Bristol-Meyers Squibb Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire Celgene in a cash and stock transaction with an equity value of approximately $74 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Celgene shareholders will receive 1.0 Bristol-Myers Squibb share…

UK Today NHS England have released their long-term plan to ensure the future of the NHS and the continued care of UK patients.   The plan is backed by 20.5 billion – the biggest funding settlement in NHS history. Informed by NHS staff and patients, the plan sets out their priorities…

Opinion Aditya Bhattacharji manages Eurasia Group‘s healthcare analysis. In this article, he gives his predictions for the political landscape in healthcare for 2019.  The challenges for firms are painfully apparent—there is bipartisan support in the US to lower drug prices, a pervasive sense that traditional advocacy methods are failing in today’s political climate,…

USA Chester “Chip” Davis, Jr, the President and CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) weighs in on the issue of drug shortages in America.    An uncertain environment for generic manufacturers imperils the sustainability of patient access to low-cost generic medicines.   The unavailability of prescription medicines can cause physical suffering,…

Cannabis Unclear licensing rules raise concerns that big foreign firms applying for patents might squeeze out local players and drive up the cost of cannabis-derived medical products.   Last week, Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly (NLA) passed a bill allowing the use of cannabis and kratom, a local plant with opioid properties…

Korea Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health concern that we are increasingly understanding the consequences of and pulling together to try and keep under control. Korea is one of the many countries known for their misuse of antibiotics but now it looks as though the country is ready to join…

IFPMA Last week, the IFPMA released their new Code of Practice with the aim of encouraging complete integrity and ethical responsibility within the pharmaceutical industry. We do not want anything to even potentially suggest that we are trying to get between the healthcare professional and the patient at the time of…

Opinion Axel Schumacher, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Shivom, a data-driven next generation precision-medicine company in the blockchain space, calls for Pharma to leverage big-data on a global level to ensure all patients have a therapy option.    The key to success for pharma players is to sponsor the accumulation of…

Mexico David Peña Castillo, president and founder of the Mexican Federation of Rare Diseases (FEMEXER), addresses the problem of patients deserting therapies.   In Mexico, approximately 15 percent of patients treated with therapies for rare diseases, dismiss the concept of adherence to treatments. In Latin American Countries such as Mexico, keeping…

Korea The South Korean government has designated the promotion of artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug development and healthcare innovation as a national priority. This new policy aims to capitalise on Korea’s advanced technologies to drive the nation’s economic growth as well as better care for patients at home and abroad.   For…

Top 10 In 2018 we started approaching thought leaders across the life sciences sector to contribute their opinions and insights and provide valuable insider knowledge to our readers. Over the past year, we have received some fascinating and enlightening outlooks from our peers with topics spanning from blockchain and AI to pharma’s…

Mexico Cristobal Thompson is the executive director at AMIIF (Asociacion Mexicana de Industrias de Investigacion Farmaceutica). The AMIIF represents more than 60 global companies with the aim of contributing to improving health in Mexico through innovative medicine. Here Thompson discusses the need for stronger public-private sector alliances in the push towards universal…