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The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has appointed Susan Rienow, country president of Pfizer, as its vice president. "As vice president, she will support the president, Pinder Sahota, general manager and corporate vice president of Novo Nordisk UK, in delivering his priorities. These are improving access to medicines, delivering economic growth and helping to find solutions to big societal challenges such as climate change, AMR, and inequalities," said ABPI in a statement. At Pfizer, Susan leads the organisation to bring the power of innovation, data and technology together to transform healthcare and improve outcomes for patients. She previously led Pfizer UK's vaccines business unit during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has promoted Louise Edwards to the position of Chief Strategy Officer and Deputy Registrar. Louise is currently the Director of Regulation and Digital Transformation at the Electoral Commission, responsible for the organisation's regulatory work and digital, data, technology and facilities infrastructure. This includes funding and spending at elections and referendums, registering political parties, enforcement work, and data and information management. Louise will take over Mark Voce, the GPhC's current Chief Strategy Officer and Deputy Registrar, who is retiring early in July 2024. Louise said: "Pharmacy services are at the heart of health care for many people. Having effective regulation and standards in place can transform and give confidence in the quality of care that people receive.

The Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay has proposed a new £30 million fund to speed up the adoption of innovative medical technology in the NHS. He confirmed the plan today at the Conservative Party Conference 2023 in Manchester. Mr Barclay said that virtual wards will help healthcare professionals embrace new technology to improve patient care. He said: "It is vital that clinicians have access to the latest technology to save staff time, deliver high-quality care and help cut waiting lists - one of the government's top five priorities. "This investment will see the latest tech innovations rolled out across the NHS. From virtual ward beds to wearable medical devices, patients will be better supported, and we will ease pressures on hospitals this winter. "We're preparing for this winter earlier than ever before including delivering thousands more hospital beds and hundreds of new ambulances."

Pharmanovia, the lifecycle management company has signed a licence and supply agreement with Aquestive Therapeutics for its patented diazepam buccal film formulation across the EU, UK, Switzerland, and Norway, as well as countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)- up to 48 markets in total. Aquestive Therapeutics has been granted tentative approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its diazepam buccal film for the acute treatment of intermittent, stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity (i.e., seizure clusters, acute repetitive seizures) that are distinct from a patient's usual seizure pattern in patients with epilepsy 12 years of age and older. Pharmanovia will be responsible for seeking appropriate regulatory approval across EU and MENA. Pharmanovia CEO, James Burt commented: "Pharmanovia and Aquestive are aligned in our mission to find new and innovative ways to enhance and revitalise iconic medicines. We have extensive experience with diazepam through the Valium brand and, together with Aquestive's unique PharmFilm technology, we're intending to bring a novel alternative diazepam delivery option to caregivers and patients at a time of critical need."

Titan PMR has been accredited by the NHS to provide electronic prescription services (EPS) to dispensing doctors. Over 1,000 of these doctors, who provide a vital service to almost 10 million people in rural communities, can now offer their patients the same level of benefits and efficiencies that electronic prescriptions and Titan PMR have brought to pharmacies around the UK. These features will also increase efficiency for dispensing doctors, who will reduce dispensing errors and improve organisation, increasing their capacity while enjoying the ability to integrate with other technologies. After a full year of testing, including six months of compliance testing at a practice in Cumbria, the new accreditation for Titan also has potential to help the NHS fulfil its target of all prescriptions being issued electronically. Currently written paper prescriptions from dispensing doctors account for around seven per cent of the total prescriptions in England - around 6.5 million each month. "Until now dispensing doctor surgeries have basically been in the digital dark ages when it comes to dispensing medicines," said Tariq Muhammad, a tech entrepreneur and CEO of Bristol-based Invatech Health, which developed Titan PMR.

Health technology pioneer Invatech Health has sold its care homes electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system Atlas to care home management specialists Person Centred Software (PCS). Following the transition of Atlas to new ownership, Bristol-based Invatech Health will concentrate solely on further growth of Titan, its cutting-edge software for pharmacy management. Invatech Health CEO Tariq Muhammad, a pharmacist who started working on care homes back in 2002, first conceived the concept of electronic medicines system for care homes in 2006. Muhammad said he was proud to see his purpose-driven business given an opportunity for further progress. "It's a bit like being at a child's graduation," he said, after the completion of the acquisition which marked the end of a 20 year journey for him with Atlas. "I set up Atlas to tackle a dire need in the care homes sector for a system which could prevent incorrect dosing, mismanagement of prescriptions and administration errors of important medication.

Northern Ireland will see changes in the regulatory landscape following the issuance of the Windsor Framework on 27th Feb 2023 and the corresponding EU Commission proposal. An agreement, in principle, has been reached by the UK and EU. The new path forward of the Windsor Framework marks a turning point in how both the UK and the EU will work together collaboratively and constructively to ensure that the same medicines are available in Northern Ireland at the same time as they are in the rest of the United Kingdom. Whilst this is a successful result for Northern Ireland patients, this is major change for companies that have made specific provisions in their supply chains for Northern Ireland. The supply chains of companies where provisions and changes were made such as introduction of GB specific pack may be impacted as a result. However, the burden on the UK Pharma supply chain will be eased. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor on February 27, 2023 Pharma companies will need to carefully consider making changes within their processes and supply chains pending the issuance of clear guidance from the MHRA on the regulation changes resulting from the Windsor Agreement and the corresponding EU Commission proposed regulatory changes associated with medicinal products within the Northern Ireland market. Smooth access to the EU market for Northern Ireland pharmaceutical and medical technology firms has been safeguarded within the constraints of the agreement. The pragmatic dual-regulatory system protects business, patients and healthcare services, and reflects that it is an essential state function to maintain and oversee the supply of medicines within the whole United Kingdom.

The new 'How to Involve and Engage Patients on Digital Health Tech Innovation' learning module has been created specifically to support the development and delivery of patient-centric technologies, at a time of critical digital transformation in the NHS. The foundation level module will be freely available at www.orcha-digitalhealthacademy.com and on the Health Education England NHS Learning Hub (learninghub.nhs.uk). No training previously exists on conducting effective patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE), leading to wasted resource on unsuitable technologies at a time when the healthcare system simply cannot afford it. The module aims to educate innovators who are creating new technology, and the clinicians who are prescribing these solutions. Crucially, the module also provides valuable support to the 500 NHS clinicians who are on the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme. The module is an introduction to the first evidence-based framework for PPIE, launched by the University of Plymouth, the AHSN Network (the national voice of the 15 academic health science networks in England) and Boehringer Ingelheim UK & Ireland. It helps to fast-track learning for the EnACT principles described in the framework, outlining how to involve patients in product innovation and critical issues such as data privacy, intellectual property, inclusivity, reimbursement, useability, and recruitment of patients.

US biotech firm Moderna will build a new research and manufacturing centre in Britain to develop vaccines against new Covid-19 variants, other respiratory illnesses and help improve readiness for any future pandemics. The facility is expected to start producing shots in 2025 and Britain has made a commitment to buy Moderna's vaccines for the next decade under the agreement. Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, which use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, were among those deployed in Britain to tackle the crisis and enable prime minister Boris Johnson to reopen the economy from stringent lockdowns. Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said the priority was to develop a shot combining refreshed boosters against Covid, flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). "By building a plant in the UK, we are also providing the UK Government - which has a long term partnership with us, with this agreement - with the ability to be pandemic ready," Bancel said on Wednesday.

Technological innovation has touched our lives in immeasurable ways, from city infrastructure to personal entertainment and beyond. Even our health and conditions have been improved by the right tech innovations; contact lenses were one such innovation, having been safely pioneered as recently as the 19th century. But there are more recent developments which could change the lives of contact lens users forever; what are they? Smart Touch Contact Lenses While Smart Touch lenses are a relatively simple innovation, it is often the simple innovations that have the most fundamental impact on contact lens users. Smart Touch lenses are a new type of contact lens produced with a breathable material to promote eye health throughout the day. The key innovation lies in the packaging; Smart Touch contact lenses are provided in a bespoke blister packaging solution that delivers the lenses face-up. This ensures that the user never needs to touch the inner surface of the lens, keeping it hygienic and allowing for quick, unobtrusive application. These contact lenses provide innovative solutions for lens-wearers, and represent the power of slight technological improvements to existing products.

Clinical trials for BioNTech's cancer vaccines should start this year in Britain, marking an important step towards their possible sale on the open market, the German company's top executive Ugur Sahin told magazine Der Spiegel. BioNTech, known for its COVID vaccine with U.S. partner Pfizer, is currently deciding which types of cancer it wants to test its personalized cancer immunotherapies on and the locations where it will conduct the trials, Sahin said. The company wants these therapies, which are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology similar to the one that underpins its COVID-19 vaccine, to soon become a regular treatment for cancer patients. "We believe that this should be possible for large amounts of patients before 2030," Sahin said.

Professor Ryan Donnelly, esteemed for his groundbreaking contributions to pharmaceutical science, has been awarded the prestigious Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Harrison Memorial Medal for 2024. This distinguished accolade, presented in honour of the renowned pharmaceutical chemist Col EF Harrison, serves as a testament to Professor Donnelly's exceptional achievements. Currently holding the position of Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology at Queen's University Belfast's School of Pharmacy and Director of Research, Professor Donnelly has garnered acclaim for his pioneering work in developing advanced polymeric drug delivery systems. Specialising in transdermal and intradermal drug delivery methodologies, his research aims at optimising patient outcomes through innovative pharmaceutical technologies.

Suffering a brain injury is no easy thing. The plurality of potential symptoms meets with the potential long-term effects to create a poor prognosis for many unfortunate enough to experience them. But new technological leaps could pave the way to a better quality of life. What is a Brain Injury? The above question might seem a simple one, with a simple answer. But brain injuries are by no means simple, and by no means simply defined. There are two major categories under which a brain injury can fall: hypoxic and traumatic. Of civil brain injury claims in the UK, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are the most common - with 95% of claims revolving around some form of traumatic injury or incident. TBIs are brain injuries suffered as a result of a specific or direct injury. The brain is damaged through direct contact or the transfer of force. A direct strike to the head is in an assault or a serious fall might compromise the cranium, sending shockwaves of energy through the brain and potentially crushing the skull into the cranial cavity. Alternatively, a car accident or sudden stop might see the brain bashed against the occipital bone, causing internal trauma and intracranial hypertension. Hypoxic brain injuries refer specifically to injuries caused as a result of loss of blood or oxygen to the head. These injuries reflect birth injuries that might lead to cerebral palsy, or serious medical events that might alter the brain's response to stimuli. How are Brain Injuries Diagnosed and Treated? While the potential causes of a brain injury are plain to see, diagnosing a brain injury is not as straightforward. There are immediate symptoms that can indicate brain injury, such as the 'fencing response' which can indicate a severe rotational brain injury. Conscious patients might also exhibit difficulty speaking, remembering key pieces of information or responding to any stimuli.

Early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease require the use of dependable and cost-effective screening technologies. Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet have revealed that the level of tau, a protein that plays a vital role in the development of severe dementia, is associated with a kind of sugar molecule in the blood. The study, which is published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, can pave the way for a simple screening procedure able to predict onset ten years in advance. "The role of glycans, structures made up of sugar molecules, is a relatively unexplored field in dementia research," says the study's first author Robin Zhou, medical student and affiliated researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet. "We demonstrate in our study that blood levels of glycans are altered early during the development of the disease. This could mean that we'll be able to predict the risk of Alzheimer's disease with only a blood test and a memory test." In Alzheimer's disease, the neurons of the brain die, which is thought to be a result of the abnormal accumulation of the proteins amyloid beta and tau. Clinical trials for Alzheimer's drugs show that treatment should commence early in the pathological process, before too many neurons have died, to reverse the process before it is too late.

Novartis on Wednesday (February 1) predicted that core operating income would grow in a "mid single digit" percentage range in 2023 following stagnation last year, as the Swiss drugmaker prepares to spin off its Sandoz generics business. Full-year core operating income was broadly flat at $16.7 billion, it said in a statement, coming in slightly below market expectations of $16.8 billion. Adjusted for overall negative currency effects, group sales in 2022 advanced 4 per cent to $50.5 billion as gains from heart failure drug Entresto and multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Kesimpta were partly offset by competition from cheap generic copies of established MS drug Gilenya. Novartis said it was on track to spin off its generics unit Sandoz in the second half of the year as part of its effort to sharpen its focus on its patented prescription medicines. Analysts have welcomed a programme unveiled in 2022 to trim costs and cut 8,000 jobs and plans to focus on fewer therapy areas and drug technologies. But the market has been underwhelmed by prospects for medium-term growth from new drugs.

The UK pharmaceutical industry experienced a substantial increase in public trust and favourability during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new poll. This trend appears to be persisting with the study showing a generally favourable view of the sector. The recent survey, conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), represents the third instalment in a series that began in 2021. This ongoing study targets members of the public, healthcare professionals, and parliamentarians. The study once again underscored a favourable perception of the sector with 67 per cent of respondents recognising that the pharmaceutical industry produces safe and effective medicines using cutting-edge technologies. Moreover, a majority agrees that it is a highly innovative field. Seven out of 10 people also trust the sector's readiness to address future pandemics, even as media attention on pharmaceutical companies returns to pre-pandemic levels. However, concerns arise regarding limitations in accessing new medicines due to cost pressures.

ITV on Tuesday (Aug 15) said it had agreed to invest in pain relief brand Flarin Holdings Ltd, making it the British broadcaster's first consumer healthcare investment. The company has agreed to subscribe for £2 million worth of shares in Flarin, with an option to subscribe for two more tranches of 1.5 million pounds each. In return, Flarin would get advertising space across ITV's channels and ITVX. ITV said its investment will "help Flarin build mass market brand awareness by bringing the brand to millions of consumers via ITV platforms. This will be a step change in the size of the campaign and the approach to scaling the Flarin brand to date." Director of ITV AdVentures, Sheena Amin, said: "It's fantastic to be announcing our latest Media for Equity investment into Flarin. With its innovative and patented lipid technology, Flarin offers many unique benefits to those suffering from joint and muscular pain compared to any other product on the market. Flarin is already one of the fastest growing analgesics in the market and I am confident that we will see the company grow to new heights following a brand building campaign across ITV."

Otrivine brings the world's first air-purifying "Air Bubble" to Glasgow in a bid to raise awareness of the devastating effect of air pollution on children's health. Air pollution is considered the world's largest environmental health threat, with 93 per cent of children breathing polluted air every day according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Air Bubble, launched to help bring this invisible crisis to the top of the agenda, is an educational architecture, using biotechnology to purify the air. The nose is one of our first lines of defence when it comes to filtering out particle pollutants from the air we breathe. As a world leader in nasal health, Otrivine is demonstrating how innovative nature-based technology can expand the functionality of our nose to 'clean' the air we breathe in polluted urban environments.

Britain has approved a new coronavirus vaccine by the Austrian-French drugmaker Valneva. "An approval has been granted after the Valneva Covid-19 vaccine was found to meet the required safety, quality and effectiveness standards," the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said in a statement on Thursday (April 14), adding: "It is also the first, whole-virus inactivated Covid-19 vaccine to gain regulatory approval in the UK." In vaccines such as Valneva's VLA2001, the virus is grown in a lab and then made completely inactive so that it cannot infect cells or replicate in the body but can still trigger an immune response. It is seen by some as having the potential to win over people wary of some which use new mRNA technology. Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach said that "this authorisation could pave the way for the availability of an alternative vaccine solution for the UK population."

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?