Hungary Investments in research and development are on the rise in Hungary, backed up by government initiatives, but the country needs a more unified effort between the public and private sectors to truly deliver on its innovation potential.   On the Up Globally, R&D spending has been on a sturdy upward…

Hungary Hungary’s two largest pharma firms, Egis Pharmaceuticals and Gedeon Richter, are stepping up their biosimilars offering; providing the European market with more affordable biologic medicines and bolstering Hungary’s footprint in biologics R&D.   Biosimilars in Europe Over the past decade, over 80 biologic molecules have been launched worldwide. By 2020…

USA The AAM’s Chip Davis examines the roadblocks to greater adoption of biosimilar drugs in the USA, and why they need to be removed to potentially save billions of dollars and increase patient access to lifesaving medications.     In a nutshell: competition brings prices down across the board Biologic drugs…

USA AstraZeneca’s Rick R. Suarez looks at workable solutions to the challenges facing healthcare in the US and why inter-stakeholder collaboration, rather than finger-pointing, is the only way forward.   Discussion and debate related to cost and quality in healthcare has never been more pronounced or more contentious, whether focusing on…

Hungary Like many of its European counterparts, Hungary is suffering from medicine shortages. Vaccines, vitamins, and orphan drugs are some of the most affected areas and oncology patients are now also at risk.   An Increasing Burden Over 14,000 types of pharmaceuticals are unavailable in Hungarian pharmacies, which is placing an…

Europe Awareness is growing of the dangers of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in Europe, and conversations are beginning to taking place around how to leverage data to combat these infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A panel of experts from diverse backgrounds at the European Health Forum Gastein put their heads together to…

Hungary Hungarian patients currently experience longer wait times and more limited access to subsidised innovative medicines than their neighbours in Bulgaria and Slovakia.leading some organisations to urge the government to increase funding and shorten approval times.   According to the Hungarian Association of Innovative Pharma Manufacturers, since 2016 only 48 new…

4+7 China’s roll-out of a 25-province expansion to the 4+7 pilot procurement scheme has seen pharma companies scrambling to cut prices for their drugs even further in the latest bidding war.   Pharma companies in China are facing yet another intense race to the bottom on pricing. On the 24th of…

India Unlike many of his pharma peers, Vivek Sharma worked in operations and finance for two decades before joining the life sciences industry as head of Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) in 2011. Already established as one of the world’s leading CDMOs with a presence in North America, Europe, and Asia, Sharma…

Taiwan While Taiwanese pharmaceutical and biotech players have traditionally set their sights on the US as a key market, rising medical needs in Asia are helping foster more regionally-focused strategies.   According to data from the World Bank, healthcare spending in Asia is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2…

Taiwan All country managers of multinational pharma companies need to strike the balance between having a global outlook and adapting to local culture. For BoonHuey Ee, general manager of Merck Biopharma Taiwan, “at first glance, each country might appear to be vastly different with its own incomparable features. However, rather than…

Switzerland Unknown to some, Switzerland meanwhile remains both influential and relevant in global pharma circles not just for the obvious core activities of research, discovery and marketing, but also for its prowess in outsourced manufacturing. This might seem rather surprising considering the comparatively high cost of Swiss labour relative to the…