China As China struggles to maintain its ‘dynamic zero-COVID’ policy in the face of Omicron variant outbreaks, other key talking points emerging from the world’s second-largest healthcare and life sciences market include Chinese firms’ deals to manufacture generic versions of Pfizer’s COVID antiviral, Kintor’s 229 percent share price leap after positive…

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…

Japan Japanese firm Kirin, part of the Mitsubishi Group and best known for its brewing operations, has pledged to invest JPY 100 billion (USD 870 million) into its healthcare/pharma operations amid a slowdown in the Japanese beer market.   Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow Japan’s rapidly ageing population and the effects of…

Europe Having moved early on a promising phase II monoclonal antibody, Almirall is inching closer to entering the Sanofi-dominated European market for eczema after posting, along with Eli Lilly, positive phase III results for Lebrikizumab. The Catalan company says it is on track for a 2023 launch on the continent; Lilly…

Global Exactly five months after concluding that it was the right time to “monetize” its investment in a cross-town rival – providing Roche “full strategic flexibility” in the process – Novartis has announced a major restructuring; this time, too, citing financial motives.   The Swiss giant – fifth in the global…

Global In 2022 global healthcare will continue to feel the effects of the pandemic and although COVID-19 has become less virulent, with the global death rate down to 0.4 percent from an initial peak of about three percent, new variants are still set to emerge this year. At the Economist Intelligence…

MEA The Middle East and Africa (MEA) medtech market is expected to grow from a value of USD 16.6 billion in 2019 to USD 21.8 billion at a CAGR of 3.6 percent by 2027, according to Business Market Insights. Read on for five crucial trends impacting MEA medtech and how the…

Spain Way before securing the CEO role at Esteve in 2018, Staffan Schüberg built a career that saw him rise through the ranks of Lundbeck, from commercial activities in Sweden to global chief commercial officer.   Schüberg got his first pharma job at Lundbeck in 1994 after serving in the Swedish…

Japan A roundup of the latest news from Japanese pharma, including Kirin’s USD 870 million investment in its healthcare and pharmaceuticals businesses over the next three years, Sanofi’s world-first approval for its Niemann-Pick types A/B and B medicine in Japan, and the prospect of domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out…

Kenya Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda examines the significance of Moderna’s USD 500 million investment into African manufacturing, other agreements in place to boost manufacturing capacity on the continent, and why a more equally distributed global pharmaceutical manufacturing network is in the interest of the entire planet.   Many Africans welcome…

China Bridge Consulting’s Zoe Leung examines the journeys of Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines outside of China’s borders, drawing on a number of examples, from Sinopharm’s work on boosting vaccine supply in the UAE to Sinovac’s Egyptian and Chilean partnerships, CanSino’s steady progress in Pakistan and Mexico, and Zhifei Longcom’s Uzbek success.*  …