Saudi Arabia Few stakeholders are better placed to assess the landscape for rare disease therapies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region than Karim Smaira and Kamel Ghammachi of Genpharm, an entrepreneurial success story that now provides market access and marketing solutions for rare disease products across the region.  …

Global In conversation at the FT’s Global Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Conference last month, Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor outlined the current status of the biosimilars industry, the differences between the European and US markets, the advantages of being part of a large science-based innovator like Novartis, and why competition in biosimilars will…

Denmark Denmark has long been at the vanguard of digitalisation, most notably in the form of comprehensive national health registries. This well-established footprint gave the Nordic nation a headstart in battling the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and beyond and can be accredited with Denmark’s relatively successful identification, testing, and vaccination processes.…

Denmark Although Zealand Pharma has been around for 23 years, it has made rapid progress since French national Emmanuel Dulac took the helm as president and CEO in April 2019, with a first new drug application (NDA) and approval, a first in-licensing, and two acquisitions.   Dulac – a veteran of…

Spain The latest from Spanish pharma, including Rovi’s better-than-expected 2021 results thanks to its Moderna partnership, the approval of Hipra’s COVID-19 IIb clinical trials, Sanifit Therapeutics’ acquisition by Vifor Pharma, and the health technology sector’s request to the administration.   Grifols will use funds from GIC to reduce its debt (The…

Hong Kong Despite a “turbulent macro backdrop,” the strong momentum in Hong Kong’s IPO market has continued in the third quarter of 2021, driven to a large extent by new biotech listings.   “Biotechnology is today the fastest-growing IPO market segment,” says Nicolas Aguzin, CEO of HKEX, one of the world’s major…

France The latest news from French pharma, including AI-based biotech Owkin’s new status as a USD one billion-valued unicorn following fresh investment from Sanofi. Also included is another deal for Sanofi, this time in the form of a partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu to use its algorithm for mRNA sequencing.…

China Perhaps Chinese biotech’s biggest success story, cancer-focused Beigene has evolved from the commitment of founders John Oyler and Xiaodong Wang to conducting clinical research in China with a global outlook. Fresh from recent announcements of an IPO in Shanghai to add to listings on NASDAQ and in Hong Kong and…

Global The World Health Assembly Special Session on a Pandemic Treaty, which will convene health ministries from around the world in Geneva next week, offers a unique opportunity to take a look back and share some important lessons learnt from fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. James Anderson, Executive Director, Global Health, at…

Global The oncology field has exploded in the past 20 years and pharma companies now have a wide range of approaches available to them as they look to identify, treat, and in some cases even cure, cancer patients. Here, five industry experts weigh in on the exciting new tools and technology…

Global Walt Vernon is CEO of US-based healthcare facilities consulting firm, Mazzetti, and non-profit, Sextant. He is on the Board of the FGI and served on NFPA 99 ELS, NFPA 70 CMP15, and ASHRAE 189.3. He chairs the ASHRAE Infectious Aerosols Position Document Committee and represents the US in the International…

Africa Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda highlights the vast gaps in COVID-19 vaccine access globally, especially in Africa where just six percent of the population has been vaccinated. Hwenda argues that the time is now to boost the infrastructure for pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa as a way out of this pandemic,…