The global biosimilars market value is expected to reach $20 billion by the end of 2015 and could hit $55 billion by 2020, with growth primarily driven by a promising pipeline in active development and government efforts to reduce healthcare spending, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company’s latest CBR Pharma report states that biologics currently account for between 17–20 percent of the pharmaceutical arena, with a value of nearly $200 billion, and these products may replace 70 percent of chemical drugs in the next two decades.

The 30 percent to 50 percent reduction in biosimilar prices compared with branded biologics could lead to considerable savings in healthcare expenditure.

Sativex, the first cannabis-based medicinal product authorized in France, might ultimately never happen in pharmacies. The explanation? After months of negotiation, Almirall, the laboratory which markets Sativex in Europe, and the Economic Committee for Health Products (CEPS), the body that sets the price of medicines, are not able to agree. The first proposes to sell Sativex Box 350 euros, 20% less than the average price in Europe. The second did not offer him more than 60 euros. "This is unacceptable: this would sell at a loss! "Growls Christophe Vandeputte, director of Almirall in France, which now wants to go to " political arbitration ".

Mild stimulant used to be Maua’s most valuable export, bringing prosperity to all involved. A year since it was outlawed, the local economy has been devastated

In a quiet and unassuming town tucked away in a hilly part of eastern Kenya, the British home secretary Theresa May’s name is spoken with barely concealed anger. Since her role in the ban of the town’s most valuable export, she’s become a universally vilified figure.

For more than two decades, Maua enjoyed booming business propelled by the growth and sale of khat, known locally as miraa, a popular herb whose leaves and stems are chewed for the mild high they offer.

Coke is dying out, while weed is innovating

Thanks to innovation, illegal marijuana users are getting a stronger—and possibly more harmful—high today than they did 10 years ago.

The potency of cannabis, commonly measured by concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, has steadily increased over the past decade in the U.S. and Europe, the two major marijuana markets, according to the annual World Drugs Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime.

Chemist Markus Lüdi is Switzerland’s only producer of a natural tincture made from cannabis. In his laboratory in Burgdorf in canton Bern he demonstrates how a liquid drug can be produced from cannabis flowers. 

The cannabis contains around 5% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychotropic substance of the plant with therapeutic properties.

Since cannabis was effectively decriminalised two years ago, drug cultivation in Switzerland has soared. The country’s drug laws have swung between permissiveness and conservatism over the last two decades and the result is an ambiguous situation where possession of certain drugs – such as cannabis – is semi-decriminalised.

The parliamentary intergroup for the legalization of cannabis has developed the cornerstones of the draft law to be presented to the rooms: the right to self, cannabis social club on the Spanish model, and state monopoly with regard to sales. Some details may change in future meetings, but the general structure of the bill will be this.

Objective Intergroup (which exceeded 150 accessions between MPs and senators of various opinions) to turn the draft into a real bill as soon as possible and look for the scheduling for the parliamentary debate before the summer.

RIGHT TO SELF

Increasing numbers of Belgian teenagers are seeking help for cannabis use, De Standaard reported on Monday.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary condition caused by a mutation in the haemoglobin gene, which leads to symptoms of anaemia, extreme pain, and organ damage if unmanaged. Individuals suffering from SCD are far more likely to use cannabis than the general population, potentially for its analgesic properties.

What is Sickle Cell Disease?

In SCD, a mutation in the haemoglobin gene causes red blood cells to become distorted, from the usual pliable, concave disc to a rigid, sickle-shaped form. In normal conditions, the cells temporarily deform in order to be squeezed through narrow blood vessels.

This weekend, a group of volunteers are wrapping up a 420 km bike ride with a very specific goal in mind: making money for a clinical trial of cannabis as a potential treatment to fight brain cancer