Brendan Shaw “We must balance ensuring the NHS gets the best value, delivering improved patient access and promoting innovation. These proposals mean we meet expectations to introduce effective products as soon as possible while maintaining a world-leading robust approach.” - Professor Gillian Leng CBE, Chief Executive, NICE “That’s why we are setting out our new Life Sciences Vision to bottle the formula we have developed to tackle COVID and improve health outcomes fo

Brendan Shaw “Fair dinkum – (adj, Australian informal), true, genuine, authentic” - Aussie Slang Dictionary “Collywobbles – (noun, UK informal), an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach caused by feelings of nervousness or slight fear” - Cambridge Dictionary News that the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia have signed an in-principle agreement on the broad outline of the proposed Australia – UK Free Trade Agreement has prompted debates about whether the announ

Brendan Shaw and Sunayana Shah With the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union at an impasse and rising tension between the two parties, there is an increasing likelihood that the UK may crash out of the EU at the end of this year in a ‘no-deal’ scenario. This could raise major issues for the UK’s pharmaceutical and biotech industries and for patients. Are UK-EU negotiations on a road to nowhere? The negotiations are about a future trading agree

"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills" - Chinese proverb There’s been a lot said about the strained relations between Western countries and China. But no one seems to have told the life sciences sector, which is just getting on with building new global alliances in an international industry that benefits economies and humanity alike. Tense times? We’ve been hearing a lot about the tense relationship between China and the West in re

"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried." - Richard III, William Shakespeare Could Shakespeare have scripted it any better? One wonders what the Bard would have thought of where Britain is at with Brexit today. Are we, indeed, at the nadir of British politics with the election set to mark the turning point in this high drama? The House of Commons has just

Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble And if I stay it will be double So you gotta let me know Should I stay or should I go? - Should I Stay or Should I Go?, The Clash I reckon when someone writes 'Brexit the Musical', the title will come from this immortal song by the 1980s British punk rock band, The Clash. The climactic scene in 'Brexit the Musical' will be when Prime Minister, Theresa May, bursts into a rendition

This week the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced the new 10-year plan for the National Health Service, with the claim that it could save up to 500,000 lives over the next decade. It's ironic that on the very same day this week as the announcement, ambulances in London were queuing up 12-deep at London’s hospitals because Accident and Emergency (A&E) wards were all full. Patients were waiting on stretchers in corridors for hours waiting to be admitted. Not only is