China In March 2018, German pharma player Boehringer Ingelheim (BI)‘s Consanas Rehabilitation and the Shanghai International Medical Center (SIMC) jointly established a Rehabilitation Medicine Center for stroke patients with the mission to bring and deliver German stroke rehabilitation treatment standards to patients in China.   According to Consanas Rehabilitation, there are…

Switzerland After an illustrious career in oncology R&D, contributing greatly to the development of cutting-edge cancer therapies at Novartis and Gilead, Alessandro Riva, MD joined biotech Ichnos Sciences as its founding CEO in 2019. In a recent conversation with PharmaBoardroom, Riva explained why he took on this unique new opportunity at…

Americas The latest LatAm pharma news, including COVID-19 vaccine rollouts in Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico as well as legal and regulatory updates on the status of medical cannabis in the region.   COVAX initiative begins in Latin America with 117,000 Pfizer vaccine doses for Colombia (Spanish) https://elpais.com/sociedad/2021-03-01/la-iniciativa-covax-debuta-en-america-latina-con-117000-vacunas-para-colombia.html   At least 13…

UK The first day of March 2013 also marked a first for GW Pharmaceuticals. On that day, the British biopharmaceutical company successfully listed on NASDAQ, raising over USD 30 million. Founded in 1998, UK headquartered GW Pharma is a true pioneer as the company behind Epidiolex, the world’s first prescription medicine…

Germany A roundup of some of the most important recent news from German pharma, including state honours for the founders of BioNTech, the latest on vaccines and lockdowns in the country, as well as the German pharma firms making international investments and predicting mid-term growth.   Pharma companies must deliver promised…

Switzerland This article forms part of Healthcare & Life Sciences Review: Switzerland February 2021, a comprehensive up-to-date country report on the Swiss pharma market, featuring data snapshots, feature articles, exclusive interviews and more. Click here to download.   Long heralded as an innovation powerhouse able to hold its own against the…

Saudi Arabia In a recent conversation with PharmaBoardroom, Prof. Hisham Bin Saad Al-Jadhey, CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) outlined the organisation’s strategic priorities. As part of the Authority’s 2018-2022 strategic plan, it has set out a number of goals, ranging from setting clearer objectives to strengthening its capabilities,…

Latvia Dr Valters Bolevics, director general of the Association of International Research-based Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers of Latvia (SIFFA), outlines the progress made on market access for innovative pharmaceuticals in Latvia in recent years and the hurdles still to be overcome to catch up with its Baltic neighbours.   Stable pharmaceutical product market…

Canada Writing in the March edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, Judith Glennie examines the findings of Health Canada’s consultation with Canadians on what a national strategy for high-cost rare disease drugs could look like.   On January 27, 2021, Health Canada launched a consultation on the development of a National…

Mexico Last Wednesday, the lower chamber of the Mexican Congress approved a bill that would legalise recreational marijuana. With a population of nearly 130 million people, Mexico would join Canada and Uruguay as the only countries to legalise marijuana at the national level in the continent and it would become the…

Global From almost being de-listed by the NASDAQ stock index in 2018 due to poor financial performance, US vaccine firm Novavax has completed a remarkable turnaround. Now the holder of one of the world’s leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates and the recipient of billions of dollars in funding from the US government…

Brazil Founded in 1950, EMS is one of the top two domestic pharma companies in Brazil. As a key player in the largest and most populous nation in Latin America, the company has around 13 percent of the Brazilian market share with gross sales of USD 2.5 billion in 2019.  …