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PHOENIX UK and the British Heart Foundation has joined hands for a charity partnership to continue the ongoing commitment of improving heart health across the UK. The PHOENIX team have set the donation goal of £20,000 by June 2023 and are set to take on a range of exciting challenges over the course of the next year, such as a Tough Mudder and the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge, all in a bid to raise funds for the heart health charity. Nigel Swift, Managing Director of Rowlands, PHOENIX UK's largest community pharmacy member organisation, commented: "We are thrilled to be partnering with The British Heart Foundation. Its lifesaving research perfectly aligns with our mission across PHOENIX UK - to enable more people to live happy and healthy lives - and so we look forward to raising vital funds and supporting the excellent work of the charity." Hayley Gough, Community Relationship Manager at The British Heart Foundation, added, "It's fantastic to see the team at PHOENIX UK commit to raising so much money for The British Heart Foundation. We can't wait to see all that they achieve and are so grateful for their fundraising efforts."

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday (January 9) that it had struck a deal to buy US-based drug developer CinCor Pharma for up to $1.8 billion to increase its stock of heart and kidney drugs. Core to the deal is CinCor's experimental therapy baxdrostat, which is in development to treat conditions including high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. AstraZeneca aims to combine baxdrostat with its own Farxiga, a diabetes drug whose sales ballooned after it was also shown to benefit patients with heart failure and kidney disease. Farxiga, whose sales jumped by almost 50 per cent during the first nine months of 2022 to reach $3.2 billion, belongs to a highly competitive class of drugs that includes rivals such as Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly's Jardiance. AstraZeneca gets about a third of its revenue from cancer drugs, but its heart, kidney and diabetes medicines are its second most lucrative business by sales, generating roughly $6.9 billion of the drugmaker's total revenue of more than $33 billion in the first three quarters of 2022.

Men can now have their blood pressure checked while visiting a barbershop. The NHS is extending its blood pressure screening services to different local venues, including barbershops, mosques, and pharmacies. This initiative aims to address the increasing risk of strokes and heart attacks among men. NHS staff's life-saving actions coincide with recent data indicating that high street pharmacies administered 149,865 blood pressure checks to individuals over 40 in May 2023. This marked a notable increase from the previous year's count of 58,345 in May 2022, the NHS said. "More than 1,300 heart attacks and strokes could be prevented this year thanks to the high street checks." "The total number of blood pressure checks delivered by pharmacy teams in the year to March was more than 1 million (1,053,278)," the NHS added. Furthermore, the government has committed £645 million for a range of added pharmaceutical services. This includes a target of conducting 2.5 million extra blood pressure checks annually at community pharmacies. This effort is estimated to avert over 1,350 cardiovascular events per year - equivalent to averting 113 heart attacks and strokes each month.

Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug manufacturer, has launched Wegovy, a weight-loss drug, in the UK market. This semaglutide injection will be available through specialist NHS weight management services for those who meet the National Institute for Care and Excellence (NICE) criteria or privately through registered healthcare professionals. Novo Nordisk allocated a portion of the available supply of Wegovy for NHS services, while confirming the existing shortage of semaglutide and projecting continued constraints in the foreseeable future. The drug can be obtained through the NHS and is additionally accessible for private purchase at pharmacies in the UK. The pricing for a one-month supply varies, ranging from £73.25 to £175.80, depending on the dosage. "We are committed to expanding treatment options for individuals with obesity and share the Government's goal of improving access to obesity care in areas of high unmet medical need," the company said in a statement. "We are closely monitoring Wegovy demand and collaborating with regulators and providers to ensure access to and continuity of treatment for people living with obesity."

The English health secretary has fumbled the opportunity to prevent a crisis in the NHS this winter. She either does not understand or value the role of community pharmacy as the third pillar of patient access to essential healthcare. Her announcement that she wants community pharmacy to provide more services to take the strain off A&E departments and GP surgeries comes on the same day DHSC announces no new long-term investment to sustain the sector. Does she not understand that as a result of years of government underinvestment in England the network is in decline with random closures across the country? Too many pharmacies are temporarily closed every day due to workforce shortages beyond the control of pharmacy owners. Adding a new service here and there, even with some additional funding, does not address the longer term viability of the network which needs to know which patient services it will be expected to provide over the next 10 years - not just the next few months - and how those will be adequately remunerated. Asking more from our sector with no new investment is a strategy which is bound to fail. The pharmacy contract remains economically illiterate. The sector's finances need open heart surgery not a couple of paracetamol tablets.

Balmedie Pharmacy based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has been purchased by local expanding multiple operator JMF Healthcare. Balmedie Pharmacy is a well-performing community pharmacy that dispenses an average of 5,255 items per month. It lies completely unopposed in the large Aberdeenshire village of Balmedie, which is circa eight miles north of Aberdeen City Centre. The pharmacy has been owned by Brian Arris since 2004 and was recently brought to market to allow him to pursue other pharmacy business opportunities. Following a confidential sales process with Christie & Co, JMF Healthcare to benefit from new housing developments in this area of Aberdeenshire such as 300 new homes planned in Balmedie, approved plans for up to 500 new homes in Trump Menie Estate, and 284 new homes planned in Blackdog Village. Brian Arris, previous owner of Balmedie Pharmacy, comments, "I'm sad to see the business go as the excellent staff have helped grow the pharmacy from scratch since 2004 and we've all put our hearts and souls into providing good pharmaceutical care for the village and surrounding area. I'm confident everyone is left in safe hands with John at the helm now."

Boots UK's chief pharmacist has been encouraging people to get a flu vaccination by the end of November to help protect themselves, their loved ones and the NHS this festive season. Flu cases in the UK are usually highest in the winter months, from December to March. This year, the UK has seen a rise in cases earlier than usual, and therefore Claire Nevinson, superintendent pharmacist at Boots, reminds people that it is even more important to get protected early to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus due to increased mixing at Christmas parties and family get togethers. Approximately 33 million people are eligible for the free NHS flu jab, including those over 50 years of age, pregnant women and those with medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. The pharmacy multiple says it offers the winter flu jab service, which is suitable for those eligible for the free NHS flu jab as well as privately, adding that it has already administered over one million flu vaccinations this season. Ms Nevinson explains: "December is a time to get together with friends and family to celebrate the month's festivities. It's a good idea to plan ahead to ensure you have your flu jab, and your COVID-19 booster vaccination if you are eligible, if you've not had them already, this the best way to protect yourself and reduce the risk of passing the viruses to others.

More than three quarters of British people, who have suffered persistent ill health following a Covid-19 infection, have had to cut back or change the work they do, according to a survey on the impact of long Covid published on Wednesday (November 9). In the survey of 1,002 people, conducted by market research company Censuswide, some 98 per cent of long Covid sufferers said the condition had limited their ability to work, with 78 per cent needing to cut back or change their work and 19 having ceased work altogether. Long Covid, a collection of symptoms ranging from pain and heart palpitations to insomnia and brain fog, can last for many months after initial infection. Britain's most recent official labour market data showed that a record proportion of people classified as "economically inactive" - neither working nor looking for a job - were suffering from long-term sickness. In absolute terms, the number of working-age people who are long-term sick has risen by 378,000 since early 2020.

A group of 21 community pharmacies in the Midlands and Yorkshire will have a new name - Pickfords Pharmacy. The group has been created by combining three independent pharmacy businesses which traded as Mr Pickford's, McGills Pharmacy and D&R Sharp. All pharmacies in the new group will be rebranded over the coming months, with a series of launch events planned by local teams. Speaking after the unveiling of the first branch to receive new signage in Hexthorpe Doncaster, Mimi Lau, Pickfords Pharmacy's chief operating officer, said: "This is a turning point for the group, with all our pharmacies operating under one name with a consistent, contemporary brand. "Initial reaction has been fantastic and very soon the name Pickfords Pharmacy will be widely recognised for the great service we deliver to customers and patients every day." Speaking of the consolidation, Nick Yarrow, the newly appointed group chief executive officer, commented: "Since the enlarged group came together last year, we have been striving to ensure that the best elements of each business have been retained for the benefit of our customers and team members. "This is part of our journey to be more than just a pharmacy - we want to be a trusted source of healthcare services at the heart of each one of the communities we serve".

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk said on Tuesday (Aug 8) a large study had shown the highly effective obesity treatment also had a clear cardiovascular benefit, boosting the Danish company's hopes of moving beyond its image as a lifestyle drug. The increasingly popular Wegovy has transformed the weight-loss market since its U.S. launch in June 2021, capturing the attention of patients, investors and celebrities worldwide. Novo's news lifted shares in Europe's second-most valuable listed company after LVMH by more than 17 per cent to record highs. They have now surged almost 165 per cent over the past two years. The results of the late-stage trial may help persuade insurers in the U.S. and cost-conscious health authorities in Europe to cover the cost of Wegovy, which is $1,300 a month in the United States, for a wider range of patients. U.S. law classifies weight-loss treatments as lifestyle drugs and bars the Medicare health plan for older Americans from covering them and experts said the new data could lead the U.S. government to reassess that.