Tag: Pharma

Feds turn antitrust focus to digital pharma ads

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At issue in the FTC probe is whether the deal would help IQVIA, a $35 billion pharmaceutical data and analytics company, lock up the bulk of the market for digital advertising of pharmaceuticals aimed at doctors and patients, thereby harming rivals and potentially increasing costs for drugmakers, said three of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential investigation. IQVIA is already the largest player in health data and analytics.
The FTC is nearing the end of its investigation, and staff lawyers reviewing the deal are leaning toward filing a lawsuit to block it, according to two of the people. No final decision has been made, and the agency could ultimately choose to not bring a case.
“There are many companies — from very large, well-known companies (e.g., Google, Microsoft/Xandr, WebMD) to smaller recent entrants — providing technology, data, and services to support digital advertising from life science companies to doctors and patients,” IQVIA spokesperson Trent Brown said. “IQVIA began providing some of these services only in the past few years, and the DeepIntent business will fill a gap in IQVIA’s offerings by adding a demand-side platform.”
Brown said the company will continue working with the FTC to clear the deal.
A DeepIntent spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. A FTC spokesperson declined to comment.
IQVIA is the leading provider of pharmaceutical sales and reference data, and also sells software for analyzing that information. Drug companies use IQVIA’s trove of information — which includes over 800 million de-identified patient records and petabytes of sales, promotional and prescription data — to gauge the likely demand for the drugs they’re developing and accurately compensate their sales forces. Generic drug companies, for example, can use the data to determine if it is financially feasible to introduce a competitor to a branded drug.
DeepIntent is a privately held advertising technology company that works with pharmaceutical companies to market drugs to doctors and patients. It also helps client companies measure and improve the success of those ad campaigns.
IQVIA made multiple moves in 2022 to build out an advertising business, including the separate purchase of Lasso Marketing, another health care ad tech company.

The FTC is investigating both the combination of the two direct competitors — Lasso and DeepIntent — as well as so-called “vertical” concerns of whether IQVIA would be able to leverage its mountain of pharmaceutical sales data to monopolize the pharmaceutical advertising market, three of the people said.
In its most recent annual report, IQVIA said the scope of its data covers more than 85 percent of the world’s pharmaceuticals. That includes “more than 1.2 billion comprehensive, longitudinal, non-identified patient records spanning sales, prescription and promotional data, medical claims, electronic medical records, genomics, and social media” from around 150,000 data suppliers.
Pharmaceutical advertising is big business. The total U.S. market for pharma ads is at least $11.5 billion, based on data collected by advertising analytics company Standard Media Index. Darrick Li, SMI’s vice president of sales in North America said anecdotal evidence could put that number as high as $15 billion. Of that, he said, around 53 percent (roughly $8 billion at the high estimate) is digital, which is growing at a rapid 17 percent clip, in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the year-earlier period, Li said.
And while the pharmaceutical industry has been slow to evolve from traditional television ads, the digital shift is happening, and that’s where companies like DeepIntent come in. According to industry participants, it is one of a handful of companies helping drugmakers target ads at both doctors and patients. Last year the company said it could offer guarantees on the number of verified patients reached.
In targeting ads at doctors, IQVIA is already a key supplier of data to DeepIntent.
Part of the FTC investigation is focused on how the deal could pose a threat to competing ad platforms serving the pharmaceutical industry including The Trade Desk, which uses IQVIA data, as well as Pulse Point, according to three of the people with knowledge of the investigation. Those companies help advertisers, including drugmakers, place ads around the internet. The latter is owned by Internet Brands, which also owns WebMD and Medscape, an informational service for health care providers.
The FTC is concerned that with both DeepIntent and Lasso, the bulk of these ads will run through IQVIA, those people said. Those ads show up on health care-focused websites used by doctors, and general websites across the internet.
Spokespeople for The Trade Desk and Pulse Point did not respond for comment.
The FTC is also focused on IQVIA’s ability to control the market for services that measure the success of digital advertising campaigns. IQVIA offers this service, as do companies including Veeva Systems and PurpleLab. Those companies can currently measure the success of advertising campaigns run by DeepIntent, but if the merger goes through, the FTC is concerned IQVIA would make it more difficult for them to do so, according to three of the people.
Spokespeople for Veeva and PurpleLab did not respond for comment.
“Does this give IQVIA the incentive and ability to withhold the data or raise prices to people who access it today? If the answer to that is ‘yes,’ then maybe there’s an antitrust issue here,” a health care lawyer said on the condition of anonymity, due to client conflicts.
The FTC is concerned with exactly that scenario, the people said.
However, at least one ad tech expert disagrees.
“IQVIA in this case is just buying a revenue stream,” said Augustine Fou, a digital advertising consultant who advises companies including drugmakers. “They are unlikely to turn away revenue from selling data if other companies are willing to pay for it. While it’s possible that IQVIA could favor its own platform, for example by only selling outdated data to competitors, that would be difficult to prove before it happened.”
When a company controls a key input used by its competitors — in this case pharmaceutical sales data — it only works to withhold that data from rivals if it facilitates a price increase that would justify the lost revenue.
In this case, Fou said IQVIA would be unlikely to recoup its losses by raising prices for its advertising services. And even though DeepIntent’s lower data costs post-merger would allow it to theoretically undercut its rivals on price, it would take years to get advertisers and agencies to switch to DeepIntent, even with prolonged, deeply discounted pricing, because of long-term contracts, Fou said.
IQVIA is no stranger to antitrust scrutiny or the FTC. The company was previously investigated by the agency’s lawyers for how it bundles various products, and its unwillingness to allow competing software companies to access its data. The related FTC investigation, first reported by The Capitol Forum, did not result in an enforcement action.
Antitrust enforcers in recent years have been wading deeply into the complex world of digital advertising, primarily targeting Google, which was sued by the Justice Department in January over allegations it has illegally monopolized the market.
Within the greater world of programmatic advertising, DeepIntent is a relatively small player. However, specializing in health care gives it an edge in its specific niche over larger players. For example, Google allows pharmaceutical companies to run search ads and place ads in health care-focused websites. However, the platform does not allow advertisers to target consumers based on health information and also cannot target doctors directly.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
Google’s leading position in the overall digital ad market is not a factor in the FTC’s investigation, according to three of the people with knowledge of the probe.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 9, 2023
Licences of 18 pharma firms cancelled for manufacturing spurious drugs

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New Delhi: In a major crackdown against the manufacture of substandard drugs, central and state regulators conducted joint inspections at 76 pharma companies and cancelled the licences of 18 of them for producing spurious and adulterated drugs, official sources said on Tuesday.
The inspections were carried out across 20 states and Union territories in the past 15 days, they said. The names of the companies are not yet known.
An official source said that the action has been taken against 76 companies in the first phase of a special drive against the manufacture of spurious drugs.
“Licences of 18 pharma companies have been cancelled for manufacturing spurious and adulterated drugs and for violating GMP (good manufacturing practice)…. Besides, 26 firms have been given show-cause notices and the product permission of three firms have been also cancelled,” the source said.
As part of the special drive, the regulators have identified 203 firms. A majority of the companies are from Himachal Pradesh (70), followed by Uttarakhand (45) and Madhya Pradesh (23), sources said.
More such inspections will follow in the coming days, they said.
Recently, questions have been raised over the quality of drugs manufactured by India-based companies. In February, the Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its entire lot of eye drop allegedly linked to vision loss in the US.
Before that, India-made cough syrups were allegedly linked to children deaths in the Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.

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#Licences #pharma #firms #cancelled #manufacturing #spurious #drugs
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
Video: Fire breaks out at pharma factory in Hyderabad’s Jeedimetla

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Hyderabad: A massive fire broke out on Thursday night at a defunct and vacant pharmaceuticals firm in Jeedimetla. There were no reported injuries in the event.
According to fire officials, a distress call from local neighbours was received at about 8 p.m., and fire tenders from adjacent fire stations were quickly dispatched to the scene.
Because the fire was so intense, three fire tenders were dispatched to put out the flames. After catching fire, barrels of chemicals housed on the pharma company’s premises detonated.
The pharma company’s facilities have been closed for several months, and officials assume that the fire started owing to a short circuit or that some persons tossed combustible goods inside the grounds.
The explosion generated a massive ball of flames, which caused terror among the locals. As a precaution, the police stopped traffic on the main route and evacuated the inhabitants who lived nearby.
To prevent any unforeseen incidents, the local police had roped off the area. Top fire department officers also went to the scene. Officials from the fire department are investigating the cause of the fire.
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#Video #Fire #breaks #pharma #factory #Hyderabads #Jeedimetla
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
Two workers die in flash fire at pharma unit in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad: Two young workers, including a chemist, died in a flash fire while cleaning a reactor at a pharmaceutical company in Jeedimetla area here on Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred when the workers were cleaning the reactor with a cleaning solvent and a sudden blaze erupted when some inflammable substance got mixed. The duo suffered burns due to the fire, a police official said based on preliminary investigation.
The duo was rushed to a private hospital where they died while undergoing treatment.
The deceased persons were aged 24 and 26 respectively, police said.
Following the incident, a case under Indian Penal Code Section 304A (causing death by negligence) was registered at Jeedimetla police station and a probe was underway.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 1, 2023
KTR announces Rs 500 crores investment in pharma industry

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Hyderabad: Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Sunday announced a pharmaceutical investment of Rs 500 crores in the state.
He announced a collaboration between Corning Incorporated and SGD Pharma, a pharmaceutical primary packaging company. He said that through the collaboration facility for pharmaceutical packaging, glass production will be established in Telangana.
KTR said, “I’m delighted that Corning, which is a fortune 500 company, and SGD Pharma will be setting up a world-class facility here. The manufacturing of pharmaceutical packaging glass from Telangana will accelerate the growth of life sciences sector by ensuring adequate and seamless supply of the world-renowned corning glass tubing sets to our manufacturers.”
“We are proud to partner with Corning and Telangana to reinforce the strength of the pharmaceutical industry in Telangana by securing the full supply chain of primary packaging,” said Managing Director of SGD Pharma Akshay Singh.
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#KTR #announces #crores #investment #pharma #industry
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 26, 2023
Man buys Pharma company’s shares instead of medicines, dies.

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The total number of demat accounts in India is significantly increasing everyday as more and more people build trust on the share market. SIPs are the most preferred investment among people. However, some people are going overboard with their investment plans and are cutting their regular expenses to buy shares and SIPs.

Seeing a post on LinkedIn about compounding magic, Abhishek bought shares of a Pharma company instead of the medicines prescribed by the doctor and his health kept deteriorating while his investment kept getting healthier. Unfortunately, on Friday the man succumbed to the poor health and healthy investment.

Speaking to The Fauxy, Abhishek’s friend, Rohan said “He read a post on Linkedin about compounding magic that compared the share price and cost of Britannia biscuits over a period of ten years, and Abhishek wouldn’t stop talking about it. He went so crazy that whenever he would buy something he would first check if the company of that product is listed in the BSE or NSE.”

Abhishek’s Doctor told The Fauxy “Abhishek was diabetic and his BP was shooting up, I prescribed him the medicines, but I guess he bought the share of that Pharma company instead”

“Abhishek isn’t with us but his investments are wish he had taken term insurance too” said Abhishek’s wife.

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#Man #buys #Pharma #companys #shares #medicines #dies
[ Disclaimer: With inputs from The Fauxy, an entertainment portal. The content is purely for entertainment purpose and readers are advised not to confuse the articles as genuine and true, these Articles are Fictitious meant only for entertainment purposes. ]

February 24, 2023
Hyderabad home to maximum USFDA approved pharma units in world

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Hyderabad: Hyderabad, which has emerged as a key global hub in life sciences, is home to the largest number of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved companies in the world.
With 214 units certified by the US drug administrator, Hyderabad is far ahead of New Jersey, which stands second with 189 USFDA approved units, Telangana Industries, Commerce and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Tuesday.
He said the state government would make efforts for setting up of USFDA office in Hyderabad.
He also said the Telangana government has set the ambitious goal of doubling the size of the life sciences sector to $100 billion by 2028. It is also looking at increasing the workforce to 8 lakh from current 4 lakh employees.
KTR, as the minister is popularly known, was interacting with a select group of journalists on the eve of BioAsia 2023, the marquee life sciences event organised by the Telangana government.
The 20th edition of BioAsia, beginning on February 24, is expected to give further impetus to the state’s efforts to strengthen the life sciences sector.
The minister pointed out that currently 9 billion doses of vaccines are made in Hyderabad annually and next year, this is likely to go up to 14 billion. “At present, Hyderabad accounts for 35 per cent of the global vaccine production and next year the city’s contribution is expected to increase to 50 per cent,” he said.
KTR stated that Hyderabad also accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s pharmaceutical production.

Listing out rapid strides made by the state in the life sciences sector, he said Medical Devices Park at Sultanpur near Hyderabad has run out of space. This is the largest medical devices park in the world, he said.
KTR said Hyderabad Pharma City coming up on 14,000 acres of land will be the world’s largest pharma cluster. He hoped that some legal hurdles in the ambitious project would be cleared soon.
He said in Genome Valley, the mega cluster for life sciences R&D, 30 lakh square feet of lap space has already been taken by the companies while another 20 lakh square feet of space is being developed. He hoped that in the next 2-3 years even this space would be taken by the companies.
Genome Valley is home to more than 200 companies including marquee global names like Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia, and Lonza.
The minister stated that trade and investment to an extent of $3 billion were announced at BioAsia during the last 19 years, BioAsia helped attract $3 billion investment.
More than 250 Letters of Intent, Bilateral Cooperation Agreements, and MoU were signed.
The event hosted leaders from over 100 countries, helping in showcasing the ecosystem and policies to the global leaders.
During the previous editions of BioAsia, over 20,000 partnering meetings were held, more than 30 knowledge papers and policy recommendations were submitted.
Countries like Switzerland, Norway, Thailand, Korea, Argentina, Spain, UK, Germany, South Africa etc. have participated with large ministerial and industrial delegations in BioAsia.
KTR said that the event has benefitted immensely from its participants of scientific and business excellence including Nobel Laureates, Lasker Awardees, breakthrough Prize winners and global industry leaders.
One of the highlights of BioAsia has been the conferment of the prestigious Genome Valley Excellence Award. The award was instituted in 2004 to celebrate individuals, who have made remarkable contributions to the sector. This year the award will be presented to Prof Robert Langer for his immense contribution to research on mRNA technology.
The theme for this year’s edition is ‘Advancing for ONE – Shaping the next generation of humanised healthcare’.
Participation from about 50 countries is expected in BioAsia 2023. The UK will be the partner country and Flanders will be the international partner region.
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#Hyderabad #home #maximum #USFDA #approved #pharma #units #world
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 21, 2023
Big pharma must value African lives above profits, warns head of UNAids

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The head of UNAids, Winnie Byanyima, has strongly criticised pharmaceutical giants for prioritising profits over saving lives, and warned that “racist” inequalities are undermining progress towards ending Aids, especially in Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of all new infections, with women and marginalised groups facing higher new infection rates. Aids-related illnesses were the leading cause of mortality among African women, and adolescent girls and young women were three times more likely than men to get HIV.
“Many times, they don’t come forward for fear of society’s sanctions against them,” said Byanyima, stressing that girls and women should be able to access sexual and reproductive services privately.
She knows well about the impact of the stigma of HIV. At a recent speech at the University of Nairobi Byanyima told a personal story about how her brother, who had HIV, stopped using antiretroviral (ARV) drugs when they returned home to Uganda, while he would use them with few issues when he lived in Europe. “He didn’t die of HIV. He was killed by stigma,” she told the conference.
Marginalised groups on the continent, including sex workers, gay men and transgender people, accounted for a large proportion of new infections in 2021. Thirty-two African countries have laws criminalising same-sex relations, and this often stops LGBTQ+ people accessing sexual and reproductive health services.
“Where there are various factors of inequality, that’s where you see the highest [HIV] cases,” said Byanyima. “They combine to crush people”.
Africa suffers disproportionately from Aids, and its response is still largely dependent on international funding, with most countries on the continent in debt distress or at risk of it. The debt crisis is fuelling mass cuts in health and development spending, and UN leaders have warned that the “vicious debt cycle” is pushing countries in the global south into making “impossible-trade offs” – a situation Byanyima says is playing out “across the continent”.
Kenya spends up to five times more on debt servicing than it does on health, and Ghana and Zambia have defaulted on their external debt in the last few years, prompting concerns that the debt crisis may spiral further, with devastating impacts for health and education spending. Studies cited by UNAids suggest that girls who completed secondary school were 50% less likely to become infected with HIV as they were less vulnerable to patriarchal power dynamics and poverty than their counterparts.

A Kenyan woman takes her antiretroviral drugs. Aids-related illnesses are the leading cause of mortality among African women. Photograph: Donwilson Odhiambo/LightRocket/Getty Images
Barriers to health technology access the global south have also worsened health inequalities. The injectable drug cabotegravir, for instance – administered every two months and considered the most effective form of prevention – is only available in high-income countries like the UK and the US, and even there remains largely unaffordable. Last year, Zimbabwe became the first African country to approve the drug for use, but with the country in economic crisis the drug remains effectively unavailable.
Last year, after months of pressure from UNAids and other health organisations, UK pharmaceutical company ViiV – which owns a patent for the drug – approved certain manufacturers in 90 low and middle-income countries to develop generic versions.
“The injectable [treatment] would be a gamechanger,” said Byanyima, “particularly for people in countries where there’s stigma and where there are criminal laws against certain groups.”
Gay men in countries with the most severe anti-LGBTQ+ laws were more than three times less likely to know their HIV status than their counterparts in countries with the least restrictive laws, according to the UNAids 2022 report.
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Incentives are lacking for innovation, said Byanyima, and the profits companies can make from lifesaving medications need to be regulated. She pointed to the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, who became a symbol of “pharma greed” after his controversial decision to hike the price of lifesaving drug Daraprim, used in the treatment of Aids patients, by 5,000% in 2015.
“The World Trade Organization rules allow lifesaving medications to be traded in the same way we could trade luxury goods. They allow pharmaceutical companies to set the price wherever they want, hoard their technologies and reap billions at the cost of lives,” she said.
Such policies expose racial inequalities and discrimination in health, she said. “To me, that’s racism, even though people don’t want to call it out: valuing the profit of a few people, who happen to be white, over the lives of black and brown people around the world.”
She pointed to the disproportionate impacts of the Covid pandemic on racial groups across the globe, and added: “For Africa, the lesson was: you must have the capacity to produce yourself.”
Byanyima urged African governments to set aside funds for research and development and explore equitable south-south partnerships.
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#Big #pharma #African #lives #profits #warns #UNAids
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

February 16, 2023
Europe is running out of medicines

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When you’re feeling under the weather, the last thing you want to do is trek from pharmacy to pharmacy searching for basic medicines like cough syrup and antibiotics. Yet many people across Europe — faced with a particularly harsh winter bug season — are having to do just that.
Since late 2022, EU countries have been reporting serious problems trying to source certain important drugs, with a majority now experiencing shortages. So just how bad is the situation and, crucially, what’s being done about it? POLITICO walks you through the main points.
How bad are the shortages?
In a survey of groups representing pharmacies in 29 European countries, including EU members as well as Turkey, Kosovo, Norway and North Macedonia, almost a quarter of countries reported more than 600 drugs in short supply, and 20 percent reported 200-300 drug shortages. Three-quarters of the countries said shortages were worse this winter than a year ago. Groups in four countries said that shortages had been linked to deaths.

It’s a portrait backed by data from regulators. Belgian authorities report nearly 300 medicines in short supply. In Germany that number is 408, while in Austria more than 600 medicines can’t be bought in pharmacies at the moment. Italy’s list is even longer — with over 3,000 drugs included, though many are different formulations of the same medicine.
Which medicines are affected?
Antibiotics — particularly amoxicillin, which is used to treat respiratory infections — are in short supply. Other classes of drugs, including cough syrup, children’s paracetamol, and blood pressure medicine, are also scarce.
Why is this happening?
It’s a mix of increased demand and reduced supply.
Seasonal infections — influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) first and foremost — started early and are stronger than usual. There’s also an unusual outbreak of throat disease Strep A in children. Experts think the unusually high level of disease activity is linked to weaker immune systems that are no longer familiar with the soup of germs surrounding us in daily life, due to lockdowns. This difficult winter, after a couple of quiet years (with the exception of COVID-19), caught drugmakers unprepared.
Inflation and the energy crisis have also been weighing on pharmaceutical companies, affecting supply.
Last year, Centrient Pharmaceuticals, a Dutch producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, said its plant was producing a quarter less output than in 2021 due to high energy costs. In December, InnoGenerics, another manufacturer from the Netherlands, was bailed out by the government after declaring bankruptcy to keep its factory open.
Commissioner Stella Kyriakides wrote to Greece’s health minister asking him to take into consideration the effects of bans on third countries | Stephanie Lecocq/EPA-EFE
The result, according to Sandoz, one of the largest producers on the European generics market, is an especially “tight supply situation.” A spokesperson told POLITICO that other culprits include scarcity of raw materials and manufacturing capacity constraints. They added that Sandoz is able to meet demand at the moment, but is “facing challenges.”
How are governments reacting?
Some countries are slamming the brakes on exports to protect domestic supplies. In November, Greece’s drugs regulator expanded the list of medicine whose resale to other countries — known as parallel trade — is banned. Romania has temporarily stopped exports of certain antibiotics and kids’ painkillers. Earlier in January, Belgium published a decree that allows the authorities to halt exports in case of a crisis.
These freezes can have knock-on effects. A letter from European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides addressed to Greece’s Health Minister Thanos Plevris asked him to take into consideration the effects of bans on third countries. “Member States must refrain from taking national measures that could affect the EU internal market and prevent access to medicines for those in need in other Member States,” wrote Kyriakides.
Germany’s government is considering changing the law to ease procurement requirements, which currently force health insurers to buy medicines where they are cheapest, concentrating the supply into the hands of a few of the most price-competitive producers. The new law would have buyers purchase medicines from multiple suppliers, including more expensive ones, to make supply more reliable. The Netherlands recently introduced a law requiring vendors to keep six weeks of stockpiles to bridge shortages, and in Sweden the government is proposing similar rules.
At a more granular level, a committee led by the EU’s drugs regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has recommended that rules be loosened to allow pharmacies to dispense pills or medicine doses individually, among other measures. In Germany, the president of the German Medical Association went so far as to call for the creation of informal “flea markets” for medicines, where people could give their unused drugs to patients who needed them. And in France and Germany, pharmacists have started producing their own medicines — though this is unlikely to make a big difference, given the extent of the shortfall.
Can the EU fix it?
In theory, the EU should be more ready than ever to tackle a bloc-wide crisis. It has recently upgraded its legislation to deal with health threats, including a lack of pharmaceuticals. The EMA has been given expanded powers to monitor drug shortages. And a whole new body, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has been set up, with the power to go on the market and purchase drugs for the entire bloc.
But not everyone agrees that it’s that bad yet.
Last Thursday, the EMA decided not to ask the Commission to declare the amoxycillin shortage a “major event” — an official label that would have triggered some (limited) EU-wide action— saying that current measures are improving the situation.
A European Medicines Agency’s working group on shortages could decide on Thursday whether to recommend that the Commission declares the drug shortages a “major event” — an official label that would trigger some (limited) EU-wide action. An EMA steering group for shortages would have the power to request data on drug stocks of the drugs and production capacity from suppliers, and issue recommendations on how to mitigate shortages.
At an appearance before the European Parliament’s health committee, the Commission’s top health official, Sandra Gallina, said she wanted to “dismiss a bit the idea that there is a huge shortage,” and said that alternative medications are available to use.
And others believe the situation will get better with time. “I think it will sort itself out, but that depends on the peak of infections,” said Adrian van den Hoven, director general of generics medicines lobby Medicines for Europe. “If we have reached the peak, supply will catch up quickly. If not, probably not a good scenario.”
Helen Collis and Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 24, 2023