Portugal Portugal’s strong legal framework along with its low production costs and strategic location within Europe have given rise to a thriving medicinal cannabis sector. With exports in 2022 that surpassed the previous year by 63 percent and an increasing number of companies licensed for cultivation and manufacturing, the country is…

United Kingdom Since its creation over 20 years ago, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) body for England and Wales, has forged a solid reputation as one of the world’s foremost HTA authorities. Speaking at the recent FT Global Pharma and Biotech Summit, NICE…

Global UCB has been undergoing a far-reaching digital business transformation, integrating novel approaches across its R&D organisation, including Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) and AI, while striving to maintain a patient-centric focus. Speaking at the recent FT Global Pharma and Biotech Summit, CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier discussed the Belgian midcap’s digital undertakings and…

Germany The latest pharma industry news from Germany, including Lilly’s new German plant; Bayer’s aborted anti-clotting drug trial and legal worries; Boehringer Ingelheim’s acquisition of Swiss biotech T3 Pharmaceuticals, and Hermes Pharma’s plans to spend EUR 25 million euros to enhance its production capabilities.   Eli Lilly plans new 2 billion…

Europe Pfizer’s David Isom and Monica Mihedji, writing in the November 2023 edition of the DIA’s Global Forum magazine, examine how the European Medicines Agency is attempting to integrate the use of artificial intelligence in its regulatory work.   Regulators are advancing information technology and data modernization initiatives to drive more…

Portugal One of Europe’s smaller nations and its westernmost, Portugal, with a pharma market worth roughly USD 3.5 billion, may not be known as the continent’s pharma powerhouse. Yet the country boasts plenty of impressive credentials —such as a national healthcare system (NHS) that is not only universal and free, but…

Spain A roundup of the latest news from Spanish pharma, including Almirall’s licensing deal with EpimAb Biotherapeutics; the opening of Insud Pharma’s oligonucleotides centre in India, and Esteve Química’s new FDA-cleared manufacturing site.   Almirall licenses bispecific platform in $210m EpimAb deal (BioProcess International) EpimAb Biotherapeutics has out-licensed the rights for…

Denmark LEO Pharma has been in the midst of a shakeup since the beginning of 2022. After naming a new CEO and announcing a major restructuring, the Danish dermatology pharma has let a considerable number of employees go, closed research centres and restructured its R&D team. While LEO’s financials look promising…

Switzerland As former parent company Novartis centres its efforts on its “pure-play” innovative medicines business, Sandoz is increasingly betting on biosimilars. Having already launched a version of AbbVie’s blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira, the newly spun-off company has been gearing up for its independence by preparing additional biosimilar launches, signing big partnership…

UK Could the UK’s re-joining of Horizon Europe, the EU’s EUR 95 billion research funding programme, be the latest sign that the country is ready to win back its global scientific relevance? The announcement comes just months after an ambitious government plan to “cement” the UK’s position as a science superpower,…

France France’s life sciences industry is falling behind its European neighbours, its growth deeply hampered, the French life sciences think tank G5 Santé claims, by abusive paybacks. While the government has demonstrated its willingness to take steps towards levelling its pricing barometers and in so doing tackle medicine shortages and build…

Global New methodology for the 2024 Access to Medicine Index promises a stronger attempt to quantify whether drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics are actually making it all the way to patients in poorer countries around the world.   Industry stakeholders eagerly await the biennial publication of the Access to Medicine Index, a…