report waiting times after a spot check found widespread distortion and fiddling of figures...(more)
Consultants threaten to quit More than a quarter of hospital consultants are ready to resign or retire from the NHS if they don¿t receive a satisfactory contract...(more)
GSK launches prostate drug GlaxoSmithKline is to launch Avodart, a new treatment for enlarged prostates, next week into a crowded $1.6 billion global market...(more)
Paxil patent blow for GSK GlaxoSmithKline has been defeated in a vital US court case that could lead to a generic version of Paxil being introduced as early as September...(more)
