ZURICH (Reuters)—Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG says it will test the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in a randomized trial to see if the much talked about medicine is actually effective against COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The company hopes to have data on its efficacy by June, a lead researcher for the trial…
FDA Names Drugmakers Potentially Acting to Delay Cheap Generics
(Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday listed drugmakers, including Celgene Corp, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences and Novartis AG, who the regulator says are potentially blocking access to samples of their drugs to delay generic competition. Generic drugmakers may not be able to develop alternatives without access to samples of branded products they…
U.S. Top Court Debates Making Copycat Biologics Available Sooner
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday struggled over whether to speed up the time it takes to bring to the market copycat versions of biologic drugs, expensive medicines that can generate billions of dollars in sales for drug makers. The nine justices heard arguments in an appeal by Novartis AG of a lower court…