Tagged with regulatory

Portugal Maria-Ceu Machado, president of INFARMED the National Authority of Medicines and Health Products, stresses the importance of healthcare restructuring and streamlining work practices in Portugal. In her first year as president, Maria and her team have brought in new rules on medicine approval times, confronted challenges in the reference pricing…

Latvia Anda Čakša, Latvia’s minister of health since 2016, discusses her current priorities, regulatory reform, areas of strengths and weaknesses in the nation’s healthcare infrastructure, e-health, and combating the threat of non-communicable diseases. What have been your main achievements since assuming position as health minister back in 2016? “The e-health system…

Canada Warren Bravo, co-founder and CEO of Green Relief, speaks about the company’s unique growing technique – aquaponics – which allows it to produce ‘better than organic’ medical cannabis. He gives an insight into the organization’s expansion plans, both within and beyond Canadian borders, and a potential IPO in 2018. After…

Ecuador Hector Enriquez, general manager of Laboratorios Industriales Farmaceuticos Ecuadorianos (LIFE), details the flagship Ecuadorian pharmaceutical company’s focus on developing its own market-relevant formulations and the implementation of international manufacturing standards to compete with international pharmaceutical companies in Ecuador. Could you present LIFE Laboratories’ activities and most recent developments in Ecuador?…

Estonia Kristin Raudsepp, director general of Estonia’s drug regulator – the State Agency of Medicines – discusses her organization’s mandate, current priorities, and reactiveness to the pervading trends in international regulation. Can you introduce the State Agency of Medicines of Estonia and its mandate to our international readers? “Despite of the…

Baltics Rauls Velins, Roche’s general manager for Latvia, introduces the company’s longstanding commitment to the Latvian market, Roche’s role in helping facilitate Latvia’s new National Cancer Plan, and the potential for personalized medicine across the Baltics. Could you please start by introducing Roche in Latvia and the strategic significance of the…

Poland Mariusz Ignatowicz, PwC healthcare sector leader for CEE, discusses the funding of the Polish healthcare ecosystem and the need to find an alternative payer in the long-term Additionally, he highlights PwC’s services and the overall requirement for data to be taken into more consideration in Polish healthcare to ensure accurate…

Ecuador Miguel Pasquel, endocrinologist at Quito’s Metropolitano Hospital and former president of the Ecuadorian Endocrinology Society shares his point of view on the country’s healthcare system. He recognizes the good will of successive governments but regrets their inability to give Ecuadorians access to health across the country, highlighting the differences between…

Latvia Svens Henkuzens, director of the State Agency of Medicines in Latvia discusses the key role of the organization in the country and the objectives he has set to further improve the access to innovative treatments for Latvian patients. Could you introduce the State Agency of Medicines and its mandate? “We…

Canada Hydropothecary is the leading medicinal cannabis producer in Quebec, founded in 2013 by two brothers-in-law, Sebastien St-Louis and Adam Miron. Terry Lake, former Minister of Health for British Colombia, discusses his new role as Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility, the stigma surrounding the cannabis plant and how to bring innovative…

Ecuador Juan Carlos Galarza, executive director of Ecuador’s National Health Regulation, Control and Surveillance Agency (ARCSA), discusses the multiple procedural improvements that the Agency has recently implemented with the objective of increasing its international recognition, the benefits of these actions for Ecuadorians – who will have faster and safer access to…

Baltics SIFFA’s Valters Bolēvics discusses Latvia’s competitiveness in embracing medical innovations, current healthcare reforms, and the country’s enduring potential as a pharmaceutical investment destination. The Association of International Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (SIFFA) was initially founded in 1996 to act as a united voice for five multinationals that had penetrated the local…