LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) new CEO Pascal Soriot, outlining his investment strategy for the ailing drugmaker this week, is unlikely to offer any quick fixes to plug a looming $6 billion (3.9 billion pounds) sales gap.

The former Roche (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) executive aims to invest more in existing products, rebuild the group’s research base, and – crucially – use acquisitions to replenish future drug supply.

LONDON (Reuters) – The pharmaceutical industry should be able to charge less for new drugs in future by passing on efficiencies in research and development to its customers, according to the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

“It’s not unrealistic to expect that new innovations ought to be priced at or below, in some cases, the prices that have pre-existed them,” Andrew Witty told a conference on healthcare in London.

LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have for the first time mapped the genomes of tapeworms, shedding light on the evolution of one of humankind’s oldest parasites and revealing new possibilities for drug treatments.

DNA analysis of the tapeworms suggests that a number of existing medicines for cancer, viruses and other diseases may be able to fight serious illness caused by their larvae, which can spread through the body causing damaging cysts.

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – One year on from a breast implant
scandal that shook confidence in Europe’s light-touch system for
regulating medical devices, lawmakers and manufacturers are at
loggerheads on ways to protect patients from shoddy products.

Companies that make implantable devices such as new hips and
heart stents accept the need for change to the current set-up
but oppose a radical overhaul, arguing that would delay the
launch of new devices by years and stifle innovation.

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – In an unlikely tie-up,
astronomers and cancer researchers have joined forces to study
breast tumours using image analysis software originally
developed to explore the distant stars.

The automated system offers a speedy way to test if tumours
are aggressive and may mean pathologists one day no longer have
to peer down a microscope to spot subtle differences in tissue
samples.