Estonia

J&J says it has “exhausted all current viable avenues” to get its antidepressant nasal spray Spravato reimbursed on England’s National Health Service, after NICE decided against re-appraising the drug following numerous funding rejections.

Estonia is hoping to  create a brighter future by attracting leading startups to its borders, a process that will bring tax revenues, jobs and infrastructure.

A new center for personalized medicine in Estonia will see PacBio’s long-read whole genome sequencing technology used to unlock new information about how genetics impact patients’ drug responses, experts from the project tell the Pink Sheet.

The proposed European Health Data Space aims to enable the seamless transition of health data sharing for certain purposes across the EU. A new report highlights how national variations in data storage and budgetary constraints may affect the initiative’s success.

Concerns over addiction to, and deliberate misuse of, codeine in Estonia has led the national regulator to reverse-switch the opioid from OTC to prescription-only status.

Amsterdam-based TheOTCLab has received an EU CE mark for its new wart and verruca OTC freezing device Dr. Yglo. The firm plans to launch the product in Europe in Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and will separately look to take it further afield to the US and South Africa.

A round-up of the latest European consumer health business news: Norway's Orkla strengthens its supplements offering with acquisition of UK's Healthspan; Bayer makes investment commitment to German Consumer Health operation; and Ipsen strikes a deal to promote brands in the Baltics.

Stay up to date on regulatory guidelines from around the world with the Pink Sheet's Guidance Tracker. The complete Global Pharma Guidance Tracker, with sortable and searchable listings going back to 2014, is available online.

Stay up to date on regulatory guidelines from around the world with the Pink Sheet's Guidance Tracker. The complete Global Pharma Guidance Tracker, with sortable and searchable listings going back to 2014, is available online.

Stay up to date on regulatory guidelines from around the world with the Pink Sheet's Guidance Tracker. The complete Global Pharma Guidance Tracker, with sortable and searchable listings going back to 2014, is available online.

Stada is set to snap up Czech Republic-based Walmark in its second major deal this year as it looks to make good on its promise to rapidly expand its OTC-focused Branded Products business. 

Stay up to date on regulatory guidelines from around the world with the Pink Sheet's Guidance Tracker. The complete Global Pharma Guidance Tracker, with sortable and searchable listings going back to 2014, is available online.

Estonia and Slovenia have been accepted onto an ongoing initiative by the European Medicines Agency that aims to boost the availability of centrally authorized drugs in smaller member states by charging companies a reduced fee for parallel distribution of medicines.

Estonia promises to put a major focus on the development, integration and uptake of eHealth both nationally and across the EU as it begins its six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The EU directive on falsified medicines has been published in the EU Official Journal amid an debate over which products should have to carry safety features on their packaging, and whether wholesalers should have to authenticate all the product packs that they handle.

St-Petersburg-based Pharmsynthez is buying the Estonian pharmaceutical company, Kevelt. No financial details have been revealed, but Russian experts estimated that the deal could be worth anywhere between few tens and two hundred million roubles (up to $7 million).

Estonia's pharmaceutical market grew by around 1% to EEK762 million ($62 million) at wholesale prices in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2009, the state agency of medicines, Ravimiamet, has said.

Krka says it will appeal against the temporary injunction imposed on its esomeprazole product Escadra by Estonia's Harju county court on 2 July.

Estonia's human pharmaceuticals market grew by 5% in the first quarter of 2010 to Eek738 million ($57.8 million) in wholesale prices compared with the same period last year, but was10% lower than the fourth quarter of 2009.

Sales of human pharmaceuticals in Estonia fell by 1% to EEK 3 billion ($258 million) in wholesale prices last year compared with 2008, the state agency of medicines, Ravimiamet, has said.