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Italian antitrust authority today fined Novartis and Roche Holdings 180 million euros for collusion and manipulation of the pharmaceutical market in Italy to prevent the use of Avastin in favor of the more expensive drug Lucentis. The investigation was opened two years ago at the insistence of the Italian Society of Ophthalmology (SOI), following the decision of the Italian Medicines Regulatory Agency (AIFA) to block distribution of Avastin for the treatment of macular degeneration. “AIFA backed up the declarations of Novartis and Roche that Avastin should not be used due (Read more...)

Despite the winter weather emergency in Washington, the White House released President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 on Tuesday. In its current state, the president’s proposal would spend $3.9 trillion in fiscal year 2015, leading to a budget deficit of $564 billion (a decrease from the FY2014 budget deficit of $649 billion). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would have a $1 trillion budget under the president’s proposal, including $77 billion in discretionary funds for initiatives such as growing the physician work force, expanding Medicare’s (Read more...)

ThromboGenics plans to initiate a U.S. phase 4 study of Jetrea this month, according to a press release. The Ocriplasmin Research to Better Inform Treatment (ORBIT) study will generate more data on the real-world use of Jetrea (ocriplasmin). The prospe…

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