Hungary Hungary’s Minister of Finance Mihály Varga has repeatedly underlined the importance of the pharmaceutical industry to the country’s economy in recent weeks. With this strong governmental backing, pharma stands to increase its standing within the overall Hungarian economy.   Speaking at the inauguration of a new plant for Egis Pharmaceuticals…

Clinical Trials Hungary has long been one of the leading countries in Central and Eastern Europe for clinical trials. However, a downward trend in the number of research projects being conducted in the country since 2015 has some stakeholders concerned about the future of Hungary as a regional clinical trials hub.   …

Oncology Cancer is on the rise in Hungary and survival rates are considerably lower than the European average. The country’s innovative pharma association has taken the initiative to suggest measures that it believes would drastically improve cancer mortality rates and quality of life for oncology patients.   Recent statistics show that…

Sweden Swedish firm Orexo AB, despite its relatively small stature, is playing a major role in combating one of the USA’s biggest public health emergencies – the opioid crisis.   Orexo, most widely known for its opioid dependence drugs, was founded in 1995 in Uppsala, Sweden. Its top-selling product is Zubsolv,…

Sweden Thanks to the cooperation of its citizens, Sweden boasts a comprehensive patient registry of electronic health records. Multinational pharma companies increasingly look to these registries to collect real-world evidence, which helps them develop more innovative treatments.     Combining data from the disease registry with the healthcare databases allows us…

Opinion Dr Valters Bolevics, CEO of the Association of International Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (SIFFA) in Latvia, gives an overview of recent market changes affecting the Latvian pharmaceutical market, regulatory upgrades, and growth projections for 2020.   Following a breakthrough year in 2018, 2019 has also seen numerous positive changes for the…

Spain Building on the topics covered in our March 2019 report, the latest edition of Healthcare & Life Sciences Review Spain takes a closer look at the broader Spanish life sciences value chain.   With the Iberian nation enjoying an economic rebound, pharmaceutical multinationals are once again seeing Spain as a…

Sweden Though far from the largest pharma market in Europe, Sweden nevertheless holds strategic importance for global pharma; from the country’s attitude to public health to its sophisticated digital framework, comprehensive patient registries and innovative spirit. Here, four pharma country managers hailing from outside Sweden’s borders give their first impressions of…

France With Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, emphasizing the importance of “winning the battle on data” and eccentric mathematician Cédric Villani, well in the process of drawing up a national strategy on artificial intelligence (AI) in his capacity as Chargé de Mission, there is little doubting the…

France France – one of the most influential countries in the development of gene therapy– still stands as a global powerhouse in the field, with top-class institutions, a dense network of expertise and increasing political support. However, financing and manufacturing French gene therapies is proving an issue, meaning that France is…

France With a feel-good factor sweeping French innovative pharma, the country’s iconic mid-cap biopharma standard-bearers are once more on the rise. These medium-sized national champions form part of G5 Santé, a club of companies altogether contributing some EUR 4.5 billion (USD 5 billion) worth of turnover to the home market and…

Cannabis GW Pharmaceuticals reports that sales of its CBD drug Epidiolex more than doubled in the second quarter of 2019, demonstrating that cannabinoid-based medicines can be highly profitable and potentially blazing a trail for other pharmaceutical companies to follow.   With more and more countries moving to legalise medical cannabis and…