NHS strikes, ambulance tailbacks, staff shortages, pharmacy underusage, appointment abyss and flu chaos are all contributing to a lack of certainty. Meanwhile, as a country we deploy with absolute reliability the paradigm that the ‘NHS is the envy of the world’. In principle it probably is, but getting it to function is not the desire of anyone (irrespective of whether they studied maths until they were 18).

Perhaps the one silver lining, amid the chaos, is the curious certainty that in the middle of all this is our industry – pharma. Stuck in the middle… Stuck in the middle with you. You can see where I’m going with this.

There is, however, some real truth beyond the lyrics. UK pharma, even in the midst of wider healthcare tornadoes, is taking vast leaps into mind-boggling treatment wizardry – genomic research, accelerating new cancer therapies, redesigning clinical trials, developing digital medicine and staying ahead of COVID-19 variants.

Yes, the pistons of our industry continue to whistle and the myriad cylinders defiantly fire, regardless of the situation on the ground. And, although we wish the ground to stop tremoring as soon as humanly possible, it does serve to illustrate that the independence of pharma has never been more important.

Enjoy the magazine,

John Pinching
editor

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EDITORIAL
John Pinching / editor
john.pinching@pharmatimes.com

Iona Everson / group managing editor
iona.everson@pharmatimes.com

Karl Equi / executive director
karl.equi@pharmatimes.com  

SALES & MARKETING
Tara Lovegrove / business director
tara.lovegrove@pharmatimes.com

Luci Sargood / business manager
luci.sargood@pharmatimes.com

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