Japan has announced several new measures to tackle the lack of rare disease and other therapeutics in the domestic market, with the country's main industry association also issuing the first common national informed consent form in a bid to lighten the “huge workload” on trial site staff.

The latest drug development news and highlights from the Pink Sheet’s US FDA Performance Tracker

Sales of COVID-19 drug Veklury helped keep sales in the black as the pandemic and generic competition weighed on HIV and HCV products; Gilead raised full-year 2021 guidance.

The number of new drugs containing new active substances approved in the EU rose significantly in 2020, underpinned by a strong showing for orphan-designated products and a string of novel medicines for cancer and infectious diseases. Notable among the new clutch of approvals was the first ever COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty.