Welcome to the latest edition of Pharma Focus Asia. The issue of outsourcing in the pharmaceutical sector has been a hot topic for discussion recently, particularly now that the US Congress is considering reforming patent law. The new legislation could have significant repercussions for firms that use the USA as part of their business strategy, especially as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies now outsource at almost every stage in the value chain.
The pharmaceutical industry is now supporting a thriving services sector by outsourcing for a broad range of skills and technologies across a global network. Steven R Ludwig of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox takes an in-depth look at the patent problems associated with global drug development and examines how this may affect your business.
Also in this issue - and keeping to the subject of outsourcing - Bev Salt of AstraZeneca explores the competitiveness of China and looks at how it is competing with other countries, such as Mexico, Brazil, India, and Central and Eastern Europe, by exercising the power of its huge domestic market and its skills and materials resources.
Gail Sofer of GE Healthcare looks at the issue of compliance with current good manufacturing practices. Such compliance is required for the manufacture of clinical trial materials in the biotechnology sector, but there remains some confusion over the specifics of the compliance required to ensure patient safety.
Elsewhere, we hear from Eric Morfin, project management office director at Chiron Corporation, on new and growing opportunities in the clinical trials field. We also hear from Dr Keith Carpenter and Professor K C Nicolaou from the Singapore Institute of Chemical & Engineering Services, who discuss the Biopolis Chemical Synthesis Laboratory (BCSL) and its potential to facilitate cooperation with the biomedical sciences community. I hope that you enjoy the issue.
The next edition's highlights include contributions from:
