Switzerland After a Moderna-Lonza production site and a Merck manufacturing facility were set up in western Switzerland, the country continues to attract big pharma capital with a CHF 200 million investment from Takeda. “Switzerland is a globally recognized hotspot for biopharma companies. As such, it naturally attracts investments. Our role is…

United Kingdom US biotech Moderna – producer of a messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine that has found its way into 75 million arms in the US alone and generated USD 12 billion in profit for the firm last year – has announced a new GBP one billion investment into a UK manufacturing…

Italy In recent years, since the adoption of a law assuring its citizens’ right to access palliative care, Italy has given increased attention to pain management. According to Aldo Sterpone, Italy General Manager at Grünenthal, a company especially focused on the area of pain, there is still a lot of work…

Spain In 2021, a hospital in Barcelona managed to get approval for the first European-developed CAR-T cell therapy. Aided by a little girl and her mother, a team of doctors at the Hospital Clinic Barcelona moved early to learn from the American physician that pioneered the treatments, did not take no…

France France is Europe’s 4th largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, having produced pharmaceuticals valued at €21.9 billion in 2019.  In recent years, the French contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) market has seen strong organic growth with the members of CDMO France, the association grouping some of France’s top CDMOs holding more than…

United Kingdom After several scandals that revealed longstanding deficiencies and a continual churn of executive staff, a recent independent review of leadership in the National Health Service (NHS) has uncovered a lack of consistency and coordination as well as cases of discrimination within the system. As a result of the report, the…

Spain Spain is playing an important role in the production of COVID-19 vaccines with four Spanish companies involved in vaccine manufacturing projects, three of them doing fill and finish and one with an original vaccine candidate. Unfortunately, Spain’s vaccine manufacturers have faced quality control issues resulting in major recalls.   “The…

Spain After five years of raising funds, the Sant Joan de Deu (SJD) Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona, the largest monographic paediatric oncological centre in Europe will open its doors on June 16. The new facility, which was financed uniquely by donations, is part of the larger SJD hospital on the outskirts…

Italy Over the past decade, the birth rate in Italy has consistently decreased, making it one of the countries with the lowest birth rates in the world but also one of the top reproductive medicine markets in Europe. According to Italy’s national statistics office, births in Italy between 2020-2021 hit their…

Sweden Anders Blanck, CEO of LIF, the industry organisation for the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden, describes the Sustainability Strategy that the pharma industry in Sweden is now launching. Central to the Strategy is a Manifesto with nine commitments that covers the entire value chain of medicines – from research and…

United Kingdom Just one year after the UK government published its Life Science Vision, outlining the ambitions of the government and the life science sector for the next 10 years, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has appointed a new president who will take on the plan.  The Association of…

Europe Sparks, the Swiss Exchange’s newly launched small and medium sized enterprise (SME) trading venue, intends to make it easier for biotech SMEs to raise capital and strengthen their profile. The Swiss biotech sector has proven to be attractive for investors, with venture capital investments rising almost steadily over the past…