China In May 2021 Swiss giant Roche launched the ‘Roche Accelerator’ in Shanghai, a USD 31.1 million investment aiming to foster and capitalise on China’s burgeoning life sciences start-up ecosystem.   The 5000 square metre project, Roche’s first such in-house accelerator globally, builds on the company’s sizeable existing R&D presence in…

Turkey As COVID-19 began spreading through the world, the race to understand the disease by scientists and doctors took off. After just a few months, it became apparent that people with diabetes seemed to suffer more severe effects; 50 percent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 also suffered from diabetes. As a…

USA Taking the example of music’s effect on Alzheimer’s disease patients, John G Singer makes the case for a more holistic approach to healthcare; focusing less on the transformative potential of individual drugs and more on value as a stream of benefits delivered through a living system.   Singer/songwriter Glen Campbell,…

Switzerland The Novartis and Roche names are synonymous with Swiss pharmaceutical innovation. But for these two Basel-based global behemoths, what value does Switzerland itself hold and what do they see as the areas in which they can truly bring value in their home market?   Roche – Driving Digital & Personalised…

China The latest news from Chinese pharma, including an overhaul of the country’s patent law; a BioNTech-Fosun tie-up on COVID-19 vaccines; and big R&D subsidies for local companies available in Shanghai.   How Hong Kong can cement its position as a biotech listing hub (SCMP) https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3134767/how-hong-kong-can-cement-its-position-biotech-listing-hub To maintain its growth and…

Saudi Arabia Historically dependent on oil, Saudi Arabia, like most countries in the Arabian Peninsula, is now investing a large chunk of the sizeable resources obtained from fossil fuels in diversifying its economy. Pharmaceuticals, as one of the strategic sectors in the country’s diversification strategy, has reaped the benefits and the Saudi…

Dominican Republic The rise of the Dominican Republic as a regional medtech manufacturing hub might have come as a surprise to many, but not to the insiders and executives of the Central America & Caribbean healthcare industry. With several decades of economic growth and political stability, the country has positioned itself as…

Germany The latest news from German pharma, including a new US leadership team and more COVID-related investment at Merck KGaA; the CureVac vaccine’s role in fighting COVID-19 variants; and why the country is trailing its European neighbours in digital health.   Merck KGaA’s new CEO shakes up U.S. leadership to spark…

Global Merck VP for Global Market Access & Pricing Strategic Planning Marco Rauland outlines how AI has already begun to transform pharmaceutical strategy and highlights five ways in which it can be better utilised in pricing and market access decision making.   Artificial intelligence (AI) has been creating a buzz in…

Global Big Pharma’s representatives are warning of upcoming bottlenecks in the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing supply chain and are asking for a unified approach to address inefficiencies and increase manufacturing capacities. However, recently published reports and news point to inefficiencies within the manufacturing industry itself and not necessarily a lack of raw…

Australia Regular PharmaBoardroom contributor Brendan Shaw outlines how his home country of Australia has so far successfully managed to avoid the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing opportunities for the life sciences industry to invest in new facilities, research and development in a post-pandemic world.   Australia, the island continent A…

Japan “This marks a significant moment in Takeda’s history and is an exciting step forward as we accelerate our transformation journey,” said Christophe Weber, Takeda’s CEO, after the USD 62 billion acquisition of international biotech Shire was completed in 2019. Two years later, the Japanese giant appears to finally be on…