Tagged with Policy,

UK Seen by most as life-sciences friendly, the UK Government’s 2024 Autumn Budget not only pledges to increase funding for the country’s ailing National Health Service (NHS), but to dedicate additional cash to R&D, and incentivise manufacturing through a new GBP 520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF).   Addressing…

Mexico Sworn in this month as Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged “continuity with change,” with respect to her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policies. While she has promised to drive forward the healthcare reforms López Obrador introduced – namely universal coverage – she has also set out a…

Mexico FUNSALUD is a leading Mexican think tank focused on improving public health through research, advocacy, and promoting public-private partnerships. As Mexico prepares to welcome a new president, FUNSALUD’s Hector Valle casts his eye over the evolving healthcare landscape in terms of both progress made in addressing access gaps and how…

United Kingdom The newly elected UK government’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting has a full plate of challenges ahead. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is plagued with a chronic lack of funding, staffing crunches and backlogs, while the country’s life sciences sector is seemingly in decline. Streeting…

Mexico In a move to address medicine shortages Mexico’s outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador last year launched a Super Pharmacy, or “Megafarmacia del Bienestar,” dubbed the largest medicine stockpile n the world. But with the country’s presidential elections looming and evidence that few prescriptions have actually been filled, detractors say…

USA Nominated by President Joe Biden, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) new director Monica M. Bertagnolli took the reins of the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research earlier this month. With a clear focus on improving access and clinical trial diversity, Bertagnolli’s priorities for the role appear to align…

Hong Kong Although well-established as Asia’s leading financial services and trading hub, Hong Kong has never truly been globally competitive in the innovation and technology space, despite piecemeal initiatives to bolster its standing in the field. However, with the publication of a comprehensive new Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, the time might…

USA The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed last year by the Biden administration and hotly contested by the innovative pharma industry, has started to look more like a reality since the first ten drugs subject to price negotiations under the IRA were announced in August. The negotiated prices will not…

Germany Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain disruptions, global drug pricing and access reforms have multiplied. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been introduced in the US while the European Commission is looking at a major overhaul of the EU’s pharmaceutical regulations. Germany, in light of the growing…

France In the French government’s recent cabinet reshuffle, prime minister Elisabeth Borne’s former chief of staff, Aurélien Rousseau was appointed as the new minister of health. Rousseau, having piloted the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency during the COVID-19 pandemic, is more than familiar with both the French healthcare system and dealing with…

Morocco Aligned with the country’s 2021 development plan and the national project to extend health insurance to all of its citizens, Morocco has embarked on a sweeping healthcare reform. After a draft framework for an overhaul of the Moroccan healthcare system was brought forward last year, the plan has been backed…

Europe The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has elected a new president and vice presidents who have set out a key priority for their term: a series of amendments to the proposed European Commission (EC) pharmaceutical legislation reform, which the organisation has warned will further accelerate the loss…