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South African health authorities wants Roche to reduce cancer medication prices

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa is negotiating with pharmaceutical company Roche to reduce the price of its breast cancer drug Herceptin, which cost 500,000 rand ($32,745) a year to treat one person and was unaffordable to most women, the health minister said on Tuesday. “I met the CEO in April and told him women won’t be able to afford this. Let’s talk, maybe something can come out of this,” minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters. ($1 = 15.2695 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)

FDA staff questions Clovis drug’s efficacy over current treatments

(Reuters) – Staff reviewers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday questioned if Clovis Oncology Inc’s lung cancer drug was more effective than available treatments. The reviewers also recommended including a black box warning, the FDA’s strictest warning, in the drug’s label. (http://1.usa.gov/1WhpSFa) Rociletinib, which is very similar to an AstraZeneca Plc drug already on the market, targets patients whose disease has worsened after treatment with other therapies. (Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi and Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Russia says registers first case of person infected with Zika virus

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia's consumer safety watchdog said on Monday the country had registered its first case of a person infected with the Zika virus, an unnamed female who had been on holiday in the Dominican Republic. Rospotrebnadzor, the watchdog, said in a statement that the condition of the person was satisfactory and that her family members had tested negative for the virus. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

PSivida Corp says experimental eye drug meets study goal

(Reuters) – Drugmaker pSivida Corp said its experimental eye drug prevented inflammation in the back of patients’ eyes in a late-stage study. The drugmaker said only 18.4 percent of the patients given the treatment Medidur had the condition, posterior uveitis, return, compared with 78.6 percent patients who were given placebo. The company’s shares were up 32.4 percent at $4.90 in premarket trading on Tuesday. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Lilly’s psoriatic arthritis drug succeeds in late-stage study

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said its experimental drug, ixekizumab, was more effective than a placebo in patients with active psoriatic arthritis, in a late-stage trial. Psoriatic arthritis is a progressive and chronic disease that can cause swelling, stiffness and pain in and around joints. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)