China Hot on the heels of a USD 120 million fundraising round, Shanghai-based EpimAb Biotherapeutics is now looking towards a 2022 IPO with the aim of becoming a globally competitive player in the bispecific antibody field.   The Series C financing round means that the company has raised over USD 220…

Spain The latest from Spanish pharma, including the acquisition of PTS by a private equity group for its nanoparticle drug delivery technologies; the agreement between Esteve and Kowa to license an acute pain product currently in Phase III; and the growth of the Spanish pharma market in February after falling 4…

USA In a shock move, Joe Biden’s administration looks set to support a waiver on intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19 vaccines.   The decision – which comes amid worrying situations in India and other counties and increasing concern that vaccine-resistant strains of COVID could undermine a global recovery – has…

APAC COVID-19 has pushed diagnostics to the forefront of healthcare conversations across the world. Here, three leading lights from the Asia-Pacific medtech industry weigh in on what the new diagnostics paradigm might look like as the pandemic recedes.   Sanjay Prabhakaran, president Asia Pacific, Hologic “One positive outcome of this pandemic…

Turkey As the international community continues its quest to vaccinate the global population against COVID-19, shortages of already approved vaccines have put many countries on the waiting list. Approved vaccines from the United States, Europe, China and Russia have taken the lead but new candidates from the rest of the world…

Global On World Intellectual Property (IP) Day 2021, the innovative biopharmaceutical industry came together to launch a new initiative foregrounding the benefits to patients and to society at large of a robust IP framework. Under the INTERPAT umbrella, 25 industry members and associations launched the ‘IP Principles for Advancing Cures and…

UK Stuart Evans, partner at law firm BLM and specialist in commercial disputes and litigation examines the origins and fallout of the EU/AstraZeneca vaccine dispute and why the twin forces of COVID-19 and Brexit seem set to muddy the waters of cross-border pharma trade for some time to come.   Five…

Korea The latest news from Korean pharma, including how Korea can put the infrastructure in place to develop a homegrown blockbuster drug; Prestige Biopharma’s move to open a vaccine facility; and Samsung Bioepis’ first steps into the Australian market.   ‘Now is best time to develop Korean blockbuster drug’ (Korea Biomedical…

Switzerland Animal testing for medicinal purposes is back under the spotlight in Switzerland after a petition against the practice filed in Bern managed to generate tens of thousands of signatures. Even more ominously, a popular initiative emanating from the Canton of St Gallen is still pending that proposes an outright ban…

MEA The latest Middle East and North Africa (MENA) pharma, including Egypt’s opening of the largest “pharmaceutical city” in the Middle East and Abu Dhabi’s quest to become a pharma hub with the goal of distributing billions of vaccines.   Turkish Koçak Farma’s COVID-19 vaccine has begun Phase I clinical trials…

Mexico While Mexico struggles with its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, residents of the country’s northern states have begun flying to the United States in search of a shot. Fearful of “fake vaccines” in their home country, some Mexicans are risking their tourism visas, and in some cases their lives, to be inoculated…

Switzerland In February 2020, US giant MSD announced the launch of a new site in Zurich specialising in R&D, data management, and commercialisation, foregrounding the company’s commitment to Switzerland. MSD employs over 1000 people in Switzerland across five sites in local, regional, and global functions, engages in 25 in-country clinical trials…