China The latest news from Chinese pharma, including an examination of the new national reimbursement drug list (NRDL), the therapies that have and have not made it onto the list, and the significant price cuts that have been agreed. Also included are the World Health Organization (WHO)’s plea to Chinese COVID-19…

China The phenomenal success of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines has catapulted messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines into public consciousness, and mRNA technology is today receiving more scientific and financial attention than ever before. Suzhou, China-based biotech Abogen, for example, which has an mRNA-based COVID vaccine in late-stage development, has received…

Denmark Catherine Mazzacco’s two-year stint as CEO of Danish dermatology specialist LEO Pharma is over. With the company’s board planning for an initial public offering (IPO) within the next four-to-five years, LEO is now on the lookout for a replacement with capital market experience and the ability to steer the firm…

Spain A rundown of five things to know about the healthcare and life sciences industry in Catalonia. Nestled in Northeastern Spain and bordering France, Catalonia’s capital and largest city is Barcelona. The region boasts a strong scientific output by European standards, is the birthplace of many of Spain’s pharma success stories,…

Denmark Denmark boasts plenty of strong fundamentals as a clinical trials hub, but is perhaps constrained by a population of just 5.8 million and a correspondingly small patient pool. However, international collaboration, not least with neighbouring Sweden (population 10.4 million), has the potential to greatly increase the pool from which trial…

Spain Aiming to leverage European Union funds to reindustrialise its economy, the Spanish government has approved a public-private collaboration instrument to transform its health sector. The project looks to position Spain as a leader in precision medicine R&D and strengthen its healthcare sector with an investment of EUR 1.46 billion that…

Denmark Medtech The DKK 56bn (EUR 7.5bn) Danish medtech industry employs 15,200 workers, accounts for 7.4 percent of Danish business and industry’s total research investments, contributes to 1.4 percent of national GDP, and exports DKK 18.2bn (EUR 2.4bn) worth of products annually. Here are five key trends affecting this important sector.  …

Global Shawview Consulting’s Brendan Shaw laments the descent into nationalism that COVID-19 – like past pandemics – has led to, and outlines his hopes that the World Health Assembly’s new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response will lead to a more unified, global approach to future pandemics.   When Professor…

Denmark Speaking after the recent completion of a three-year strategic transformation plan, ALK President and CEO Carsten Hellmann outlines the progress made by the Danish allergy giant under his stewardship, including deeper penetration of the US market, shifting from injections to tablets, and driving digitalisation and efficiency.   To put our…

Global Marc Boutin, Novartis’ global head of patient engagement, outlines the company’s “bold vision” of patient engagement and the actions that need to be taken for CAR-T patients in the immediate, short- medium-, and long-term. This piece forms part of our special section, InFocus: Patient Engagaement in the Era of CAR-T.…

Denmark Denmark’s four largest pharma companies – Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck, LEO Pharma, and ALK – are all at least partly owned by independent foundations, which means that their profits are divided between their shareholders and the foundations themselves, with funds then channelled into academia and biotech start-ups. Here, a variety of…

Saudi Arabia Few stakeholders are better placed to assess the landscape for rare disease therapies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region than Karim Smaira and Kamel Ghammachi of Genpharm, an entrepreneurial success story that now provides market access and marketing solutions for rare disease products across the region.  …