Genentech's Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) is now available to UK patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended the drug on Friday (June 22). About 100,000 people in the UK live with MS, and 85% have a relapsing-remitting form eligible for treatment with ocrelizumab. Ocrelizumab has been shown to reduce the number of relapses per year by nearly half and to slow the risk of progression of the disease compared with current treatment. Jo Sopala, Director of Development at the MS Trust welcomed the decision to make the drug routinely available, commenting, “We welcome this positive NICE review for RRMS, and hope that it brings us closer to the treatment being made available to people with early [primary progressive] PPMS too.” Roche/Genentech reports that it is working with NICE to ensure people with early PPMS are also able to access ocrelizumab through the NHS. Click here for Pharm Exec's Brands of the Year report on Ocrevus.
Key Findings of the NIAGARA and HIMALAYA Trials
November 8th 2024In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive podcast, Shubh Goel, head of immuno-oncology, gastrointestinal tumors, US oncology business unit, AstraZeneca, discusses the findings of the NIAGARA trial in bladder cancer and the significance of the five-year overall survival data from the HIMALAYA trial, particularly the long-term efficacy of the STRIDE regimen for unresectable liver cancer.
Fake Weight Loss Drugs: Growing Threat to Consumer Health
October 25th 2024In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive podcast, UpScriptHealth's Peter Ax, Founder and CEO, and George Jones, Chief Operations Officer, discuss the issue of counterfeit weight loss drugs, the potential health risks associated with them, increasing access to legitimate weight loss medications and more.