Tagged with Vaccines,

South Africa With Africa struggling to vaccinate its populations against COVID-19, the World Bank – along with government institutions from the USA, Germany, and France – has intervened to loan South African firm Aspen Pharmacare EUR 600 million (USD 712 million) with the aim of increasing vaccine manufacturing know how across the…

Singapore Erika Pagani, country manager for Pfizer Singapore, shares her journey with the company from Brazil to New York, Peru, Ecuador, and finally Singapore. She discusses why the island city-state is well-positioned as a launchpad for Pfizer’s innovation and the “laboratory” for emerging Asia, and how the company is working to…

Turkey TITCK is the regulatory agency in charge of ensuring the safety of medicines, health products, cosmetics, and personal care products in Turkey. Its recently appointed president, Dr Tolga Karakan, discusses the agency’s work with the WHO, ICH and EU Commission to help Turkish patients and consumers, their experience with emergency…

Saudi Arabia Mohamed Fawzy highlights how Pfizer’s work in Saudi Arabia dovetails with the country’s ambitious ‘Vision 2030’ transformation strategy, the Saudi market’s increasing relevance to the company, and how Pfizer is working for the benefit of the Saudi people on COVID-19 vaccine access and beyond.   In simple terms, Vision 2030…

Brazil The latest news from Brazilian pharma, including an investigation into the country’s deal with Indian lab Bharat Biotech to purchase COVID-19 vaccines; the IP and regulatory challenges around personalised medicine in Brazil; and how domestic champion EMS surged in performance in 2020 thanks to COVID.   Brazil probes Health Ministry…

Mexico The latest news from Mexican pharma, including Bayer’s big bet on oncology and Novartis’ aggressive expansion strategy as well as updates on the country’s vaccination drive, including the upcoming rollout of the J&J jab, why the country’s doctors are being denied vaccines, and the progression of trials for the Sanofi…

Asia-Pacific The latest from the pharma industry in Southeast Asia, including underwhelming results from Kalbe Pharma, Indonesia’s largest pharma company; Novavax’s vaccine manufacturing plans in the Philippines; the promising future of cannabis in Thailand; and the first Vietnamese coronavirus vaccine candidate’s Phase III trials.   Indonesia’s Kalbe Farma sales underwhelm investors…

Germany The latest news from German pharma, including a new US leadership team and more COVID-related investment at Merck KGaA; the CureVac vaccine’s role in fighting COVID-19 variants; and why the country is trailing its European neighbours in digital health.   Merck KGaA’s new CEO shakes up U.S. leadership to spark…

Global Big Pharma’s representatives are warning of upcoming bottlenecks in the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing supply chain and are asking for a unified approach to address inefficiencies and increase manufacturing capacities. However, recently published reports and news point to inefficiencies within the manufacturing industry itself and not necessarily a lack of raw…

Switzerland AstraZeneca’s recently arrived Switzerland country president, Katrien de Vos, gives her first impressions of the Swiss market and how she hopes to build upon the affiliate’s strong performance. de Vos also touches on access challenges (and how to surmount them) as well as AstraZeneca Switzerland’s role in bringing the company’s…

USA The day the Biden administration announced its support for the waiver of IP rights for COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna’s stock fell six percent; the day after that, another two percent. However, the Massachusetts-based company’s CEO Stephane Bancel remains unconcerned and believes that their successful vaccine is just the beginning of the mRNA era…

Switzerland In the last month alone, CDMO giant Lonza has announced three major upgrades to its manufacturing footprint in Visp, Western Switzerland: a huge expansion of its biologics capacity, new production lines for the manufacture of antibody-drug conjugates, and a ramping up of its workforce dedicated to the production of ingredients…