In recent years, China has managed to capture a significant portion of the market that until recently was dominated by the European pharmaceutical industry, displacing the Old Continent to third place globally in many aspects. This ranking is led by the United States, but the Asian giant continues to gain ground. In this context, Catalonia, the leading center for the sector in Spain, with 44% of the pharmaceutical manufacturing plants (79 out of 181), and one of the main centers in Europe, must play a key role in the effort to improve innovation in the industry and regain its position. Within this framework, the Catalan government (Generalitat) and the industry association Farmaindustria are working to boost competitiveness and increase innovation and patient access to new treatments. The last meeting between the two parties took place last month, attended by President Salvador Illa, before his medical leave, and the president of the industry association, Fina Lladós.

The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) launched a police operation early Wednesday morning focused on the trafficking of medications and substances linked to doping. According to ARA, the Catalan police are attempting to dismantle a criminal network that supplies substances to gym clients to enhance physical performance and increase muscle mass. At least one of those arrested is a doctor, according to sources familiar with the matter. The police operation, which centered on the Barcelona metropolitan area, involved 150 officers from various units. However, it appears that the criminal group distributed these substances nationwide. Furthermore, it had a network of companies abroad through which it laundered the money earned from the illicit business. Throughout the day, the Mossos arrested nine people: eight men and one woman. They also carried out 13 searches, mostly in apartments rather than gyms, even though that's where the end clients were located, and seized up to €200,000 in cash and a large quantity of illegal medications. These searches took place in Barcelona, ​​Masnou, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Prat de Llobregat, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Castelldefels, Vallirana, Canyelles, and Salou.

Donald Trump isn't satisfied. After closing trade deals with several powers, the US president has surprised everyone with a new announcement to raise tariffs to 100% on all non-generic pharmaceuticals arriving in the United States starting October 1st. However, the European Commission hasn't taken note and, in a statement issued this Friday, recalled that the trade agreement it signed with Washington this summer establishes that import duties imposed by the White House can be a maximum of 15%.

We read in the ARA that researchers from the University of Edinburgh (which is not the No-Thi-Fixis University) "have discovered in a study that a bacterium calledEscherichia colican convert a molecule from a plastic bottle into paracetamol." The findings are published in the journalNature Chemistry.

Reig Jofre, a Catalan family-owned pharmaceutical company, earned €10.5 million last year, 11% more than the previous year, and posted revenues of €337 million, up 7%, driven by a strong external push, as almost €60 out of every €100 were generated abroad. This week, it inaugurated an expansion that doubles the production capacity of its Swedish subsidiary, Bioglan. And in 2025, it celebrated its first decade on the stock market, since its merger with the former Natraceutical. The listing, which has led to around 6,000 shareholders today, has been a positive experience, according to its CEO, Ignasi Biosca, representing the third generation of owners of the company, who receivesCompanies at its Sant Joan Despí plant, where they produce high-precision anesthetics for the Japanese market. The fact is that the stock market, he adds, has been a way to reinforce the group's commitment to innovation, especially technological innovation, and also to boost its shift from traditional chemical-based medicines to biotechnology-based medicines, which offer greater flexibility, compared to prescription drugs, which, after years of public pressure to lower their prices, are reported to be selling more than they are producing.

The average time it takes to decide whether a drug is incorporated into the national health system's portfolio of services and, therefore, funded by the state, is 344 days. Once the European Union approves a new drug, Member States begin a specific evaluation and negotiation process with the pharmaceutical company to agree on whether it will ultimately be made available to the public with public funding. In Spain, this period is already less than a year. The Ministry of Health boasted about this figure on Monday, as it represents a substantial improvement compared to recent years: in 2020, the average time could have exceeded 519 days, that is, 170 days more than currently.

A few days ago, a professional named Anna shared a recent experience on LinkedIn. She wanted to share it because it had had a profound impact on her. A close person, who loved her, made her think deeply. Anna is going through a difficult personal process, but it's "human, normal, and everyday," in her words. The person close to her asked her to see her doctor for a treatment prescription. "Treatment?" Anna asked. "Yes, for depression or anxiety or whatever it is you have." And her response was clear and direct. "I don't suffer from depression or anxiety. I experience sadness at times because of the mourning I'm experiencing, for what is no longer, and never will be." She then recounted how surprised she was to have to manage any emotion she simply had to live with and let go with drug treatment, a pill. She concluded that this is an increasingly common mistake in a society where it's easier to numb the symptom than to address the source.

The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday the draft law on medicines, which aims to reform a system that has remained virtually unchanged since the 1990s. The objective of the future law is to "modernize" the drug pricing system, promote generic treatments, and streamline the prescription of medications. Among other measures, they highlight the need to enable nurses and physical therapists to They can also prescribe Drugs. However, sources from the Ministry of Health tell ARA that it is not yet clear which drugs will be able to be prescribed and that they will have to comply with the new "powers," which are still pending definition.

The scientific community has been warning for years about an increase in diseases such as cancer, heart attacks, Alzheimer's, and obesity in the coming decades. Society is increasingly aging, and many of these rising pathologies are associated with age. Everyone is calling for greater research efforts to better control these diseases, guarantee patient survival, and ensure their quality of life. However, pharmacologist Joan Ramon Laporte and health economist Guillem López Casasnovas emphasize the importance of overseeing this research, especially in the companies behind it.

The group of veterinarians in the State has been expressing their discontent for weeks over the new regulation of medicines for animals. The protests coincide with the alarms raised over whether the royal decree that came into force at the beginning of the year, transposing a European directive, could cause pets to be left without the necessary medicines. A concern fuelled by the death of the dog Selva in A Coruña, who they say has been "the first victim" of the new regulations, designed with the aim of improving the control of these drugs, avoiding illnesses and minimising resistance to microorganisms.