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GlaxoSmithKline is committing to a new environmental plan with two ambitions: eliminate its impact on climate change and neutralize its impact on nature by 2030...In environmental parlance, the goal is a net zero impact on climate change and a net positive impact on nature by the end of the decade...The twofold approach means GSK will reduce its environmental footprint as much as possible—and where it can’t reduce, implement restoration programs—while also contributing more to nature than it takes out...READ MORE

The human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a strain on countries' ability to obtain medicines produced abroad...Mexico...aims to build its own drug supply chain on home soil...Six Indian generics makers have signed letters of intent with the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, to establish a pharma hub for manufacturing and logistics...The drugmakers targeted in the effort—Dr. Reddy's, Zydus Cadila, Glenmark, Torrent and Hetero—will have access to a $10.6 billion Mexican drug market, among the largest in the Latin American region..READ MORE

Khloe Kardashian’s pain—or rather, her relief from pain—may be Biohaven’s gain...The social media and reality TV super star, who has more than 100 million followers, suffers from debilitating migraines dating back to the sixth grade. A few months ago, though, she tried Nurtec ODT (dissolvable CGRP inhibitor ) and found pain relief she hadn’t had before...Kardashian is now the paid spokesperson in Biohaven’s just-launched “Take Back Today” campaign...READ MORE

The coronavirus pandemic hasn't deterred investors of Atlas Venture, a biotechnology-focused venture capital firm. On Friday, Atlas announced its latest fund, which opened at the end of March, had closed with a higher-than-expected yield of $400 million...Atlas initially wanted to bring in $350 million from the fund...But when the firm went out to fundraise, it was met with more than $1 billion in demand, which then pushed the fund toward a cap of $400 million...the fresh money will be put into about 15 companies, and that his firm remains interested in areas such as targeted cancer drugs, gene therapy and the central nervous system...The pandemic's impact on biotech stocks was fleeting compared to the larger market. Venture-backed drug companies have also continued to go public, which has kept firms and their investors optimistic about their ability to earn returns...While there are enormous parts of the broader economy...that have been really adversely affected by the COVID-related lockdowns, biotech is doing very well...The fund flows are very strong by any measure...READ MORE

The biosimilar market is finally beginning to fulfill its promise...The latest data show that provider-administered biosimilar drugs are successfully displacing their reference biological products...manufacturers of reference products are cutting drug prices to defend their market shares...Twenty of the 28 FDA-approved biosimilars are provider-administered products covered primarily under a patient’s medical benefit. Many innovator drugs now compete with multiple biosimilar versions, including Herceptin and Remicade...READ MORE

After touting a series of executive orders on drug pricing in late July, President Donald Trump has now unveiled the most significant among them—an order tying Medicare's drug prices to much lower costs in other developed countries. The biopharma industry pushed back hard, and it’s unclear exactly when or how the changes would be implemented...The executive order...says Medicare should not buy certain Part B or Part D drugs unless at prices paid by “at a minimum, the lowest price at which the manufacturer sells that drug to any other developed nation.” In Part D, the plan would apply “where insufficient competition exists” and where “seniors are faced with prices" higher than those in other developed nations...READ MORE

Nearly one in five diabetes drugs and one in 20 asthma drugs experienced a significant price increase in the past year or two, with average one-year increases about 11.2 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively, according to the third annual drug pricing report released by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services last week...The state identified 117 essential diabetes drugs and 13 essential asthma medications that had a significant price increase over the previous one or two years, meaning that their costs increased by more than the rate of medical inflation. Manufacturers attributed the price increases to a number of factors, including changes in marketplace dynamics, research and development and manufacturing cost...the findings of the report continued to be consistent with the results of the first two diabetes drug pricing reports...Here are some of the key findings of the report:...READ MORE

...Gilead will supply the EC with up to half a million treatment courses of Veklury to treat COVID-19 patients...The European Commission has signed a joint procurement contract from the EC’s Emergency Support Instrument, worth a total of EUR 70 million with pharma giant Gilead, with the opportunity to extend the supply beyond the initial 500,000-treatment level if necessary. Participating countries now can place orders to procure the drug directly with the company...READ MORE

The Eastman Kodak Co. (traditionally associated with cameras, film, printers and other imaging technology) announced the launch of its new Kodak Pharmaceuticals arm, which will produce various pharmaceutical ingredients. The $765m funding is the first action occurring under the president’s executive order, which authors the International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to collaborate on COVID-19 response...”Kodak is stepping up to help onshore pharmaceutical production and this DPA action will allow the modernized Strategic National Stockpile to have domestic resiliency. Once Kodak ramps up we will have the ability to tap into that capacity for domestic use​."...READ MORE

South Korea has asked Gilead Sciences Inc’s to supply enough of its anti-viral drug remdesivir to treat more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients in preparation for a potential second wave of infections...remdesivir is in high demand, but there are concerns about its availability after Gilead allocated nearly all of its supply to the United States over the next three months..In a letter sent to Gilead on June 3, South Korea had requested doses for 360 patients who are in urgent need of the drug, and for enough to have ready for an additional 5,000 patients in the event of a second wave of infections...READ MORE