Industry Update: The latest developments in therapeutic delivery

This article provides a snapshot of the news stories from the world of therapeutic delivery in the period 1-31 August 2013. During this month, the Boards of Amgen and Onyx Pharmaceuticals gave their approval to the purchase by Amgen of Onyx's outstanding shares in a deal worth US$10.4 billion, or $9.7 billion net of estimated Onyx cash. The deal, said to be the fifth largest involving a biotechnology company, is expected to close in Q4 2013 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. August also saw the publication of a reflection paper on the coating of nanomedicines by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. This paper highlights the key considerations for the development of nanomedicine and nanosimilars (nanomedicines that are claimed to be similar to a reference nanomedicine) and makes recommendations with regard to the quality control and assurance of such products. As ever, the Industry Update is based mainly on information from press releases and company websites.