Pharmaceutical Technologist - September 2007 - (Page 8)

News // Concern that nurses are “over-prescribing” Numbers of prescriptions issued by UK nurse practitioners have increased by 49% since the new rules in April last year granted them powers to prescribe more complex drugs, research suggests. The report, published in Pulse magazine, voices the concerns of Hugh McGavock, visiting professor of prescribing science at the University of Ulster and a former member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). He argues that nurses’ knowledge of diagnosis is “pathetically poor”. “It takes medical students 5 years to be competent to make a differential diagnosis — only a country with not enough doctors would go down this cheapy line,” he added. Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing defended the profession: “Nurse prescribing has been a historic move for the nursing profession and it is one of the most successful parts of the current NHS reforms. Far from being the problem Professor McGavock suggests, nurse prescribing has proved itself to be an important part of the solution in improving access to medicines and cutting waiting times for patients.” The majority of nurses who prescribe have at least 10 years’nursing experience before starting their prescribing training and must have either degree or masters-level education, according to Carter. “Far from having a ‘pathetically poor’knowledge of diagnosis, before they can even access a course, nurses have to be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient assessment and diagnostic skills in the specialist area they will prescribe in.” The study compared prescribing levels between May 2006 and May 2007, and discovered that prescriptions for rosiglitazone, the diabetes drug, had increased 245% in the period. Also, those for the antidepressant paroxetine had risen to 262%. The journal obtained the data from the NHS Business Services Authority, under the Freedom of Information Act. A spokesperson for the Department of Health highlighted that general practitioners still account for 99% of all items prescribed, and stressed that nurse practitioners undergo “rigorous” training and are required to keep their skills up to date. However, Jo Haynes, the editor of Pulse, said: “The whole scheme has been rushed through with only the bare minimum of piloting and evaluation, and it won’t be until academics start analysing the rates of adverse events and prescribing errors that we will know whether it has been a good or bad thing.” www.rcn.org.uk LFB to acquire MAbgene French pharmaceutical firm LFB has announced its plans to take over fellow biotech company MAbgene through the development of a new entity totalling €6 million. The deal marks LFB’s intent to increase its bioproduction facilities following its recent move into biotechnology. The new company will be controlled by the LFB subsidiary, LFB Biotechnologies, and will operate from MAbgene’s manufacturing site at Ales in southern France. The terms of the current agreement stipulate that LFB Biotechnologies will acquire 41% of the stock capital and 51% of the voting rights in the new company for an initial payment of €3m, providing MAbgene with the funds needed to develop activities, build new operating facilities and recruit more personnel. The objective is to ultimately acquire all of MAbgene. According to Christian Bechon, LFB Group chairman, the integration of MAbgene and the investments made in the Languedoc Roussillon region on the Ales site “correspond to a true industrial logic and are fully in line with our commitment to growing the group in the biomanufacturing sector. This operation will also enable us to become more autonomous in developing our own monoclonal antibodies.” The new biotech company will manufacture commercial batches of monoclonal antibodies. Plans for expanding the plant include a pilot development unit and an existing GMP clinical batch production facility. Patrick Henno, MAbgene founder and chairman, will become chief executive of the new company. www.lfb.fr www.mabgene.com September 8 september 2007 l pharmaceutical technologist http://www.rcn.org.uk http://www.lfb.fr http://www.mabgene.com

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Contents Editor’s Comment News Morpheus Market Watch CPhI Worldwide 2007 Compliant Pharmaceutical Labelling Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - September 2007

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