Increased Government investment in pharmaceuticals over the past three years has undoubtedly benefited thousands of New Zealand patients, Medicines New Zealand General Manager Kevin Sheehy says.

It is no consolation to the roughly one out of 600 families who lost their homes in the U.S. but Wall Street made a lot of money slicing and dicing mortgages it knew would implode, while hiding risks. Financial giants, like AIG, are still buzzing along and neither penalties or new laws will prevent a future crash, say financial analysts, because the risky business models have not really changed. In fact, occlusive business models responsible for the previous Internet bubble in 2000 and for which CEOs are still in prison may soon be legal again under the U.S.' pending JOBS Act. Thanks for that.

New Zealand’s Douglas Pharmaceuticals has gained Food and Drug administration approval to sell its acne medication, isotretinoin, in the United States.

A press release issued by Pharmac has confirmed that the pharmaceuticals company funded more medicines in the past year than any other years.

A survey conducted by the Herald on Sunday has revealed that some pharmacies are charging double for prescription drugs.

Pharmaceuticals and medical supplies distributor Ebos Group backed away from an acquisition in Britain because of deteriorating market conditions in Europe but is currently evaluating another “significant” Australasian purchase.

Three patient advocacy groups have won a concession from Pharmac who will consider at their 27 September board meeting an appeal against their earlier decision to decline funding for Myozyme, a specialised enzyme replacement therapy. Myozyme treats Pompe disease, a rare Lysosomal disease that has similar symptoms to some forms of muscular dystrophy. Without treatment Pompe disease is fatal, leading over several years to increased muscle weakness and respiratory failure.

An effective pill to prevent obese people regaining weight they have lost and research that will help us understand how diabetes can cause the heart to fail are just two of the areas targeted by research supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC). The HRC has today announced a $74.56 million funding investment into health research. “New Zealand is experiencing a diabetes epidemic and its impact falls disproportionately on Māori and Pacific Island peoples,” says HRC Chief Executive, Dr Robin Olds. “This year, the HRC is funding research that challenges accepted beliefs about how diabetes damages the heart, and could require a fundamental rethinking of therapeutic strategies.”