Novartis In the latest in a wave of Big Pharma companies retreating from the field of antibiotics, Novartis has decided to drop its antibacterial and antiviral early-stage research programs, laying off 140 staff in the US. This comes at a time when antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria – so-called ‘superbugs’ – 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…

India Although most industry observers expect that Indian pharma exports to the US will pick up again in the coming years, Indian companies have – in the meantime – been rapidly increasing their efforts to develop stronger footprints in strategic emerging market such as Brazil, Russia and some Asian and African…

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…

USA Blue-chip drug makers holding USD 200 billion in cash, mostly overseas, will start investing more of it in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) after President Trump’s tax overhaul slashed the cost of spending the money in the US, debt-ratings firm Moody’s predicts. The ratings firm names Amgen, Pfizer, Gilead, and Celgene…

USA Tech giant Amazon’s acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack has caused the stock prices of rival healthcare distributors in the US to fall dramatically. With this move, Amazon has signalled its intent to move into the medical distribution arena and promises to seriously disrupt the way the industry operates. “This acquisition…

Pharma Digital health startups raised over USD six billion in equity financing in 2016, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate of 32 percent and the fledgling industry segment already boasts at least eight unicorns with a combined value exceeding USD 15 billion. Most interesting of all, however, is the constellation…

UK Britain, home of the discovery of the world’s first ever vaccine, has long been championing a pharma sub-segment forecast to reach a global market value of USD 49.27 billion by 2022. However, despite possessing the innovators, the infrastructure and the coverage, the UK’s thriving vaccine industry risks being blown off…

Spain Spanish biotech ALGENEX is using insect pupae to develop high-purity vaccines more quickly and at a lower cost than conventional production methods. Having secured further investment from outside of Spain, ALGENEX is now looking to produce its first vaccine for European regulators using insect-based production methods. We realised the huge…

3D Bioprinting With the US FDA approval of a 3D bioprinted drug in 2016, the floodgates have been opened for a new wave of innovative, personalized and customizable printed medicine.   Printing tailored medicine could simplify our supply chain dramatically. Martin Wallace, GSK   3D Bioprinting on the Rise Many healthcare and…

Malta UMANA T1 – a patient monitoring ecosystem that uses tattoo sensor technology to measure and record heart rate and other physiological parameters – stands as one of the most innovative technologies ever developed in Malta and could herald a shift in the island nation’s innovation landscape. “The operating environment [in…

India In a context where even well-established, multi-billion-dollar domestic companies have received warning letters from the US FDA, quality compliance has clearly become strategically important across all layers of Indian organizations, including formulation and API companies as well as both B2B and B2C players.   My approach is extremely simple: quality…