During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe have become increasingly involved in the private sector.[1] State-owned enterprises have long been common in Asia, but the pandemic has increased their prominence in Europe. In Italy and Norway, for instance, governments are taking equity stakes …›
The European Union (“EU”) and its Member States are struggling with the pace of their vaccination programs. This is partly due to shortages of vaccine availability. Germany, like the rest of the EU, is scrambling to obtain vaccine doses as the pharmaceutical industry slows …›
Sunday, February 28, 2021, was Rare Disease Day. With so much focus on COVID-19 throughout 2020, it’s important to recognize the continued work done in rare disease drug development by sponsors and FDA throughout 2020. In addition, a number of policies implemented in response …›
Nearly one year after its introduction to the House of Commons, the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill 2019‑2021 (the Bill) was granted Royal Assent on 11 February 2021, becoming law as the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 (the Act). The purpose of the …›
Nina Schäfer and Jin Ito contributed to this article. On November 25, 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published its “Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe” which outlines the Commission’s multi-year vision for a more patient-centered pharmaceutical system. The strategy aims to achieve various goals through …›
Late last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The vaccine is manufactured by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. It consists of two doses taken three weeks apart, and …›
As Brexit is finally completed in the UK, from 1 January 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) will be the UK’s standalone medicines and medical devices regulator. Transition from the EU allows the UK to offer fully independent regulatory decisions for …›
On August 28, 2020, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) jointly published a notice on the adjustment of China’s Catalog of Technologies the Export of Which is Prohibited or Restricted (the “Catalog”). This is the first time the …›
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s six-month pediatric exclusivity rules that apply to drugs also largely apply to biologics (albeit with certain distinctions), which may become a valuable life cycle management strategy for biopharmaceutical companies (hereinafter “Sponsors”) in addition to patent exclusionary rights. At the …›
The ability of life sciences companies to rely on patent protection for diagnostic methods has been eroded over the last ten years, although recent court decisions evidence a rebuilding framework. While courts have consistently invalidated diagnostic methods as lacking patent eligibility, claims re-framed as …›