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Drugmaker Viatris said on Sunday (October 1) it had reached agreements to divest some of its businesses for a total of about £2.9 billion. Viatris said its move to divest some of its businesses is part of its long-term strategy to streamline focus on three core therapeutic areas - ophthalmology, gastroenterology and dermatology. The company has received an offer of about $2.17 billion (£1.78 billion) for almost all of its over-the-counter drug business from France-based Cooper Consumer Health. Viatris will retain rights for erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, nasal spray Dymista and select OTC drugs within certain markets. Separately, the drugmaker said it has agreed to sell its women's healthcare business to Spanish pharmaceutical company Insud Pharma, while its active pharmaceutical ingredients business in India will be sold to Iquest Enterprises. Both divestitures would result in about $1.2 billion (£987 million) in proceeds.

American global healthcare company, Viatris, has launched a new rapid self-test for qualitative detection of antibodies developed after Covid-19 vaccinations. The firm is going to market the Covid-19 Neutralising IgG Serological self-test, manufactured by PRIMA Lab SA, in the UK market, which would check presence of neutralising antibodies after vaccination. The presence of antibodies indicates that a person has had an immune response to the Covid-19 vaccine, and not that protective immunity has been acquired. The self-test that can be performed easily at home with a small blood sample, delivers results in just 10 minutes and has a recommended retail price of sub £20. After two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, the self-test has shown a seroconversion rate of 98.3 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine, 98.5 per cent for the AstraZeneca vaccine and 95.2 per cent for the Moderna vaccine. It recommended that the test be performed at least 14 days after completing the vaccination cycle.

The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has elected Matthew Salzmann, UK Country Manager at Viatris, as its new Vice-Chair with immediate effect. He will replace the current chair of the BGMA, Diane DiGangi-Trench, who is the UK country head for Sandoz. Salzman, who is originally from Australia, has served approximately 1 billion patients worldwide last year as the UK Country Manager at Viatris, a global pharmaceutical company operating in 165 countries. In his role as BGMA Vice-Chair, Salzmann would focus on working in partnership with key stakeholders - the NHS, healthcare professionals, policy makers, clinical societies, patient associations, academia - to ensure access to affordable and sustainable medicines for patients and the NHS.

British drugmaker GSK has signed deals with three companies allowing them to make inexpensive generic versions of its long-acting HIV preventive medicine for use in lower-income countries, where the majority of new HIV cases occur. The injected drug cabotegravir is approved by regulators in Britain and the United States. Last July, GSK announced a program with the United Nations-backed healthcare organisation, the Medicines Patent Pool, aiming to get poor countries access to new HIV therapies far earlier than they did for previous HIV medicines. During the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa in the 1990s and early 2000s, in which many millions of people died, treatments used widely in wealthy countries were unavailable on the continent. GSK said last year the new program could result in the generic form of its injection being available in lower-income countries beginning in 2026. The drugmaker's HIV treatment division, ViiV Healthcare, said in a statement on Wednesday it had issued voluntary licenses - waiving intellectual property rights - to Aurobindo, Cipla and Viatris, which will manufacture the generic versions of injectable cabotegravir.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid and Madelaine McTernan, head of the HRT supply taskforce, continue to take urgent action to resolve the shortage of HRT medicines by meeting the drug manufacturers and representatives from community pharmacies on Thursday (May 5). In the meeting, manufacturers outlined the steps they're taking to boost supply, and pharmacists shared their experiences on the frontline, as well as sharing their thoughts on wider solutions including improved communications. Aspen Pharmacare, Besins-Healthcare, Gedeon Richter, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Orion, Pfizer, Theramex, Viatris, and representatives from community pharmacies were part of the meeting. As the government confirmed its intention to work with industry to do what is necessary to fix the HRT supply issue, Javis said he wanted to understand the issues facing suppliers and what can be done to address them. "We will leave no stone unturned in our national mission to boost supply of HRT. Along with appointing Madelaine McTernan as head of the HRT supply taskforce to implement lessons learned from the pandemic, and ensuring prescriptions are issued in shorter cycles for now, we are working collectively with the sector to urgently resolve this issue," he commented. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) said the meeting discussed 'why we got into this position' and the way forward.

What initially began as two close friends taking a leisurely walk to escape their everyday routine has evolved into a meaningful endeavour to support the fight against cancer. Jamie Sparrow, Senior Vice President - Commercial, EMENA at Accord Healthcare, and Jamie Durbidge, Owner & Managing Director of Perennial Pharma, will be undertaking a 5-day walking challenge to support The Luke Hart Foundation in raising funds for Cancer Research UK. The two Jamies have been friends for more than 15 years and worked together at Mylan, now Viatris, where Jamie S served as Managing Director, while Jamie D held the position of Sales Director for some years. During the COVID pandemic when everybody was stuck at home, the two friends, both early risers, used to spend hours in the mornings walking and talking over the phone, about anything and everything - work, life, family, the Pharmaceutical Industry, politics, sport, and about challenges that people were having during the lockdown. After continuing this routine for several months, they eventually planned to transform their daily ritual into a "walking and talking" trip to reconnect, catch up on things, and enjoy some time together and with friends who wanted to join them.