Companies making blood-based cancer screening tests face a number of barriers to full market entry but getting a foothold of any kind can be the start of a path towards greater ultimate uptake.

The start of the fiscal second half in Japan in October brought a flurry of executive changes and reorganizations at foreign and domestic firms in the country including Allergan, Sandoz and Takeda.

Two recently released inspection results by western pharmaceutical regulatory authorities have put GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pfizer Inc. in the spotlight after both multinationals ran into manufacturing problems in China.

China is facing a serious shortage of recombinant hepatitis B vaccines because three major domestic manufacturers – Dalian-based Hissen, Shenzhen-based Bio Kangtai and Tiantan Biological Products of Beijing– officially halted production of their products on 1 January.