Canada A new white paper from Fasken law firm asserts that the early filing of patents for innovative products is crucial for companies hoping to succeed in the booming North American cannabis market   Canada’s decision to legalise cannabis for recreational use in 2018 is set to spur on the already…

USA Meghann Chilcott offers an introductory look at the potential of customer data platforms (CDPs) to transform the way pharmacy marketers reach out to an increasingly online customer base in the USA.   CDPs enable marketers to pool customer information together from various sources for the purpose of creating seamless, data-rich…

USA Carla Smith outlines the role that a value-based care (VBC) approach can have on both reducing healthcare costs and improving overall care delivery to patients in the USA. Smith highlights VBC’s benefits to patients, payers and pharma companies, but notes that physicians are still not necessarily convinced; meaning the adoption…

USA David Bearman makes the historical case to be once again considered as a medicine across the USA, noting that economic – rather than health – concerns were behind the creation of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and continue to persist to this day.   With all this history, why…

Opinion Chip Davis is head of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) which advocates for greater uptake of generic and biosimilar drugs in the USA. Here, Davis argues that the generics supply chain is standardized, transparent and dynamic, helping save the US healthcare system trillions of dollars.   Savings have totaled…

USA Monica Weldon looks at the history of medicinal CBD, its current usages in the USA, and why robust scientific research on its efficacy need to be conducted in order to ensure the safety of rare disease patients – many of them children – who are using CBD products for their…

Opinion An examination of the evolution of the pharma data supply chain and the vital importance of establishing trust with patients to access complete information sets from Matt Sinderbrand, formerly CEO of Betterpath Health and now SVP and chief product officer at Hu-manity.co.   Now that we have all this data,…

USA Paul Bleicher, CEO at OptumLabs, and one of the speakers at the FT US Pharma & Biotech Summit on May 14, shares insights on the benefits we will see AI bring to pharma companies and patients in the short and long term, as well as use cases for the technology.…

USA Chip Davis of the Association for Accessible Medicines argues for greater provision for access to affordable medicines – including biosimilars – within the trade agreements that the USA is currently negotiating with its neighbours.   An American president determined to seal a trade deal. A newly elected Democratic majority with…

Opinion Meghann Chilcott, chief technology/marketing officer at Benzer Pharmacy provides insights for expanding point-of-care (POC) testing services in the US retail environment, and opportunities for improving patient outcomes and customer satisfaction in the process.   POC testing makes it possible for patients to receive the treatment or the advice they need…

Opinion Tom Achoki of Mass Sciences explores the possibilities that better access to high-quality real-world data will create for accelerating novel drug discovery and ultimately improving patient outcomes.   Proactive decision makers within the biopharmaceutical industry need to find innovative ways to bridge the existing RWD gaps within their organization The…

Opinion The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy-Making Act, recently signed into law in the USA, stands to make government data more accessible; thereby allowing researchers, statisticians and others inside and outside of government to make better, and evidenced-based, policy decisions. Carla Smith outlines the scope of the Act and its potential implications…