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…

Cyprus Cyprus is capitalizing on its well-established tourism infrastructure to stake a claim for itself as one of Europe’s premier medical tourism destinations. “I believe Cyprus can become a really important hub for medical tourism thanks to our welcoming culture, great weather and educated talent pool.” Christoforos Hadjikyprianou, CEO of European…

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…

Spain Dr Carlos Macaya received worldwide recognition as a cardiovascular surgeon after he operated on the tender heart of Mother Teresa. Now, as the President of the Spanish Heart Foundation, he wages the war on heart disease in Spain. Spanish women die five per cent more than men from cardiovascular diseases.…

GSK KaNDy Therapeutics, a UK-based biotech has raised £25 million to finance the Phase 2b trial of their breakthrough product in Women’s Health. Our investors and the KaNDy management team are united by the common belief that NT-814 has the potential to be a transformational treatment for the millions of women worldwide…

Spain With Spain now on the road to economic recovery following the ravages of the global financial crisis, multinational pharmaceutical companies are seeing the country as a top investment destination once more thanks to a much-improved market access scenario, high-quality but affordable manufacturing capabilities and an enviable human resource base. As…

Brexit Brexit, Brexit, Brexit. It’s all anyone can talk about and yet nobody can tell you with certainty what to expect. As the UK’s impending withdrawal from the European Union looms ever closer, industry professionals fervently speculate on how it will affect the country’s position as one of the world’s great…

UK One notable quirk of the British life sciences ecosystem is the importance of its not-for-profit sector. Indeed, in 2017, UK charities poured GBP 1.6 billion (USD 2.1 billion) into medical research; more than both the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Simon Gillespie, chief…

Innovation The new AI tech from Google’s DeepMind can diagnose over 50 retinal diseases with more accuracy than your optometrist. Research conducted by Nature Medicine found that a ground-breaking artificial intelligence system developed by Moorfields eye hospital, University College London and Google’s DeepMind can identify over 50 eye diseases with 94% accuracy. Among the diseases…

R&D Portugal has forged a name for itself in terms of early adoption of new technology and ideas; making the country a prime destination for clinical trials as well as a market in which multinational pharma companies can trial innovative new treatments before rolling them out across the continent. “We are…

Portugal Similar to many Western economies, Portugal is attempting to embrace digitalization in healthcare, but unlike Europe’s Big Five which struggle due to huge populations and decentralized systems, thanks to Portugal’s size and tech-savvy population, industry players and authorities have found success in implementing nationwide digital projects. “We benefit from a…

Pfizer Erik Nordkamp, managing director of Pfizer UK, has been confirmed as the new president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). With UK life sciences still uncertain as to the full effect of Brexit on the industry, Nordkamp has set the focus of his presidency as ensuring that…