Tagged with manufacturing

South Korea South Korea has carved a place for itself as a dominant player in the global pharma and med-tech manufacturing industry with national companies Samsung Biologics and Celltrion leading the way. In 2019, the South Korean government announced a USD 1.7 billion five-year plan to fund biotech-related projects with the intention…

Africa David Mukanga of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gives an overview of the latest developments on the long road towards the creation of an African Medicines Agency and the push to establish vaccine manufacturing facilities on the continent.   Since the minimum number of 15 ratifications by African Union…

Global The Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) industry has boomed in recent years, with Big Pharma increasingly focusing on its core business of R&D and outsourcing other elements of the supply chain, including manufacturing, to third-party CDMOs. Additionally, the global proliferation of biotechs – most of which lack the in-house…

China Some of the most significant recent stories emanating from Chinese healthcare and life sciences, including why the development of a domestic mRNA COVID vaccine – widely acknowledged as an essential tool to shifting away from the country’s zero-COVID policy – is under threat from new mutations of the virus. Other…

Korea After a dynamic two years as CEO of Samsung Biologics, John Rim highlights some of the fundamentals behind the company’s rapid growth as a CDMO, including the creation of huge new manufacturing facilities to cope with increased demand, a dedication to carrying out technology transfers at half the speed of…

WHO Representatives from the US FDA, EMA, WHO and the pharma industry debated over the possible inclusion of environmental impact in future good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspections of drug production sites and the need for a new type of relationship between companies and regulators. We need more information and data to…

Europe The new president of Medicines for Europe, Elisabeth Stampa, outlines one of the priorities of her mandate: working to adjust the EU pharma policy framework to improve access for patients across Europe.    Regulatory flexibilities implemented during COVID-19 showed that the EU system can require one of highest safety, quality…

Europe When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, Europe’s reliance on active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and generic medicine suppliers outside of the continent was laid bare. In the face of crisis, countries like India and China understandably looked first to safeguard their own populations which, combined with supply chain strains…

India The latest healthcare and pharma news from India, including the opening up of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all adults; the lowering of vaccine prices; and the licences granted to 19 Indian pharmaceutical firms for the generic version of Pfizer’s oral antiviral COVID-19 pill.   COVID-19 vaccine booster shots now…

Global Antimicrobial pollution is a major global health and environmental risk. Shawview Consulting’s Brendan Shaw and Nicolai Schaaf of SIWI uncover what antibiotics manufacturers are doing about it.   Last month, global leaders issued an urgent call for all countries to reduce antimicrobial pollution. This includes the safe disposal of antimicrobial…

Italy Bormioli Pharma’s Andrea Lodetti outlines the company’s evolution towards becoming an international leader in the pharma and primary packaging business, COVID-related business impacts, the shift towards localised manufacturing, and the importance of earlier and deeper collaboration between pharma companies and packaging providers.   I hope that the cooperation between packaging…

Spain Teva’s general manager for Spain and Portugal, Juan Carlos Conde Ibarra, dives into the recently announced strategy for the affiliate, including the move to a single brand in generics, and a bigger focus on specialty products, biologics and digitalization. In addition, he reflects on his 18 years with the company,…