06-Jan-16 A new study in the Lancet’s special series on Antimicrobial Resistance shows that only 12.5% of India’s under-five children with suspected pneumonia are actually receiving treatment, resulting in 210,000 deaths every year. “Access to effective antimicrobials: A worldwide challenge” goes on to conclude that India could avert 80.7% of these deaths by universalizing access to antibiotics. [image: The Tribune]

05-Jan-16 Indonesia's largest pharmaceutical company, Kalbe Farma, is constructing a biopharmacy raw material manufacturing plant in Cikarang, West Java, scheduled to commence operations in late 2017 or 2018. State-controlled company Kimia Farma also announced recently that it would start constructing a INR100 bn (USD7 mn) raw materials plant in the same location. [image: Kalbe Farma and Kimia Farma]

30-Dec-15 The healthcare market in India was worth close USD100 bn in 2015 and is expected to touch USD280 bn by 2020, with a CAGR of 23%. India's healthtech space has grown steadily in 2015 both in terms of funding and deal numbers. Preventive medicine is likely to see more activity in 2016 and rural India is set to emerge as a demand source. [image: Your Story]

28-Dec-15 Russia plans to allow drugstore chains to sell medicines via the Internet as of 1-Jan-17. "This type of selling the drugs will be accessible to all customers with access to the Internet and cover all the groups of medicines, except narcotics and psychotropic substances," the government press service said. [image: Retail & Loyalty]

28-Dec-15 Japan's government has approved a draft budget for 2016 including JPY82.5 bn for the Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare (MHLW) to promote development of innovative new drugs and medical devices, based on the comprehensive strategy for strengthening the pharmaceutical industry announced in Sep-15. Among others, this budget will fund initiatives to promote the practical application of genomic medicine. [image: Tohoku University]