HBW Insight catches up with US executive editor, Malcolm Spicer, to discuss Perrigo subsidiary HRA Pharma’s Rx-to-OTC switch application for its daily contraceptive, Opill. With the switch currently under consideration by the US Food and Drug Administration after a positive recommendation from its advisory committees, Spicer draws on his in depth coverage of the subject, as well as his extensive experience writing about the US consumer health market, to tell listeners what they need to know about this historic switch.

In this episode, HBW Insight speaks to the Global Self-Care Federation’s director of regulatory and scientific affairs, Padmaja Kamath, about the organisation’s sustainability work. In 2019, GSCF published its Global Charter for Environmental Sustainability, which represented, Kamath notes, the global consumer healthcare industry’s “first commitment to drive sustainable self-care.” Kamath updates us on the progress of the charter, which calls on GSCF members to pledge to make progress on one or more of three key sustainability areas: plastics and packaging, pharmaceuticals in the environment and CO2 footprint. We dive a little deeper into some specific challenges within these areas, such as recyclable blister packs and supply chain emissions, with Kamath pointing also to an upcoming GSCF webinar on the latter.

In this episode, HBW Insight catches up with Bayer Consumer Health’s Daniella Foster, who leads the company’s public affairs and sustainability work. Foster reports on Bayer’s progress towards its net zero goals and also its Nutrient Gap Initiative, which aims to expand access to vitamins and minerals for 50 million people in under-served communities by 2030. Foster explains the business model behind sustainability, and how the company is expanding access to self-care products in other ways, for example via Rx-to-OTC switch. This episode also digs deeper into thorny sustainability issues like greenwashing and offsetting, with Foster offering sage advice to consumer health industry colleagues. 

In this episode, HBW Insight catches up with IQVIA Consumer Health’s vice president of global consulting services, Amit Shukla, to find out how the global consumer healthcare market is performing as it comes out of the pandemic. It’s good news, Shukla reveals, based on the firm’s latest intelligence. The market grew double digits in 2022 and is predicted to expand by 5-6% per year in the future - even faster if some of the innovative switches currently in the pipeline succeed. Shukla points to artificial intelligence, sustainability and popular wellness ingredients as trends to watch that will drive future market growth.

In this episode, HBW Insight speaks to UK PR firm Kaizo’s associate director Kerry Lennox about consumer healthcare marketing in the post-pandemic context. With consumers bombarded by healthcare messaging and increasingly anxious about their health and wellness, Lennox explains how OTC firms can play a key role in supporting responsible self-care. As trust shifts away from governments and scientific experts towards front-line healthcare professionals like pharmacists, OTC brands are becoming more important to consumers, helping them “tune back in” to science-based health and wellness while supporting this crucial part of the healthcare ecosystem.

In this episode, HBW Insight catches up with director general of the Association of the European Self-Care Industry, Jurate Švarcaite, to find out about the association’s upcoming Annual Meeting. Taking place in Paris, France, from 22-24 May, the meeting begins with a networking cruise along the river Seine and ends with a series of participatory workshops on pressing topics such as robiotics, Rx-to-OTC switch and sustainability. Along the way, delegates will hear from insiders and experts on how the new EU pharmaceutical legislation and a raft of incoming environmental regulations will impact self-care. Attendees will also find out how consumers and industry leaders are shaping the future of Europe’s consumer health sector.

In this episode, HBW Insight interviews Per Rehné, CEO of UK-based microbiome specialists Clasado Biosciences, about the exciting world of prebiotics. Essentially food for your gut microbiome, prebiotics have benefitted from a worldwide boom in preventative health in recent years, as well as a critical mass of clinical research showing the significant role that the gut plays in health, immunity and even stress and anxiety. In this fascinating discussion, Rehné explains the science behind prebiotic supplementation, as well as the regulatory environment in the European Union that makes marketing such supplements challenging, to say the least. We also dive into the current and future growth and innovation opportunities that prebiotics represent for the consumer health industry, which Clasado supplies, as well as marketing its own Bimuno branded product in the UK and beyond.

In this "Over the Counter" episode, HBW Insight chats with Annie Tsong, chief strategy and product officer at Amyris, Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based company that uses synthetic biotechnology to produce clean beauty, personal care, wellness and food ingredients for thousands of brands across the globe, including its own. Leading the firm’s ingredient development pipeline, Tsong discusses the science as well as the benefits of biotech alternatives to traditional beauty ingredients – including sustainability and better performance – and reflects on how the science is already transforming the beauty landscape.