Pharma Veterans

Pickings by Pharma Veterans Fortnightly Newsletter #32 – October 12, 2025 This newsletter is the offering from Asrar Qureshi, Founder of Pharma Veterans. It will bring to you a selection of Pharma Industry news and developments from Pakistan, region, and the world. It will be published fortnightly on alternate Sundays. For queries and sending information, please send email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com. SPECIAL NOTE The objective of this newsletter is to share important news from the US and Europe, where exciting new research and development in drugs is going on. News from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are included to show where Pakistan stands vis-à-vis the region. This is done in order that Pharma Industry in Pakistan may take necessary actions for course setting and long-term strategy making. PAKISTAN • Marham has taken initiative to establish ‘Marham Therapy Clinic’ to help meet the demand for mental health support. It offers: o Counseling & Psychological Therapy for st...

Interesting Case of Saying No – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1170 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1170 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Matrix by Jens Meyer Preamble This blog post is based on a recent article published in INSEAD Knowledge, written by Jens Meyer. Link to article at the end. The Curious Comfort of Saying “No”: Why It’s Too Easy – and How to Reset In many organizations, particularly large or complex ones, “No” is often the safest word. Jens Meyer, in "The Curious Comfort of Saying ‘No’," argues that in systems where authority is disconnected from accountability, saying “no” becomes a default safe mode. It costs nothing in capital, commitment, or risk, and allows the status quo to persist without blame. Meanwhile, the opportunity cost, the innovation not taken, ne...

New Information on Statins and Cardiovascular Risk – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1169 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1169 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Franki Frank Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Preamble This blog post is based on a recent article published in JAMA - Journal of American Medical Association. Link to article at the end. Rethinking Risk: How New Equations Could Alter Cardiovascular Prevention Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Deciding who should receive preventive therapy, like statins, depends heavily on risk estimation models. For years, clinicians have relied on the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs), developed in 2013, to estimate a person’s 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). But medical science e...

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Aging Population 2 - Solutions – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1168 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1168 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Dongfang Credit: Rajan Goswami Preamble This blog post is based on several Pakistani studies, UN report and McKinsey report. Links at the end. Part 2: Bridging the Gap – Strategies, Innovations, and Pathways Forward Given the magnitude of the challenge, what can governments, donors, health systems, communities, and the private sector do to narrow the care gap for NCDs in aging, developing nations? Below are key strategic directions which may be adapted to local environment. Transform Primary and Community Care into Chronic-Care Hubs Redesign primary care to act as the front line for chronic disease m...

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Aging Population 1 - Challenges – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1167 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1166 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Leeloothefirst Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Preamble This blog post is based on several Pakistani studies, UN report and McKinsey report. Links at the end. The Emerging Crisis - Aging, NCDs, and the Widening Care Gap in Developing Nations Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1 have historically been characterized by relatively young populations. But recently, declining birth rates and rising life expectancies have been fundamentally restructuring these countries’ population pyramids. In the coming decades, the number of older people in LMICs is expected to more than double to 1.3...

Human Beings: Works In Progress, Never Finished – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1166 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1166 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Dan Gilbert Preamble Daniel Gilbert in his TED Talk of March 2014, which attracted over seven million views, made the following statement. “Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished. The person you are right now is as transient, as fleeting and as temporary as all the people you’ve ever been. The one constant in our lives is change.” This observation may feel unsettling, but it captures one of life’s deepest truths: we are never static. We often assume that who we are today, our beliefs, preferences, values, and even our sense of identity, is permanent. Yet, when we look back, we realize how muc...