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Fair dinkum or collywobbles? Life sciences and the Australia – UK free trade agreement

Brendan Shaw

Jun 17, 2021
5 min

Fair dinkum or collywobbles? Life sciences and the Australia – UK free trade agreement

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

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5 Trends for Life Science Companies to Watch in 2021

Brendan Shaw

Jan 14, 2021
1 min

5 Trends for Life Science Companies to Watch in 2021

Brendan Shaw Article published in PharmaBoardroom on 14 January 2021 can be found here: https://pharmaboardroom.com/articles/5-trends-for-life-science-companies-to-watch-in-2021/ #covid-19 #pharmaceuticals #lifesciences #globalhealth #pricing #medicines

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What future from a ‘no-deal’ Brexit for UK life sciences?

Brendan Shaw

Sep 12, 2020
6 min

What future from a ‘no-deal’ Brexit for UK life sciences?

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

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What trade war?: Western and Chinese life science companies just get on with it

Brendan Shaw

Dec 4, 2019
5 min

What trade war?: Western and Chinese life science companies just get on with it

"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

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Crouching dragons and hidden tigers: the emergence of China’s life sciences sector

Brendan Shaw

Nov 16, 2018
5 min

Crouching dragons and hidden tigers: the emergence of China’s life sciences sector

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" - Confucius China’s life sciences industry is still surprising some people in the West with how rapidly it is developing its technological and innovative capabilities. Companies and researchers are working in laboratories and biotech parks across China to develop new drugs in a seismic shift in the country’s life sciences sector. Emerging Chinese companies like 3SBio, Betta Pharmaceuticals, BeiGene

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My failure as a Rockstar: lessons from technological change in the music industry

Brendan Shaw

Oct 20, 2018
4 min

My failure as a Rockstar: lessons from technological change in the music industry

In 2001, a little-known rock band started and ended its career in Melbourne, Australia. The band, Boxer, a folk-rock/pop band with a mixture of intelligent and edgy political lyrics, did the usual things start-up bands did up until 2001: worked hard, recorded an ‘EP’ compact disc (CD), played smoke-filled pubs and live music venues in Melbourne (mostly when they were empty) and spent a year marketing itself by sending CDs in the mail to record companies, live venues, music pr

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Brendan Shaw

Apr 26, 2018
5 min

Anti-vaxxers should read Roald Dahl

“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her. “I feel all sleepy” she said. In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead. - Roald Dahl, “Measles: a dangerous illness” Roald Dahl’s poignant essay about the death of his daughter, Olivia, from measles in 1962 is both a touching individual story and an illustration of the benefits of vaccination. The famous children’s author laments that there was no vaccine available back then but notes that a vaccine is no

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UK-Australia trade deal an opportunity for life sciences in both countries

Brendan Shaw

Apr 24, 2018
1 min

UK-Australia trade deal an opportunity for life sciences in both countries

Article published on PharmaTimes online can be found here. #Australia #UnitedKingdom #Brexit #Britain #trade #industrialpolicy #pharmaceutical #lifesciences

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Disruptive innovation in the health sector – are we ready for it?

Brendan Shaw

Mar 22, 2018
6 min

Disruptive innovation in the health sector – are we ready for it?

“Breaking an old business model is always going to require leaders to follow their instinct. There will always be persuasive reasons not to take a risk. But if you only do what worked in the past, you will wake up one day and find that you’ve been passed by” - Prof Clayton M. Christensen, Harvard Business School If it’s one thing that unites practically everyone across the health sector it’s that things need to change. Nobody I have met in the health sector in any country o

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Memo to life sciences executives: Happy New Year, take a deep breath and think big

Brendan Shaw

Jan 26, 2018
6 min

Memo to life sciences executives: Happy New Year, take a deep breath and think big

As life sciences companies head into their annual strategic kick-off meetings for the year, spare a thought for their CEOs and senior execs. It’s a cliché these days to talk about ‘disruption’, but as we enter 2018 there are some fundamental shifts happening that are confronting business leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, as in many sectors. There’s already the litany of strategic challenges that have faced the industry for years, such as R&D productivity, the

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