Latin American emerging economies have become a focus for Big Pharma investment, with a number of significant investment projects announced this year

Biotech companies can only thrive with the right mix of available funding, intellectual property protection and effective regulation. With so many locations claiming to offer them all, an fDi panel discusses how companies can best evaluate expansion options

Courtney Fingar canvasses a selection of Europe’s political leaders at the 2009 Mipim event in Cannes to find out how they are facing up to the challenges posed to attracting investment in the current economic climate.

There was less of a party atmosphere at this year’s Mipim event – just as well for one delegate – but the end of the heady days shouldn’t be mourned, for such austere times are when the clear-headed thrive, and those nursing a hangover get left behind, writes Courtney Fingar.

The trend for amalgamation within the pharmaceutical sector is creating ever bigger and stronger companies, writes Lara Williams.

Heading up fDi’s rankings for medical device manufacturing are Shanghai, New York and Istanbul – with Shanghai also topping the quality rankings for life sciences R&D.

The global of president Bausch & Lomb’s pharmaceutical division tells Lara Williams how the company’s global presence has helped it defy the economic slowdown, and that it now has Asia-Pacific, eastern Europe and Latin America in its sights.

GlaxoSmithKline poised to take 10% share in Aspen as Western drug companies target emerging economies.n

The gloom surrounding global markets hasn’t prevented Cushman & Wakefield CEO Bruce Mosler from looking towards a bright future. He tells Lara Williams why the company’s prospects for 2009 show some light at the end of the tunnel

In these troubled economic times, sale and leaseback transactions can provide companies with much-needed cash flow, writes Lara Williams.