David's coverage specializes in OTC medicines, dietary supplements and self-care medical devices. David is interested in regulatory gray areas such as the borderlines between medicines, supplements and medical devices, as well as botanical ingredients. David also regularly speaks to industry leaders and experts about the latest trends to deliver crucial market intelligence to HBW Insight readers, and co-hosts the Over the Counter podcast. In his spare time, David spends time in his allotment garden, reading/watching science fiction and worrying about climate change.
Latest from David Ridley
An application for melatonin as an OTC medicine is on the agenda for the next German switch committee meeting, despite the hormone being widely available in food supplements. Acyclovir as a buccal tablet and second-generation antihistamine rupatadine are also up for discussion.
Being poor makes it more likely that you will suffer from self-treatable health conditions but it also means you will find it harder to take advantage of self-care solutions, finds a recently-published study by Bayer Consumer Health and IQVIA.
HBW Insight catches up with UK OTC industry association CEO Michelle Riddalls to talk about digital self-care and the unrealized promise of Brexit - part 2.
Engaging with EU member state legislators, stressing the impact of national EPR systems on the accessibility, availability, and affordability of medicines, reformulating products to reduce their financial contribution, and lobbying for expanding the scope of EPR schemes to include other polluting industries are all ways that the European consumer health industry can try and influence the way that the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is transposed into national legislation, law firm Mason Hayes & Curran explains.
France's food safety regulator ANSES is proposing a reproductive toxicity category 1B classification for CBD under the EU's CLP regulation, which would mean an effective ban on CBD in cosmetics and foods. However, French hemp industry association UIVEC hopes that new evidence coming out of a European Commission review will put the issue to bed before it gets that far.
Eleat's acquisition encompasses Clasado's Bimuno finished supplement product line and customer base, but not its Bimuno GOS proprietary galactooligosaccharide prebiotic ingredient.