CATEGORIES

Is India self-reliant to manufacture APIs locally?

The KSM is manufactured only by China. So Indian pharma needs to find a way of manufacturing KSM through alternative routes

Thermo Fisher Brings SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Program

To accelerate national, multi-institutional efforts focused on mapping coronavirus transmission and epidemiological studies, Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the SARS-CoV-2 Global Access Sequencing Program for research consortia and industry groups battling the spread of the pandemic globally.

Is PPE Shortage Driving Adoption Of Robots For Assistance?

Anticipating the threat on healthcare workers in contracting corona infection, hospitals in India have started turning to robots for COVID-19 management. Robots help lessen exposure of healthcare workers to the virus thereby reducing danger of infection. They not only help in contactless screening but are also capable of other operations.

Traditional Medicines & Covid-19

Allopathic drugs are already being tried to treat COVID-19 but even with promising results these drugs always comes with some side-effects unlike in case of traditional system of medicines.

Covid-19 Testing Continues To Be A Pressing Issue

One of the key constraints for Indian researchers and manufacturers to develop quickly testing kits in the country is dependency for raw materials such as enzymes, antigens, antibodies etc., required for research and manufacturing. All this is leading to delays in development of high quality and affordable testing solutions. Government should provide necessary support to develop the “ancillary” support for the researchers and manufacturers so that India can become self-reliant.

Roche Diagnostics India unveils Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay

Roche Diagnostics India has announced that it is bringing their serology-based SARSCoV-2 test - Elecsys AntiSARS-CoV-2 – having received the Import License issued by the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), due to the emergency health situation in public interest.

“Our efforts are focused on offering a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine”

Zydus Cadila, an innovation-driven, global pharmaceutical company, has recently received the approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for use of Saroglitazar in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus as an add on therapy with Metformin. The drug was previously approved in the year 2013 for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and diabetic dyslipidemia in India. More than 1 million patients are being treated with Lipaglyn. BioSpectrum has spoken to Dr Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Zydus Cadila about the future plans for the product and about the accelerated research programme launched for the development of the vaccine against coronavirus.

IF WISHES WERE VACCINES…

The long road till commercial availability compelling sustained funding at unprecedented levels. Combined with the $ 2 billion outlay expected from GAVI / CEPI and various government institutions and alliances across the globe, the total economic interest invested in this research would be at a never-before-seen or imagined level.

“We intend to establish Takeda India as a CoE in clinical research”

Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda announced the appointment of Koki Sato as the Head for the company’s India business on April 1, 2020. Sato has been a part of Takeda since 2003 and has grown within the company to hold various senior international roles across multiple functions, including commercial operations, finance, and HR. Prior to this role, he was the General Manager of Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova (UBM) Cluster in Takeda’s ICMEA (India, C.I.S., Middle East, Turkey, and Africa) area. BioSpectrum India took this opportunity to interact with Koki Sato, General Manager (GM), Takeda Pharmaceuticals India Pvt. Ltd to find out more about the growth of the India business at Takeda.

Relex Health focuses on medication therapy management

Bengaluru based startup Relex Health recently announced a first-of-its-kind Medication Therapy Management Programme in India.

Building indigenous DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES

India is facing a bigger burden of not having enough diagnostic kits in hand. Specifically, there is a shortage of reagents and consumables required to carry out the diagnostic tests for COVID-19. In order to overcome this burden, India is reaching out to South Korea, USA, Germany and China to arrange for more kits in order to increase the current testing capacity for COVID-19. Although this step might help India to some extent in its current containment plan, the real need can only be fulfilled by accelerating indigenous COVID-19 diagnostics manufacturing.

Emerging Stronger: Bioscience Businesses In And Beyond The War On Covid-19

Despite the COVID crises, according to AIOCD AWACS the Indian Pharma Market registered a surprising growth of 8.9 per cent in March 2020 with some evidence of panic buying in chronic medicines. In the stock market too, pharma stocks have managed to retain investor interest amid deep fall in nearly every other sector. Nifty Pharma, at well over 7400 levels, is up by 20 per cent over the last month, and is showing the promise of crossing its 52-week high in the coming months.

Multiplying Efforts To Beat Covid- 19

The government along with the industry is exploring every other possibility to combat the COVID-19 pandemic whether in the form of vaccines, drugs, diagnostic tests, medical equipment or therapeutic interventions. The major objective is to develop a long term solution by pooling proper resources, sharing knowledge and collaboration.

Time to build Indian Medtech industry to global reckoning

India has built amazing infrastructure of science especially interdisciplinary and translational aspects of biology in the last 15 years despite history of low level of investments both in R&D (0.8 per cent of the GDP) as well as healthcare (1.3 per cent of the GDP). This needs to change not just as a stopgap measure but greater investment, consistently over a longerrange horizon, is important. And there is need to leverage the strengths and find strategic responses to the gaps in a mission mode.

BIOSPECTRUM WEBINAR ON “EXPLORING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF COVID-19”- “Indian economy will take 2-3 years to come back to normal position”

As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise all across the globe, healthcare authorities and experts are coming together to identify gaps and work together to accelerate and fund priority research needed to help stop this outbreak and prepare for any future outbreaks. With an aim of exploring the various aspects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, BioSpectrum India conducted a webinar on April 16,which saw participation of industry experts sharing their views on how can India tackle this outbreak.

A RELIEF OR ADDED THREAT FOR INDIA?

Researchers across the globe have observed that there may be a unique mutation in the viral strain infecting the Indian population. And may be that is the reason why few countries are suffering large numbers of fatalities as compared to India.

“Innovation Is Key To Bring Down Cost Of Car-T Therapy In India”

Bengaluru headquartered Syngene International Limited, a global contract research organization, has announced the commissioning of the first phase of its new R&D centre in Hyderabad.

Top 5 Ways To Tackle The Outbreak

Top 5 Ways To Tackle The Outbreak

“Indian pharma industry likely to reach $100B and medical devices sector reach $50B by 2025”

INDIA PHARMA AND INDIA MEDICAL DEVICE 2020

“Council plans to set up Centres of Excellence”

Established in 2014, Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council (LSSSDC) is a Non-Statutory Skill Certification Body authorized by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.

Marketing with an enticement, not a mallet : content marketing strategies for startups in biotech

Competing against the industry Goliaths that dominate the health and biotech industries can seem like an impossible task for a company in its infancy. Fortunately, small businesses and startups can build a competitive edge by combining innovation with an organized content marketing campaign. Small business owners simply need to be aware of the key challenges they face and combat those challenges through a strategic content marketing campaign aimed at health and biotech customers.

Karnataka to formulate new policy on Science and Technology

The Government of Karnataka is in the process of bringing out a Science and Technology (S&T) Policy, wherein it is proposing many programmes to support R&D in the state.

India proposes COVID-19 emergency fund for SAARC countries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently interacted with the leaders of the SAARC countries through video conference to chart out a common strategy in order to combat COVID-19 in the region.

Top 6 Pharma Social Media Break Through in 2019

In a relatively short period of time, social media has reshaped communication for consumers and healthcare professionals alike.

INDIAN PHARMA UNDER USFDA LENS

India holds a major stake in the US market. Hence US Food Drug Administration (FDA) has imposed stringent regulations to meet the international regulatory requirement which further boosts number of inspections carried out at various facilities on Indian pharmaceutical companies. With the booming generics business, USFDA is keeping a sternwatch over the Indian pharma companies to safeguard the health interest of its population. The government of India has been adopting to stringent mechanisms to ensure the quality of drugs into the market. The Ministry of Health has been imposing a mandatory BA/BE studies for all the pharmaceutical manufacturing permissions. Government’s “Make in India” initiative is expected to deliver more safe, efficient and quality drugs into the market. With these and many more initiatives India will continue to be the powerhouse of pharmaceutical industry in coming years.

Era of partial replacement of doctors gaining impetus

Technology is assisting healthcare providers to make phenomenal gains by improving outcome in treatments by accurate diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Experts say that technological advancement in healthcare like adoption of digital pathology is expected to be the topmost choice in the healthcare industry, as it has proven to reduce the workload of physicians and clinicians. Additionally, it has also resulted in squeezing down the patient’s expenses due to more systemic approach in health systems enabled by technological developments.

'We are trying to learn and embrace technology as much as possible'

Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company has recently appointed Vikrant Shrotriya as its new Managing Director & Corporate Vice President for the India business.

Keeps Your Risk Factors Under Complete Control

Sartorius introduced the very first Sartocheck ® Filter Integrity Tester in 1980 and over a period spanning more than 3 decades, Sartocheck ® Filter Integrity Tester evolved into an extremely sophisticated automated integrity test solution which is preferred by customers across the globe.

Medical devices need separate regulatory framework

Medical devices need separate regulatory framework

IVDs – The next big story after pharma

The Indian In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) sector, included under the Make-in-India initiative of the Government of India, has huge market potential and is witnessing double-digit growth.