WBA, Boots parent company revealed the results for its fourth quarter of the financial year, showing three months to August 2023.
The reports published on 12 October show the loss of at least $1bn following a net loss of $3.1bn on an annual basis. This marks a decrease compared to a profit
of $4.3bn in the previous financial year.
The loss was attributed in part to a $5.5 billion after-tax charge related to opioid claims and litigation during the period, as well as the comparison against a
$2.5 billion after-tax gain from the company's investments in Village MD and Shields Health Solutions in the same period last year.
Ginger Graham, WBA's Interim Chief Executive spoke about the company's performance and its dedication to their customers and patients.
The American healthcare company, CVS Health, has decided to remove the cold and cough pills containing phenylephrine from the drug stores.
The following decision comes after the health regulator, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines the decongestant is ineffective towards flu if
taken orally.
However, when ingested in pill or tablet form, this ingredient fails to reach its destination from the stomach to the nasal passages.
CVS Health spokesperson told USA Today, "We are removing a small number of oral decongestant products that contain phenylephrine as the only active ingredient
from CVS Pharmacy stores but will continue offering many other oral cough and cold products to meet consumer needs."
They almost run more than 9,000 stores in the US whereas their rival, Walgreens has not yet taken the step to remove over-the-counter medications from their shelves.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has updated the final price concessions for June 2023, following a discussion by Community Pharmacy England
regarding medicine pricing issues reported by pharmacy owners (its members).
A price concession only applies for the month it is granted; any prices agreed for concessions requested late in the month will roll over into the following month.
Community Pharmacy England encouraged pharmacies to report any problems obtaining a Part VIII product at or below the stated Drug Tariff price, using the online
feedback form on the Community Pharmacy England website along with full details of the supplier and price paid for any products sourced above the Drug Tariff price.
The association will investigate the extent of the problem and, if appropriate, discuss the issue with DHSC.
Bestway Healthcare has appointed Jeremy Meader as its new chief wholesale officer, following the retirement of Anup Sodha.
Meader would join the company in mid-November but is expected to officially assume his responsibilities from January 2, 2024.
He will lead Lexon, Bestway Medhub, Wardle's, Knights Fragrances, PI & Specials manufacturing and the wholesale supply chain.
Sodha, who co-founded the business 25 years ago, will continue to lead the company's wholesale business unit until 31 December 2023.
Commenting on his retirement, Sodhi said: "I am proud of what we achieved at Lexon, it has been a team effort and I am grateful to everyone who has helped as
we built a strong wholesale business.
The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has warned that England's 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) may need to allocate an extra £37 million
from their budgets annually for the next five years due to the spiralling tax rates.
The government's Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) rebate rate increased more than five-fold in the past two years, the BGMA said
in its white paper released on Monday (October 30).
The report, conducted by consultancy firm Conclusio in consultation with local NHS leaders, examined the potential effects of the VPAS on ICB budgets.
BGMA said that due to the elevated VPAS rate, each ICB in England will experience significant increases in expenses for branded generics and biosimilars
annually - a consequence of reduced competition.
Duncan Rudkin, the CEO of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhc) has highlighted the importance of strengthening pharmacy governance to provide clarity
around how pharmacies are organised and managed.
This will ensure that patients and the public continue to receive safe and effective pharmacy care, he said while speaking at the annual Sigma Conference in
London on Sunday (5 November).
According to him, there could be rules that outlined the essential roles and responsibilities of responsible pharmacists, and professional standards for
responsible pharmacists, superintended pharmacists and chief pharmacists.
He also announced that the GPhC will be shortly launching a consultation to integrate a new set of standards for the statutory role of hospital chief
pharmacists "which up until recently has never been recognised in law." It is expected to be launched by early January 2024.
However, Duncan, emphasised that they cannot start the work on standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists until they know the government plans
in relation to supervision.
"Because of course, the responsible pharmacists' regime, and the supervision regime are in many ways intertwined, and can't certainly be looked at separately.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has said that multi-buy deals on paracetamol violate the existing voluntary sales guidelines.
The professional body is urging the government to pass legislation that prohibits retailers from making such offers on medicines for pain relief.
They have also sent letters to MP Maria Caulfield who is the Minister for Mental Health and Women's Health.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is requesting to take action on the legislation at the earliest.
The concern raised is that multi-buy offers such as 'buy one get one free' can encourage people to buy and store excess packs, which may lead to accidental
or impulsive overdose.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has awarded Professor Abdul Basit with the RPS Harrison Memorial Medal for an outstanding contribution to advancing
pharmaceutical science.
Professor Basit graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bath, and received his PhD from The School of Pharmacy, University
of London.
Currently in position as Professor of Pharmaceutics at the UCL School of Pharmacy, he is internationally recognised for leading in the field of drug delivery,
microbiome medicines, three-dimensional printing of pharmaceuticals and digital health. He has also founded three start-up companies.
Professor Basit has an impressive track record of publications, and a lifetime grant and investment income of over £100million pounds. His research has led to
a series of transformative drug delivery systems, translated into the design of new technologies and improved therapies, many of which have been commercialised
and launched worldwide including a new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. To date, more than a million patients have benefited from inventions created and
developed in the Basit Research Group.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended faricimab as treatment option for adults with wet age-related macular degeneration
or diabetic macular oedema.
Thousands of people in England could benefit from the recommendation of a new drug that helps to treat two leading causes of sight loss and visual impairment.
Faricimab is administered as an eye injection and is being recommended as an option for treating some adults with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or with
diabetic macular oedema (DMO).
In the key clinical trials, aflibercept, another eye injection drug used to treat AMD and DMO, was administered every 8 weeks, while faricimab dosing, based on assessments of the disease activity, allowed for an interval of up to 16 weeks between doses, and was found to be equally effective.
Up to 300,000 people in England with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be eligible to receive faricimab as part of their treatment alongside just over 28,000 people with diabetic macular oedema.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy (paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel)
which is said to benefit people with triple negative breast cancer.
Clinical trial evidence shows that, compared with paclitaxel, pembrolizumab combination increases how long people have before their cancer gets worse and how long they live.
NICE already recommends atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy for untreated PD-L1-positive, locally advanced or metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer.
Atezolizumab combination is recommended by NICE for people with IC equal to or greater than 1%.
"This means that some people who can't have atezolizumab combination could be eligible for pembrolizumab combination," said NICE.
NICE's independent appraisal committee also agreed that the pembrolizumab combination meets the higher cost-effectiveness threshold for life-extending treatments for people with a short life expectancy.
Given by injection every 3 weeks, pembrolizumab (also called Keytruda and made by Merck Sharp and Dohme) is a type of immunotherapy that specifically targets triple
negative breast cancer. It works by blocking the activity of a protein known as PD-L1 which is produced in larger amounts on cancerous cells than normal cells. By blocking PD-L1 it helps the person's own immune cells to attack the cancer.
The World Health Organization said on Sunday (May 29) that monkey pox constitutes a "moderate risk" to overall public health at global level after cases were reported in countries where the disease is not typically found.
"The public health risk could become high if this virus exploits the opportunity to establish itself as a human pathogen and spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease such as young children and immunosuppressed persons," WHO said.
As of May 26, a total of 257 confirmed cases and 120 suspected cases have been reported from 23 member states that are not endemic for the virus, the health agency
said in a statement. There has been no reported fatalities so far.
WHO also said that the sudden appearance of monkeypox at once in several non-endemic countries suggests undetected transmission for some time and recent amplifying events.
The agency added that it expects more cases to be reported as surveillance in endemic and non-endemic countries expands.
Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild, and is endemic in parts of west and central Africa. It is spread by close contact, so it can be relatively easily contained through measures such as self-isolation and hygiene.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has expressed its support for alterations in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to enable original pack dispensing (OPD) and supply of medicines containing sodium valproate by pharmacists.
PSNC's support for changes was in response to the consultation on OPD, initiated by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The consultation had proposed regulatory changes to allow pharmacists to dispense (up to 10 per cent) more or less than the prescribed quantity of a given medicine in the manufacturer's original packs.
Key aims of the proposal are to "support increased patient safety by ensuring patients receive the necessary information that is included in the original manufacturer's packaging about the safe and effective use of a product," DHSC said.
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 Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has secured a contract with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to deliver a suite of e-learning modules to help pharmacy professionals "become more research active".
The new online resources - due to be launched next summer - are aimed at pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who may not have followed an academic career path or have had little or no experience of research delivery. The e-learning package will allow them to gain new skills so they feel more confident to engage with research and research opportunities.
Nine modules are being developed covering how to transform ideas into a research project, find and evaluate evidence and choose the appropriate research methods
whilst learning how to apply for research funding and deal with governance issues and publication.
More than 100 NHS clinicians have urged the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to change its decision - declining recommendation of romosozumab, the first new osteoporosis medication for over a decade.
In a joint letter published on January 2, the clinicians warned of the consequences of barring access to the drug to those who suffer the bone-weakening disease.
The joint letter, led by the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), raised concern over the scarcity of the drug pipeline for osteoporosis and lack of public funding for new research.
It quoted recent government research that showed the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) invested less than £1 million in osteoporosis research in 2020-21, against the £4.6 billion per year cost to the NHS of fractures.
Craig Jones, chief executive of the Royal Osteoporosis Society said: "We're calling on NICE and the applicant company to get back round the table and work with us to ensure equal access to this important new treatment.
England is set to reopen temporary field hospitals to contain a possible overspill of inpatients due to a surge in coronavirus cases, the national health service said Thursday.
Fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, daily cases have ballooned, standing at more than 183,000 on Wednesday.
NHS England said it would start building the structures in the grounds of eight hospitals in cities including London, Bristol and Leeds from this week, with each
designed to house around 100 extra patients.
"Given the high level of Covid-19 infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing," National medical director Stephen Powis said.
The extra beds are designed for patients who are recovering from illnesses, including those who no longer have Covid, to free up space and staff to treat large numbers of virus cases.
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 Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has called on pharmacy employers and pharmacists organisations to make donations towards the Pharmacist Support charity in the new year.
The association has urged them to donate £1 per pharmacist employee or member to the charity group to increase its funding from 2022 onwards.
Pharmacist Support, an independent charity, provides a variety of support services to pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists and pharmacy students in Great Britain.
It provides support through twelve sessions of fully funded counselling topharmacists, students, or trainees.
Since 2018, the association has donated more than £150,000 to the charity, in turn supporting its members who additionally seek assistance from Pharmacist Support.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association has reported an increase in the number of pharmacists calling its advice line to inform about the incidences of violence and intimidation from protesters opposing the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The association noted that such incidents have become more common with protesters "gaining entry to premises in groups and trying to disrupt Covid-19 vaccinations from taking place."
In many cases, pharmacists, staff, and members of the public have been subjected to verbal threats, causing distress and anxiety among those working to deliver the vaccination programme in a safe environment.
The PDA reminded that employers, having a contract with the NHS for the Covid-19 vaccinations, have a duty to keep their staff safe whilst at work.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards for pharmacy premises also carry a duty to ensure the safety of staff and the public receiving services on those premises.
Pharmacy teams are being encouraged to support the ground-breaking Platform Adaptive trial of Novel antivirals for early treatment of Covid-19 In the Community (PANORAMIC) study by raising awareness among patients.
The study aims to find out whether new antiviral treatments can help Covid-19 patients avoid hospital admission and support a quicker recovery.
The PANORAMIC trial will allow researchers to gather data on the potential benefits of treatments to patients and will help the NHS to develop plans for rolling out the products to further patients in 2022.
Anyone over the age of 50 or between 18 to 49 with certain underlying health conditions can participate in the trial after receiving a positive PCR or lateral flow test result for Covid-19.
People who wish to participate in the trial can sign up themselves through the study's website and may be contacted by a member of the clinical team in a general practice that has been set up to deliver the PANORAMIC trial.
