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Pharma giant, Pfizer has announced plans to cut 500 jobs at its Sandwich site in Kent, England as part of its ongoing $3.5 billion cost-cutting drive. The company is also planning to shut its Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecule (PSSM) capabilities at the site, a spokesperson of the company told FiercePharma. However, the Sandwich site will remain open and other functions will continue with "a different size," the spokesperson added. Currently, around 940 people are employed at the site, which is the location where Pfizer scientists first discovered Viagra. "We are proud of our heritage of breakthrough science in the UK and we will retain a scientific presence in the U.K. including at our Discovery Park location in Sandwich," Pfizer's spokesperson confirmed in an email to FiercePharma.

MedAdvisor will be investing $1.9 million (£1 million) into UK-based pharmacy dispensary app Charac, while securing a 7.4 per cent shareholding in the later company. Under this new agreement, MedAdvisor CEO Rick Ratliff will become a Non-Executive Director (NED) on the board of Charac. Both MedAdvisor and Charac provide digital medication adherence solutions that allow customers to file prescription orders to their local pharmacy through mobile apps. The investment is seen as part of MedAdvisor's cost saving strategy, as the Australian company has decided to discontinue its UK operations, and transfer its existing pharmacy relationships to Charac.

American healthcare technology company Omnicell has appointed Edward Platt as the new Senior Commercial Director of its UK community pharmacy division. Along with this new role, Edward, who joined Omnicell in 2015, will continue his current leadership remit for Omnicell's UK & Ireland hospital division. He will be leading a revamped commercial team, which would be responsible for increasing Omnicell's footprint of automation and consumable solutions delivered into UK community pharmacies. As part of the revamp, the company has created dedicated specialist teams to ensure the needs and challenges of community pharmacists (small independents and small multiple operators) can be fully understood and supported.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has announced that it will support its member impacted by the decision to close 300 more Boots pharmacies. After the announcement of closure of 300 Boots pharmacies over the next year, the association believes this is approximately one out of every eight current Boots pharmacy locations. The company has insisted that the objective of this exercise is not to make existing pharmacist employees redundant, and they hope to be able to redeploy individuals into nearby alternative locations. However, PDA believes that it is unlikely that suitable alternative roles will be available for all and redundancy is a possibility for some. The PDA Union will provide pharmacists with information, support, and representation as part of the recognition agreement so that members are aware of and can exercise their rights at work. PDA officials will be in continued dialogue with the company throughout this closure programme.

Pharmacy owners have less than a week to complete the mandatory 2023 Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey, which closes on Sunday, December 17. The NHS Business Services Authority sent an email with a survey link to pharmacy owners on October 23, 2023. In certain cases, such as Company Chemists' Association member companies and other multiple pharmacy groups, head offices will centrally complete the survey. "If you're unsure whether the survey will be completed centrally, please seek guidance from your head office," Community Pharmacy England has said. Since 2022, completing the annual NHS England community pharmacy workforce survey has been a Terms of Service requirement for pharmacy owners.

Usdaw, one of the major trade unions in the UK, has sought assurances for its members working in Boots, following reports that the parent company of the iconic health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain is considering putting the business on sale next year. Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA), the US health group that owns a stake in Boots UK since 2012, is reportedly lining up Goldman Sachs to explore the sale of business with potential valuation of £10 billion. Currently, the process is thought to be solely exploratory and may not necessarily convert into the sale of the 172-year-old firm. Usdaw national officer, Daniel Adams, said: "We note that the company declined to comment on speculation, but acknowledged that the group's strategic direction 'includes a more pointed focus on North America and on healthcare'.

GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said on Wednesday (December 15) they expect data from late-stage clinical trials of its booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the first quarter, instead of this year, another delay for the potential shot. The news came as two companies said preliminary data from trials showed the single-dose booster provided strong immune responses. They added that they need more time to test the booster on more people who have not been infected by the virus before they can submit data to regulators. The Phase III trial for the recombinant adjuvanted Covid-19 vaccine recruited most participants in the third quarter, coinciding with a significant increase in the number of people infected globally due to the Delta variant, it said. "To provide the necessary data to regulatory authorities for the booster vaccine submission, the trial will continue to accrue the number of events needed for analysis, with results expected in Q1, 2022." No safety concerns were identified. This is the latest delay for the vaccine's development, putting the companies further behind rivals in the race for Covid-19 shots.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has reiterated its call for all pharmacists working at Boots to join the PDA Union to support the collective voice of the profession within the company. It said this would enable PDA to send direct communications to pharmacists working at Boots and keep them up to date with key matters impacting their work life. Currently, the association uses the company communication channels to cascade key information to the non-member pharmacists, however, it fears such measures can be disrupted by management. Besides, having more member pharmacists at Boots would strengthen their "negotiating power", PDA said.

The world's first human challenge trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to Covid-19 to advance research into the disease was found to be safe in healthy young adults, one of the companies running the study said on Wednesday. The data supports the safety of this model which could theoretically provide a "plug and play" platform for testing therapies and vaccines using the original Covid-19 strain as well as variants of the virus, Open Orphan, which carried out the study, said in a statement. Open Orphan is running the project, launched a year ago, with Imperial College London, the UK government's vaccines task force and the clinical company  hVIVO. The trial infected 36 healthy male and female volunteers aged 18-29 years with the original SARS-CoV-2 strain of the virus and closely monitored them in a controlled quarantined setting. They will be followed up for 12 months after discharge from the quarantine facility.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association has asked Boots UK to waive any restrictive clause that prevents pharmacists working with the multiple from working for other pharmacy employers, even after leaving the company. However, the firm is yet to respond to the formal request, PDA said in an update. This request follows demand from the association members shortly after the company announced it's plans to cut opening hours. On workforce shortages, the PDA stated if there was a genuine shortage, then preventing pharmacists from working for other pharmacy employers to make up for the lost hours would be counterproductive and it would further exacerbate any "shortage".

Pfizer said on Tuesday it will pay $11.6 billion to buy Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, making a big bet on its ability to boost sales of the top-selling pill in a new class of migraine drugs. The boards of both companies have approved the deal, they said. Biohaven shares jumped 70 per cent to $141.31, while Pfizer was up slightly at $48.83. Pfizer is flush with cash from a once-in-a-lifetime surge in revenue from Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics and has said it is looking to buy companies or drugs that could add at least $25 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade. "The CGRP oral medications, though still somewhat newer entrants in a deeply entrenched space, continue to make steady inroads in disrupting the broader migraine market in the U.S.," said BioHaven chief executive Vlad Coric. Biohaven forecast Nurtec sales of $825 million to $900 million in 2022. Pfizer said it expects the pills to eventually overtake the shots.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline aims to get its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine to regulators for review later this year, after interim data showed the vaccine was effective in a keenly-watched late-stage study involving older adults. RSV is a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and the elderly, but the complex molecular structure of the virus and safety concerns have stymied efforts to develop a vaccine since the virus was first discovered in 1956. Companies including Pfizer, J&J, Sanofi, Moderna and AstraZeneca are also racing to get an RSV therapy or vaccine approved. The latest GSK trial is the first to show statistically significant efficacy for RSV in adults aged 60 years and older, the British drugmaker said of the ongoing study on Friday (June 10). If approved, the RSV vaccine is expected to generate billions for GSK, which is already the world's biggest vaccine maker by sales but has faced pressure from activist investors such as Elliott Management who have urged the London-based company to shore up its drug pipeline.

Women's health company Hertility has acquired the Netherlands-based fertility and hormone testing company Grip, increasing their market share in the women's health space and positioning them for rapid international expansion. Hertility said the acquisition will expand its own dataset and help them reach their goal of drastically cutting down the time to diagnosis of female health conditions. The UK start-up, launched in September 2020, offers a machine-learning healthcare solution, giving women insight on their reproductive health, through an at-home hormone test, individual results and a route to care. Founded by scientists and powered by an (all female) research team, Hertility is building a science-backed eco-system of care around every woman. Hertility is planning on launching in Ireland this summer and the Netherlands before the end of the year and is already offering end to end gynae and fertility care with a team of over 30 experts. "This acquisition is a coming together of women who are on a mission to drive real change in women's health. We are over the moon to have taken Grip under our wing, and will be taking Hertility into new markets, starting with the Netherlands," Dr Helen O'Neill, founder of Hertility, commented.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has announced the launch of its new clinical trials business that aims to use patient data from its pharmacies to help drive up recruitment in studies conducted by drugmakers. With patient recruitment and enrollment remain key challenges in clinical trials, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said it can proactively match diverse patient populations to trials across a range of disease areas based on race, gender, socioeconomic status and location with its patient reach and access to an extensive foundation of pharmacy and patient-authorised clinical data. The Boots owner also believes that by leveraging a tech-enabled approach to patient identification and creating a large registry of clinical trial participants, the company will be able to reduce the time it takes to match eligible patients to clinical trials. "Walgreens trusted community presence across the nation, combined with our enterprise-wide data and health capabilities, enables us to pioneer a comprehensive solution that makes health options, including clinical trials, more accessible, convenient and equitable," said Ramita Tandon, chief clinical trials officer, Walgreens.

Titan PMR, a pioneer of cutting pharmacy technology has set up additional new team of 12 staff to cater for a deluge of independent pharmacists investing in new businesses. The company is utilising the opportunity that is underway as large chains look to sell off or close their community pharmacies, offering an opportunity for pharmacists looking to provide efficient dispensing and additional services. In January this year Lloyds Pharmacy, which was bought by a private equity firm in 2022, announced plans to close all its 237 branches inside Sainsbury's stores over the course of 2023. Currently, more than 5,500 of around 14,000 registered pharmacy premises across the UK are owned by corporates and supermarkets. Titan PMR - an innovative, cloud-based system which manages end-to-end pharmacy workflow - has become the preferred software platform especially amongst first time buyers who are keen to offer new services to patients. The new team at the Bristol-based company, hired to support this sector, sees its total workforce growing to more than 50 staff.

The current structure of global incentives to develop new antibiotics is insufficient and requires urgent resolution revealed a new report 'Incentivising new antibiotics' by the Office of Health Economics (OHE). OHE analysis demonstrates that on a global level, it is estimated that an effective 10-year incentive would require £3.5bn ($4.2bn) to adequately cover the entire research and development process for a new antibiotic. The report considers how health systems in the UK and around the world can stimulate the research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics. In 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England initiated an Antimicrobial Resistance pilot with the aim of incentivising pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics by addressing the issues associated with reimbursement, which historically has deterred companies from pursuing AMR research.

Amgen Inc on Monday agreed to buy Horizon Therapeutics Plc in a deal valued at $27.8 billion (£22.67bn), fortifying its rare diseases portfolio in the biggest buyout in the sector this year. The company will pay $116.50 in cash, a premium of nearly 20 per cent to the stock's last close, for each Horizon share. Horizon shares closed up 15 per cent on Monday at $112.36. They had climbed 23.5 per cent through Friday since the company disclosed in late November it was in preliminary talks with Amgen, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson for potential offers. Amgen shares dipped less than 1 per cent to close at $276.78. Sanofi said Sunday it ended discussions with Horizon after concluding the transaction prices "do not meet our value criteria." J&J also said in early December that it had dropped its pursuit of the deal.

After I have finished playing some casino games, using my, Juicy Stakes Casino bonuses, I am hungry. What should I eat? A juicy steak (wink, wink)? Fried chicken? An Ingestible Pill? Wait, what? What is an ingestible pill? Is that a food or vitamin? Actually, it is neither. It is new technology developed by Pfizer. Pfizer is the pharmaceutical company that gave us the COVID vaccines that do not provide lifetime immunity to COVID or even prevent you from getting it in the short term. Pfizer is also the company that created the COVID medicine Paxlovid, which cause Biden to get a rebound COVID right after he supposedly recovered from COVID. Ingestible Pills are a version of a digital pill A digital pill is also known as a smart pill or an ingestible sensor. It is a pharmaceutical dosage form that contains an ingestible sensor inside of a pill. The sensor begins transmitting medical data after it is consumed. This pill and its other related technology are considered Digital Medicine. The purpose of the sensor is to determine if a person is taking their medicine or they are not taking their medicine. In other words, is the patient complying with taking their medicine or are they not complying with taking their medicine?

German biotechnology company BioNTech has signed a deal with the Department of Health and Social Care to enrol up to 10,000 patients in clinical trials by the end of 2030 for personalised cancer therapies, the German drug maker said. The multi-year collaboration is focused on cancer immunotherapies based on mRNA or other drug classes, infectious disease vaccines, and investments into expanding the company's footprint in the UK, BioNTech said in a statement on Thursday (January 5). Under the agreement, the parties plan to utilise UK's clinical trial network, genomics and health data assets, aiming to enrol the first cancer patient in the second half of 2023, the company said.

From over-the-counter flu tablets to crucial antibiotics and antidepressants, medicines are running scarce in UK pharmacies this year, causing concerns among patients, the government, and the wider pharma industry. Drug shortages have accelerated over the past year due to a clutch of problems including the after-effects of the pandemic on supply chains, the war in Ukraine, and soaring input costs weighing on manufacturers. More recently, a sudden spike in respiratory infections - another by-product of Covid-19 that neither pharma companies nor the government were able to predict - has deepened the crisis, with 70 commonly taken drugs out of stock in Britain as of February. The problem is not unique to the UK. In a recent survey of groups representing pharmacies in 29 European countries, three quarters said shortages were worse this winter than a year ago, with a quarter reporting more than 600 drugs in short supply. The US is also facing significant shortages of popular prescription drugs like amoxicillin and Adderall, an ADHD medication. To some extent, the current disruption is laying bare wider challenges facing the industry for several years that were only exacerbated by the pandemic. The over-reliance on foreign suppliers for most active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is one of them. This model has left companies more susceptible to supply shocks, which have in turn increased in frequency and severity due to pandemic lockdowns, the war in Ukraine and other issues such as the shortage of shipping containers. Pharma's long and opaque supply chains, alongside regulatory complexities, also mean it is taking longer for drugmakers to reconfigure manufacturing and distribution in times of additional need.