Tagged with ALS

Belgium RaDiOrg aims to support rare disease patients and patient organisations in Belgium, defend their interests, and raise awareness of what can be devastating and little-understood conditions. Director Eva Schoeters – who joined the patient advocacy field following the diagnosis of her son with a rare condition – outlines some of…

China A roundup of some of the biggest recent stories coming out of China, including the commerce minister’s peace offering to international drug companies; CSPC Pharmaceutical Group’s partnership with Pfizer; Merck’s EUR 70 million manufacturing investment; the licensing agreement between Zhejiang Doer Biologics and BioNTech, and Moderna’s deal to develop and…

LatAm Writing in the July 2023 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, Mariana Abdala of Crystal Research outlines the vast room for improvement in Latin America’s clinical trial output, the region’s fundamentals as a research hotspot, and the strategies in place to bolster its global positioning.   Clinical trials in Latin…

Belgium With two in-house Clinical Research Units (PCRUs), Pfizer uniquely keeps its phase I research within the company. As Medical/Scientific advisor at the Brussels PCRU and with a history of more than 20 years there, Dr Isabelle Huyghe shares the workings of the PCRU, explains how study participants are recruited, and…

Belgium Belgium is a hugely significant country for GSK – which employs 9,000 people in the country – as host to three of the firm’s major vaccine sites, the global headquarters for its vaccines division, and many of its oncology and haematology clinical trials. Recently installed VP and GM BeLux Emmanuelle…

Belgium Paul Newton of Vertex Pharmaceuticals – one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry – outlines the company’s footprint in Benelux, how it is looking to take learnings from its success in cystic fibrosis treatment into new therapeutic areas,…

Belgium Thanks to its world-renowned networks of medical and academic institutions, the long-standing presence of Big Pharma, and a favourable regulatory environment, Belgium has a well-established tradition of excellence in clinical trials. Pharma industry leaders and Belgian government officials weigh in on the factors threatening the country’s position as a clinical…

United Kingdom Life sciences have been steadily losing ground in the UK with a significant drop in global R&D investments and a decreasing number of patients enrolled in clinical trials. The British government has announced a GBP 650 million “Life Sci for Growth” package along with some pro-innovation regulation and a review…

Belgium Karel van de Sompel of GIBBIS – the pluralistic federation of the public and private social-profit healthcare sector within the Brussels area – outlines the scope and aims of the organisation, the learnings from his near-four decades at Pfizer that can be applied in this new role, and some of…

Belgium Belgium is a key country for Sanofi in Europe as home to its Geel production site, in which almost EUR one billion has been invested over the past 15 years, as well as an important R&D hub. Johan Heylen describes the continuing relevance of the country to the company, the…

USA Although clinical trial diversity remains high on the agendas of industry sponsors, there is still a long road to travel towards more equitable and representative research – and ultimately safer and more effective medicines. On this theme, writing in the June 2023 edition of the DIA Global Forum magazine, Jorge…

Greece Greece is a middling performer in terms of clinical trial numbers on the European stage, nestled next to Finland and Romania on total trial numbers between 2002 and 2020 but ahead of Germany and Italy on trials per capita. However, the pharmaceutical industry does see opportunities for establishing greater trial…