17-Jul-15 India has extended price controls to 39 more drugs used to treat diseases such as diabetes, infections, digestive disorders and pain among others, in an effort to make them affordable. Prices are being reduced by 5-40% and they join 652 medicines already under price control. [image: The Hindu]

22-Jun-15 Ten companies with medical-related operations in Japan are looking to team up with overseas biotechnology concerns to develop regenerative medicine treatments using cultured cells. The companies, including Fujifilm, CellSeed, Astellas and Janssen, will set up a development center to pool their technologies. [image: The Japan Times]

03-Jul-15 Despite China's ambitions for its pharmaceutical sector, it is likely to continue to depend on contributions from foreign companies for some time. Investment by big pharma companies in R&D in China is still in the early stages, but it, alongside other emerging world regions, holds out hope for reducing costs, market expansion, and reconfiguring the global drug development model. [image: Zhang Chengliang / China Daily]

28-Jun-15 As part of the Make in India strategy, India's government plans to set up a INR5 bn (USD79 mn) fund to boost the domestic pharma industry and provide cheaper loans for manufacturing. It is also considering single window clearance for drug approvals, to help rejuvenate the local pharma sector and make medicines more affordable. [image: ET Healthworld]

18-Jun-15 Merck's Russian expansion drive remains unaltered, its top executives say, despite a looming recession, a state localization drive, and deteriorating relations with the West. Merck is increasing headcount and expects to improve on its EUR150 mn sales of 2014. "It is crucial to capture the niche markets," said Jurgen Konig, head of Merck in Russia. [image: Armin Kübelbeck / Wikicommons]