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Medicine

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Medicine. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

A hoarding of Eli Lilly on a building in Gurugram, India. Photo: Reuters

As India’s US$70 million obesity drug market bulges, so does price war

Pharmaceutical giants like Lilly and Nordisk are battling for dominance in India’s weight-loss market with price cuts and early launches.

10 minutes agovideocam

In world first, Chinese surgeons save patient’s ear with graft onto foot

6 minutes agovideocam

As weight-loss drugs reduce appetites, US restaurants cut portion sizes

24 Dec 2025 - 4:15AM

No need for needles? US approves Wegovy pill for weight loss

Novo Nordisk’s daily medication offers an oral alternative to blockbuster injections, with a launch expected in early January.

23 Dec 2025 - 12:57PM

A weight loss pill could help open the door to tens of millions of untapped patients in a global market. Photo: Shutterstock

7 of the most popular health and wellness stories from 2025

Body transformations, scientific breakthroughs and weight-loss journeys are among your most-read health and wellness stories this year.

23 Dec 2025 - 12:45PM

Need to pass gas after eating? Why taking a short walk is so good for you

‘If you take 100 steps after each meal, you’ll live to 99,’ an ancient Chinese proverb says. Here is why a post-meal walk is so beneficial.

22 Dec 2025 - 7:15AM

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Trump tariffs push Swiss pharma CEO to urge price alignment with US

Switzerland and the United States are locked in negotiations on the details of a deal slashing a whopping 39 per cent levy to 15 per cent.

21 Dec 2025 - 10:20PM

A 3D-printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Switzerland flag and the word ‘Tariffs’ in this illustration from July 23. Photo: Reuters

The Philippines

‘Medical pork’ row exposes political grip over Philippine health assistance

Doctors and health groups say the system allows politicians to influence who receives state medical aid, undermining universal care.

20 Dec 2025 - 3:30PMvideocam

Are Chinese biotechs what the doctor ordered as Big Pharma faces ‘patent cliff’?

US drug makers are racing to plug looming ‘patent cliff’ revenue gaps – and increasingly they are turning to China biotechs.

20 Dec 2025 - 8:57AM

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Editorial | Hong Kong well set to raise the global bar for Chinese medicine

A new blueprint and hospital could be just the right medicine to help achieve the central government’s goals for the Greater Bay Area.

20 Dec 2025 - 7:15AM

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau receives moxibustion therapy at the new Chinese medicine hospital in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Outside In | Six years on, are we better prepared for the next pandemic?

Preparedness plans remain a work in progress while health budgets have been sliced by urgent demands and US withdrawal weakens global coordination.

19 Dec 2025 - 8:58PMvideocam

A woman walks past the National Covid Memorial Wall in London, Britain, on November 20. Photo: EPA

Made in China 2025

China’s pharmaceutical industry transforms into a global innovation powerhouse

The China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Invention Index, a new gauge, highlights top drug makers on the mainland for the first time.

19 Dec 2025 - 8:30AM

‘Used medicine to kill’: French doctor jailed for life for poisoning patients

Prosecutors allege Frederic Pechier tampered with IV bags to discredit colleagues, resulting in 12 deaths, including a four-year-old.

18 Dec 2025 - 6:51PM

How Chinese scientists turn allergy into a powerful weapon against cancer

Mast cell platform can expand to carry other payloads, such as molecules, viruses, proteins and drug-loaded nanoparticles.

17 Dec 2025 - 3:29PMvideocam

A Chinese team of researchers loaded mast cells – which cause allergic symptoms when they encounter antigens such as seafood and pollen – with anticancer drugs to deliver them into tumours. Illustration: Shutterstock

Trump considers reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug

Reclassification could have ripple effects in the US, and represent one of the most significant federal changes to marijuana policy in decades.

16 Dec 2025 - 2:41PM

Dozens of US states already have legal medical marijuana programmes, and many also have approved its recreational use. Photo: TNS

‘It’s life’: ex-NBA star in Singapore for brain cancer treatment exudes hope

Jason Collins, who is seeking an experimental treatment, has progressed from being ‘basically a vegetable’ to taking a two-hour walk.

15 Dec 2025 - 7:29PM

Sperm quality decline: could easy-to-use balm from China solve the crisis?

In China, unhealthy lifestyles, pollution and work-related stress are cited in public health discussions around declining sperm quality.

15 Dec 2025 - 4:43PMvideocam

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Ex-NBA player with deadly brain cancer turns to Singapore for new treatment

Jason Collins, who said he could die within weeks, praised Singapore as ‘the city of the future’, where he got approval ‘within 48 hours’.

14 Dec 2025 - 10:18AM

Jason Collins, then a player with the Brooklyn Nets, warmed up before a match against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California in 2014. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Why ‘Hong Kong model’ combining Chinese and Western medicine could go global

German facility says it is exploring potential areas of collaboration and possible joint projects with the city’s new hospital.

12 Dec 2025 - 8:40PMvideocam

China manufacturing

China’s biotech firms may see ‘major breakthroughs’ within a decade. Here’s why

Strong manufacturing base a driving force behind overseas expansion, but industry leaders and analysts say hurdles remain.

11 Dec 2025 - 3:36PMvideocam

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital opens to popular demand

Facility, which hopes to bring Chinese medicine development in Hong Kong to the world, adds extra quota slots to meet demand.

11 Dec 2025 - 10:24PMvideocam

A total of 181 patients booked appointments at the Chinese Medicine Hospital on Thursday. Photo: Sam Tsang

With one small step for AI, Chinese scientists make giant leap for humanity

Researchers give robotic arms the skill and precision of experienced surgeons, all thanks to the inspiration of a simple slip knot.

8 Dec 2025 - 12:55AMvideocam

A multidisciplinary team in China has made a breakthrough in how to achieve precise control of robotic arms in the crucial surgical steps of stitching and tying knots. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese scientists develop promising stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s

New biotech allows ‘seeds’ planted in the brain to differentiate into new nerve cells, reshaping its neural network.

7 Dec 2025 - 6:20AMvideocam

US vaccine advisers say not all newborns need hepatitis B shot

Scrapping the recommendation for vaccination at birth will reverse decades of public health gains, disease experts say.

6 Dec 2025 - 1:00AM

Opinion | How China engineered the rapid rise of its drug innovation industry

A market once dominated by generics is now an AI-powered pharmaceutical hub drawing billion-dollar investments from the likes of Pfizer and GSK.

4 Dec 2025 - 10:51AMvideocam

A worker checks the position of a feeding tray in a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at the Hengrui Biomedical Industrial Park in Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, on December 13, 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Hong Kong stock market

China’s 3SBio seeks US$400 million in Hong Kong to boost drug pipeline

Share placement to help Shenyang-based firm advance clinical research in China and the US, expand reach of cancer and hair-loss drugs.

2 Dec 2025 - 4:46PM

Shenyang-based 3SBio is selling a 4.14 per cent stake in the company. Photo: Handout

US-UK zero tariff deal to reshape NHS medicine spending

The agreement removes tariffs on medicines and raises NHS spending on new drugs by 25 per cent, boosting pharmaceutical growth.

2 Dec 2025 - 4:04AMvideocam

United we stand: why mammals that band together may face lower cancer risks

In cooperative societies – like elephants or whales – natural selection seems to favour genetic mechanisms that suppress cancer, study says.

2 Dec 2025 - 1:06AMvideocam

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