News digest: US pushes for softer data rules, Chinese unicorns, and more

Also, desi medical devices firms are gunning for global markets

US wants India to soften data rules

Two US senators have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to soften India’s stance on data localisation, warning that measures requiring it represent “key trade barriers” between the two nations. Read more...

USFDA approvals hit record high this year

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has granted the highest number of drug approvals in its history this year. The regulator has bettered the last year’s numbers with 971 approval actions this year, which include 781 final nods and 190 tentative go-aheads. Read more...

Desi medical devices firms gun for global markets

Transasia Bio-Medicals, which controls over a third of the Indian market in blood analyser machines and attendant chemicals, is making a big push to extend its footprint abroad. Already, more than half of its sales of Rs 12 billion come from global markets. In the last few years, Transasia has bought 14 medium-sized medical technology companies in various countries, including the US, Russia and Turkey, to cater to those markets. Read more...

In China, a dot-com déjà vu: Welcome to the land of ‘unicorns’

We’ve seen it before: the crazy spending, the stratospheric valuations. Twenty years later, it looks like the dot-com boom all over again, but this time the players are much bigger—and Chinese. Read more...