Italy As the European Union’s largest beneficiary of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) package, aimed at boosting the EU’s economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy will receive some EUR 235 billion in grants and loans over the lifetime of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). With respect to healthcare, the…

Americas Two Big Pharma SVPs with responsibility for the entirety of Latin America weigh in on the management challenges inherent in LatAm and what they look for when appointing country managers in their region.   LatAm’s regional pharma market of USD 98 billion looks set to be the fastest growing in…

Switzerland Roche slipped from second to fifth place in this year’s ranking of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, reported uninspiring numbers for the first half of the year and seen its long-time CEO resign. But make no mistake: the Swiss giant is carefully guarding its position as one of the world’s…

China China healthcare and life sciences news. Top stories include the NMPA approvals of CanSino’s inhaled COVID-19 vaccine and AstraZeneca’s CKD treatment, HitGen/Unison’s anti-infectives deal and the funding secured by cell therapy biotech Neukio Biotherapeutics.   Neovii & Fosun Pharma sign deal to bring transplantation medicine to China (BioSpectum Asia) Switzerland-based…

Global In only 21 years, the Global Fund has made remarkable progress in the fight to eliminate HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria across the world, contributing to 44 million lives saved. Cross-sectoral partnerships that leverage the skills and capabilities of governments, multilateral agencies, bilateral partners, civil society groups, people affected by…

Singapore Japanese giant Takeda has a new Head for APAC; Indian national Dr Mahender Nayak, previously the firm’s India, CIS, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (ICMEA) lead. Nayak will relocate to Singapore, where he has spent almost half of his 20-year pharma career, and take on responsibility for the vast Asia-Pacific…

India As one of the world’s a leading pharma manufacturers, India supplies about 20 percent of the global pharmaceuticals demand in terms of volume, yet the industry remains plagued with quality compliance issues. After Sun Pharma, Aurobindo and Zydus found themselves on the FDA’s radar earlier this year, two more Indian…

Mexico Mexico’s pharma market, the second largest in Latin America and among the top 15 globally, is set to top USD 13 billion in sales by 2028. Despite the encouraging numbers, some industry insiders are bemoaning the current government’s healthcare missteps along with the country’s low public spending and regulatory hurdles.…

Hong Kong After a record year of new biotech listings in 2021, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has seen a significant drop-off in the first eight months of 2022. The exchange went from 20 new listings last year to only four this year, with just three full months of 2022 remaining…

LatAm A roundup of some of the latest from Latin American pharma, including India’s interest in the South American market, Bayer’s USD 361 million investment in Mexico, the EU’s partnership to boost investment in vaccines and drug production in the region, Panama’s cannabis strategy, and Brazil’s manufacturing attractiveness.   Indian pharma…

Japan Pfizer’s Kaneko Miyuki, writing in the September 2022 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, shines a light on Japan’s new emergency approval system for pharmaceuticals. Enacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan hopes that this new regulation will allow for a more rapid and agile response to future…

ASEAN Takeda’s Soon Yee Chow and Helene Sou, writing in the September 2022 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, outline how digitalisation initiatives, if properly enacted, can help the ASEAN region achieve its vision of a free-trade market for high-quality and safe drugs across member states.   One key pillar of…