Exclusive: MSF calls for transparency after its bill for a trial of TB treatment came to a fraction of the billions claimed by pharmaceutical companies Doctors have for the first time released details of their spending on a major clinical trial, demonstrating that the true cost of developing a medicine may be far less than the billions of dollars claimed by the pharmaceutical industry. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is challenging drug companies to be transparent about the cost of trials, which has always been shrouded in secrecy. Its own bill for landmark trials of a four-drug combination tre ..read more

Exclusive: NHS cost threshold has not been raised by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence since 2004 People with motor neurone disease have spoken of their devastation over the likely loss of access to a life-extending drug due to an NHS cost threshold that has not been raised since 2004. Tofersen has slowed the progress of the illness in trials, but the chances of the drug being recommended for use in England and Wales are said to be slim ..read more

Pharmaceutical equipment firms are funding NHS staff and training while promoting sales Medical device companies are paying millions of pounds to hospitals in the UK to fund staff places, as well as training and awareness campaigns, while pushing sales of their products, including implants, heart valves and diagnostic equipment, a new report reveals. An analysis of disclosures by medical device companies found that between 2017 and 2019 they reported €425m (£367m at today’s rates) in payments to healthcare organisations in Europe, according to the study in the journal Health Policy and Technol ..read more

Elizabeth Hanna says she was fired by the American Diabetes Association after refusing to approve recipes heaped with the additive made by a major donor Elizabeth Hanna had a simple job: help people with diabetes figure out what to eat. Anyone with common sense knows this should probably not entail foods that might increase people’s risk of getting diabetes. But that’s not necessarily the thinking at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the world’s leading diabetes research and patient advocacy group, which also receives millions of dollars from sponsors in the pharmaceutical, food and agr ..read more

Exclusive: contaminated blood campaigners say internal 1976 Immuno AG document proves British government negligence Analysis: families hope report will finally apportion blame The British government was willing to risk infecting NHS patients to get “lower-priced” blood products, according to a document that campaigners claim proves state and corporate guilt in one of the country’s worst ever scandals. A public inquiry into the deaths of an estimated 2,900 people infected with conditions such as HIV and hepatitis will publish its final report in May, four decades after the NHS started prescri ..read more

Despite rebellion, approval of £18.7m package opens door to likelihood of US-style executive pay elsewhere Is Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, “massively underpaid”, as the chief investment officer of Florida-based GQG Partners, one of the company’s big shareholders, argued this week? Well, of course he’s not. Soriot has been paid £120m over the past decade, which is a helluva sum even for someone who has been brilliantly successful in leading what is now – but wasn’t when he arrived – the UK’s second-largest listed company. The history-turning moment in 2014, when AZ and Sor ..read more

Drugmaker announces 7% increase as it seeks to garner support for Pascal Soriot’s £1.8m pay boost Shareholders at AstraZeneca are in line for a 7% increase in dividends this year as the pharmaceutical company attempts to garner support for a pay deal worth up to £19m for its boss, Pascal Soriot. AstraZeneca said it intended to increase the annual dividend for 2024 by $0.20 to $3.10 a share, reflecting its confidence in its performance and cash generation ..read more

Testing of 40 types of bandages found 65% had alarming levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in adhesive flaps and pads that touch wounds Many popular US bandage brands contain alarming levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, new research suggests, raising questions about the products’ safety. Testing of 40 types of bandages made by companies such as Band-Aid, Curad, Walmart and CVS found 26 products, or 65%, contain alarming levels of a marker of PFAS. The chemicals were detected in the adhesive flaps and in absorbent pads that press against wounds ..read more

New tool may offer prescription ‘safety net’ and reduce the 237m medication errors made each year in England Drugs are a cornerstone of medicine, but sometimes doctors make mistakes when prescribing them and patients don’t take them properly. A new AI tool developed at Oxford University aims to tackle both those problems. DrugGPT offers a safety net for clinicians when they prescribe medicines and gives them information that may help their patients better understand why and how to take them ..read more

Drug companies urged to ‘release stranglehold’ on medicines such as Ozempic and Trulicity, as millions are priced out of treatment Drug companies are pricing diabetes medicines at almost 400 times the level necessary to make a profit, according to a new study. Researchers said it would also be possible for modern insulin pens, which are safer and offer more accurate doses than vials and syringes, to be used even in low-income countries if pharmaceutical firms “put people before their astronomical profits ..read more