Tagged with Regulation

Regulation The UK Prime Minister has been convinced by medical professionals to fortify all flour with folic acid to reduce the number of birth defects in newborns. A large cohort of government and NHS advisors are in support of fortification, which already occurs in over 80 countries including the US. It…

Regulation As deputy director of health and nutrition at the European Commission EC, Martin Seychell has a lot on his plate if we are to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) –which aim to significantly improve life for all people on earth by 2030. One of the biggest challenges we face in…

Europe At last week’s European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), the theme surrounded the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. Out of the 17 SDGs, 12 are in some way connected to health and nutrition. In attendance were key stakeholders in European health including Martin Seychell, deputy director of health…

Spain Enrique Ruiz Escudero, Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, discusses his strategy to maintain Madrid’s spot as having Spain’s leading healthcare system, the creation of the bio-region –‘Biomad’, and the city’s adoption of innovative telemedicine practices. You took the reins of the Ministry of Health of the Community…

Regulation Dominique Martin, CEO of the ANSM (Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé) provides a fascinating insight into the French process of authorizing drugs and medical products, his commitment to increased transparency and increased efficiency, and the opportunity for France to take the lead in European…

Algeria With non WTO members such as Algeria flouting intellectual property (IP) it raises the issue of how best to protect and price medicines in the future. In a fascinating interview we spoke to Rachid Kerrar from the Algerian firm Beker about their development of a cheaper, generic version of Gilead’s…

regulation Chinese ecommerce behemoths Alibaba and JD.com are being used to buy and sell tens of thousands of prescription medicines, skirting regulations in what is a legal grey area. According to a recent Financial Times report, dozens of listings from third party vendors – mainly pharmacies – for drugs such as…

Cannabis Following the death penalty handed to Muhammad Lukman, a 29-year old man who was convicted of possessing, processing and distributing medicinal cannabis oil, public outcry has caused Malaysian officials to reconsider the punishment.   Muhammad Lukman was arrested in 2015 for possessing 3.1 litres of cannabis oil, 279 g of compressed cannabis and 1.4 kg of…

regulation The stakes are high, and the outcome is uncertain in one of the largest Pharma M&A deals ever. Takeda’s proposed acquisition of Shire seems to have it all: The combined entity becoming one of the largest global Pharma groups, enabling Takeda to become a truly global operation and allowing Shire’s…

Regulation In this exclusive interview, Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), defines ‘fair pricing’, gives the IFPMA’s take on so-called “cost-plus” pricing models, and talks about access to medicine in developing markets.   The innovative pharmaceutical industry seems to be under unprecedented pressure…

Diversity Ai Hua Ong, Company Group Chairman, Asia Pacific, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.   There is a clear correlation between an inclusive culture and innovation Creating a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture is key to an organisation’s success in today’s and tomorrow’s world. Organisations large and…

Cannabis In a move to capitalize on a global market projected to exceed USD 60 billion by 2024, Cyprus has joined a growing number of European nations in legally permitting the cultivation and provision of medical cannabis.   The Republic will grant two 15-year licenses to private medical cannabis cultivators to…