It is a good question. From my perspective so far, I can’t think of many similarities between the two other than their association that changes in regulatory policies sometimes help me make sense of developments in the biopharma industry, and vice versa.
In terms of differences, I feel there are more story angles on one topic for Scrip stories, while for stories on regulatory policies in China, I personally feel that the reporting angles are relatively limited. In addition, writing styles and tones used can be different between these two publications. One more difference that I can think of is that writing Pink Sheet stories is more straightforward.
With news reporting, my understanding so far is that there is certain level of predictability so that I can plan potential stories on certain trends and topics. At the same time, there is also a high possibility that I don’t know what I am going to work on tomorrow, especially on the side of reporting company news.
For reporting China news for Pink Sheet, a topic I know I will write about is, for instance, the annual update on the National Drug Reimbursement List covered by China’s basic national medical insurance scheme towards the end of each year. Other biopharma-related topics would be less predictable, and we keep a close eye on it throughout the year.
For Scrip stories, I will keep an eye out for topics such as Chinese firms in the field of AI-driven drug discovery and weight management.
Meanwhile, we also go on reporting trips for Pink Sheet and Scrip to several local conferences that take place every year.
In China, based on my observation, on the regulatory policy side, the trend in accelerating market access of new therapies, especially innovative products, via various approaches will likely continue. Another one is likely in the use of data from global multiregional clinical trials for drug registration purpose in China.
On the commercial side, similar to last year, licensing deals and partnerships between Chinese and foreign firms are still worth tracking.
