Day: April 22, 2026

The State Council, China’s cabinet, has published guidelines on innovative drug pricing that a bank analyst has described as “the most significant” in a decade, as they aim to reward drug innovation and ease pricing tension for domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies. The framework document published this month said patented innovative drugs would be supported through value-based pricing, while the prices of generic drugs would be driven down through market competition and volume-based procurement. Under volume-based procurement, the government buys drugs in bulk for public hospitals, putting multinational companies under…

The Iran conflict is pushing Saudi Arabia to reconsider its US-led security strategy, with China emerging to play a limited, but functional role, analysts say. However, deep US ties in defence would restrict Saudi Arabia’s broader cooperation with China, they added, as one expert predicted Riyadh was likely to deepen ties with regional powers such as Pakistan and Turkey. 01:28 US forces seize Iranian ship as Tehran says it has no plans to join peace talks US forces seize Iranian ship as Tehran says it has no plans to join…