Asia-Pacific The biggest pharma stories from Southeast Asia, including GSK’s new HPF manufacturing investment, license suspensions for Samco Farma and Ciubros Farma after Indonesia’s acute kidney injury crisis, Kalbe’s Aventis share purchase, China-based MGI Tech’s participation in Thailand’s genomics initiative and Boston Scientific’s expanded operations in Malaysia.   GSK invests SGD…

Malaysia Eurasia Group’s Aditya Bhattacharji discusses the relatively modest scope of Malaysia’s recently-launched ‘MYSalam’ scheme; a healthcare programme which aims to provide coverage to the country’s bottom 40 percent of earners.   For the time being, the outlook for the private sector, including for pharmaceutical firms, is good Another populist government,…

Malaysia After 61 years of single-party rule, the May 2018 electoral victory of the populist Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition sent shockwaves through the Malaysian political landscape. This has been keenly felt within the healthcare sphere, where industry players are broadly supportive of PH’s plans to increase low-income Malaysians’ access to treatments…

Malaysia Click here to download the Healthcare & Life Sciences Review Malaysia 2018. After recent elections conducted in May 2018 saw Mahathir Mohamad returning as Prime Minister after 15 years to seal a historic victory, Malaysia is again back on its feet. Bolstered by well-established institutions, a fully-functional IP framework and strong…

Malaysia American medtech giant Baxter and pan-Asian healthcare service provider Zuellig Pharma have been collaborating in Malaysia to increase the quality and quantity of care that can be given to patients in their own homes, generating significant cost-savings for the healthcare system and increasing patient-centricity.   “[Home care] reduces costs significantly,…

Malaysia Halal pharmaceuticals – medicines that do not contain any alcohol, parts of animals such as dogs, pigs, bees, or any other substances prohibited as ‘haram’ under Shariah law – are becoming increasingly widespread globally. This trend is especially prevalent in the Asia Pacific region, where the significant Muslim populations of…

Malaysia How Malaysia is setting itself up to provide biosimilars across the Islamic world as well as Asia.   Inno Bio Ventures, a Malaysian state-owned company originally set up to create drug security by ensuring that the country was self-sufficient in terms of medicine supply, has been making its first moves…

Malaysia Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population, disease burden, medical infrastructure and research speed, combined with its population’s proficiency in English, make the Southeast Asian nation a potentially excellent regional clinical trials destination.   We have a population of 32 million which represents a third of the world’s genomics Dr Akhmal Yusof, CRM Dr…

Malaysia Sea cucumbers – odd-looking marine animals with leathery skins and elongated bodies – can be found on ocean floors worldwide. Although more famous as a culinary delicacy in East and Southeast Asia, one Malaysian company – Healwell – is using these primitive creatures to save lives.   Dr Hassan Yaakob,…

Cannabis Following the death penalty handed to Muhammad Lukman, a 29-year old man who was convicted of possessing, processing and distributing medicinal cannabis oil, public outcry has caused Malaysian officials to reconsider the punishment.   Muhammad Lukman was arrested in 2015 for possessing 3.1 litres of cannabis oil, 279 g of compressed cannabis and 1.4 kg of…

  Without a doubt, Malaysia shares all the major attributes of an emerging market, from the potential to expand market penetration to the increasing purchasing power of the population. So the question is: Why have only two multinationals established manufacturing facilities in the country? Why was Malaysia not added to…