Global The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, key figures in the development of microRNA; miniscule RNA molecules that enable cells to control which proteins they produce.   The Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, which selects the prize’s winner said…

Switzerland Switzerland is widely praised for its excellent universal healthcare system and strong pharma sector. Seen as a bastion of efficiency and innovation, the country is nonetheless falling behind its European counterparts when it comes to healthcare digitalisation. Recent PharmaBoardroom interviewees weigh in on the country’s digital lag, its electronic patient…

France At the 13th annual meeting of French life sciences think tank, G5 Santé – which represents the leaders of eight major French health and life sciences companies, including bioMérieux, Sanofi, Ipsen, and Pierre Fabre – arguments were made for increasing efficiency in a healthcare system that is “on its last…

Europe This year’s European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) was the largest ever. Over 33,000 people attended ESMO Congress 2024 at Barcelona’s cavernous Fira Gran Via conference centre, where 5,000 abstracts were presented and 600 expert speakers took to the stage. The healthcare professionals and cancer drug developers in attendance were…

Global The global pharma industry is facing increased pressure to ensure lifesaving medications reach underserved populations. Drawing from a new Access to Medicine Foundation report, AMF Head of Research Claudia Martinez shares some exclusive insights on where pharma has made significant strides on the important metric of ‘patient reach’ and the…

Switzerland Switzerland’s healthcare system is at a crossroads. Although still one of the world’s bastions of biopharmaceutical innovation, the country’s domestic healthcare environment is under increasing pressure from rising costs, mounting drug shortages, and a regulatory environment that is slow to adapt. What role could pharmacies and the off-patent industry play…

Global Medtech-focused recruitment consultant Ivor Campbell casts his eye over the profiles the global medtech industry needs most today. Campbell argues that while specialist scientists and engineers remain as important as ever, medtech lacks leaders with the commercial acumen and results-driven mindset to turn innovation into profitable and sustainable ventures.  …

Europe Last year the European Commission (EC) came out with a proposal to reform the EU’s core pharmaceutical legislation, aiming to address affordability, accessibility, and availability, among other objectives. One of the key changes proposed was reducing the EU’s baseline regulatory data protection (RDP) timeline, a plan that pleased the generics…

Europe Vikas Krishan, chief digital business officer at the global data and digital engineering solutions firm Altimetrik, outlines the implications of the European Union’s forthcoming AI Act for the pharma industry and urges for the need to adopt a proactive approach in evaluating AI roadmaps and governance.   The pharmaceutical industry’s…

Switzerland Switzerland, home to industry giants like Novartis and Roche, boasts a thriving pharma industry that generates some seven percent of the country’s GDP, as well as a flourishing biotech scene. However, all is not so well in Switzerland’s domestic healthcare landscape, where surging insurance premiums and drug costs mean that…

United Kingdom The newly elected UK government’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting has a full plate of challenges ahead. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is plagued with a chronic lack of funding, staffing crunches and backlogs, while the country’s life sciences sector is seemingly in decline. Streeting…

Spain Some of the biggest stories coming out of Spain’s pharma industry, including Brookfield’s bid for a troubled Grifols; Esteve’s Spanish plant expansion; Rovi’s offers for a potential buyout of its CDMO business, and the EUR 90 million earmarked by Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) to promote biomedical…