Tagged with B

Belgium Françoise Smets, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), introduces the innovation and research capacity of the institution as the top-ranking French-speaking university in Belgium. Smets goes on to give her assessment of the Belgian academic landscape and shares the importance of the…

Switzerland German biopharma giant Merck is investing EUR 250 million in a new Swiss biotech development facility; underscoring the company’s reliance on Switzerland for the manufacturing of advanced biologicals.   The Merck Biotech Development Center is to be located in Corsier-sur-Vevey, south-western Switzerland, close to the firm’s existing biotech commercial manufacturing…

USA Barbara Lopez Kunz, CEO of the Drug Information Association (DIA) in the USA, outlines the association’s four key areas of focus – regulatory science, patient engagement, translational science, and value and access – and highlights how it works with stakeholders across the healthcare continuum and across the globe.   Across…

Coronavirus The ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent shutdown of factories in China is having severe repercussions for Indian pharma manufacturers and could lead to global shortages.   Shortages and Price Rises in India India depends on China for 80 percent of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) that it uses in…

Opinion Jonathan Kimball of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) in the USA outlines why the signing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in January 2020 may mark a turning point for greater access to generic and biosimilar medicines globally.   US trading partners should take note. There is no longer a…

Czech Republic Roman Badik, CEO of Enantis, the first biotechnology spin-off from Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, shares his vision of turning the company’s research breakthroughs into a self-sustaining business. Badik breaks down the business model of Enantis based on its proprietary protein stabilization platform and its lead compound FGF2-STAB with…

Czech Republic Augustin Bernát, general manager for the Czech affiliate of ResMed, a company whose cloud-connected medical devices transform care for people with sleep apnea, COPD and other chronic diseases, discusses how their digital solutions are bringing benefits to both the patients and the payers in the country. Following extensive discussions, the…

Belgium Teva Pharma Belgium’s Eric Deschepper outlines how the global group’s restructuring has impacted its Belgian operations, its realignment from a pure generics to a specialty pharma player, and how the company is uniquely positioned to help Belgium achieve its healthcare goals.   We are in fact on both sides of…

Czech Republic Among the seven insurance funds in the Czech Republic, VZP is the largest with six million clients and the widest network of health service providers. David Šmehlík, the organisation’s deputy director, discusses its new focus on creating a patient-centric healthcare system based on quality and accessibility, the government’s primary care…

Czech Republic Martin Puchwein, country president for Novartis Group Czech Republic, and general manager for pharma, shares his perspectives on launching innovative drugs in the country, including some new therapeutic approaches such as cell and gene therapies. Puchwein also discusses Novartis’ ambition to transform its corporate culture towards becoming an organization where…

Opinion Brendan Shaw outlines the long road still to travel to meet the UN Sustainable Development goal of ensuring basic healthcare financing for every citizen in the world by 2030 and the vital role that the private sector must play in attempting to meet this challenge.   The majority of developing…

UAE In some respects, is it perhaps the medtech sector that has most to be excited about in the UAE’s domestic market, given the country’s unrelenting enthusiasm for connected devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital solutions. According to a recent study carried out by INSEAD in conjunction with the…