Global As our thoughts here at PharmaBoardroom turn towards the summer holidays, we are happy to share the five most-read articles from our global contributor network so far in 2021. These thought leadership pieces cover topics as vital and diverse as the latest regulatory updates from China; EU-UK pharma trade; the…

China In a big career move on a personal level and a sign of China’s continuing significance to global pharma, Hong Chow has left her role as General Manager for Roche Pharma in China to take on an expanded role at German giant Merck KGaA.   Chow will join Merck’s Healthcare…

Saudi Arabia Having commenced his journey with American giant Lilly in 2008, and after almost eight years working in the company’s Japan organization, mostly on digital marketing, Dimitri Livadas crossed the Pacific Ocean to work in Lilly’s home market and the largest pharma market in the world, the United States, first in…

Singapore In 2020, the FDA granted its first approval to a comprehensive liquid biopsy, potentially representing a paradigm shift towards using liquid biopsies upfront as an easier, safer, faster, and more effective tool for diagnosing cancer patients than traditional invasive tissue biopsies.   The company behind the Guardant360® CDx test, Guardant…

Saudi Arabia Clinical trials provide a pathway to innovation for clinicians and patients in countries like Saudi Arabia and form a key element of the country’s Vision 2030 national plan. As Saudi transitions away from oil towards becoming a knowledge-based economy, it is hoping to attract ever more international pharma companies to…

Hong Kong Three years after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) introduced reforms to allow and support the listing of pre-profit biotech companies, it has become Asia’s largest, and the world’s second-largest, biotech fundraising hub.   According to HKEX, the exchange is home to companies seeking international exposure, proximity to China and…

USA Patient advocate and regular PharmaBoardroom contributor Monica Weldon examines how healthcare’s data revolution has thus far largely ignored the patient voice and argues for a more inclusive approach to drive better, fairer outcomes.    It is natural to want to be healthy, have healthy children, have the best quality of…

Singapore Industry veteran Marine Queniart-Stojanovic, a self-described “global citizen with a French passport,” currently serves as Sanofi’s GM for general medicines in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. With Sanofi undergoing a significant transformation in its business approach, Queniart-Stojanovic is adapting this to the market realities in her managed countries as well as…

Europe Boehringer Ingelheim’s Hubertus von Baumbach, the newly appointed president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), shares the goals of his presidency and the role of the innovative European pharma industry in building a healthier future for the continent’s citizens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Singapore Singapore is one of the healthiest countries in Asia with a life expectancy in excess of 82 years buttressed by one of the most robust healthcare apparatuses in the world. “It’s important not to overlook the strengths of this system and just how strong healthcare delivery, affordability and access is…

Spain The latest from Spanish pharma, including the Patent and Trademark Office’s warning of the importance of IP protection for medical advancements, Grifols’ expansion in Africa through a manufacturing plant in Nigeria, Almirall’s newest EMA approval, and COVID-19 vaccination updates.   Spanish Patent Office: medical advances would be “inconceivable” without patents…

China The latest news from the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, including recent deals between domestic pharma giant Simcere and German biotech Vivoryon in Alzheimer’s; Innovent’s tie-up with Ascentage; Biogen’s USD 125 million midstage MS drug pact with InnoCare; and Everest Medicines’ partnership with social media giant Tencent.   Sinopharm Tops Ranking of…