Archives June 2011

Medical writing primarily involves writing on topics for the medical fraternity as well the common man. As the healthcare market is growing, demand for healthcare information is also increasing. Outsourcing is on a growing curve, since India has a pool of qualified and experienced professionals. A look at the fast-growing discipline. Escalating cost of drug development, exhausting pipeline of effective molecules, expiry of patents, fierce competition from generics and the economic recession have put a lot of pressure on the global pharma industry for cost containment and maintaining profitability.  The recent German legislation to control healthcare costs that proposes linking the prices of drugs with their efficacy may further add to worry of pharmaceutical companies and force them to strictly control the R&D costs. To manage these challenges many companies are trying to reduce their overhead costs by focusing on their core R&D strengths and entering into strategic partnerships with more...

...says Philip Nyren, Product Group Manager, Cole-Parmer. Discussing the use, applications and advantages of peristaltic pumps, Nyren explains the solutions that help customers do their jobs.   Meghna Mukherjee & Arshia Khan   Kindly state the use and functionality of peristaltic pumps in the pharmaceutical industry and explain how this technology is cost-effective? Peristaltic pumps are suitable for the dispensing, metering and general transfer of fluids. They are used in the pharmaceutical sector for media transfer, dosing, dispensing, filling, acid-base control and other applications. Peristaltic pumps are well suited to pumping a variety of fluids. The fluid is contained in a flexible tube that is fitted tightly within the pump. A rotating set of rollers alternately compress and relax the tubing. As the tube relaxes, the resulting vacuum draws fluid forward and this pocket of fluid is then captured as the next roller moves into place. This compression cycle essentially more...

Rising incidences of cancer warrants equal high treatment costs. Continuous research coupled with advances in molecular biology, genetics, genomics, proteomics have led to the identification of novel molecular targets for cancer therapy and prevention. One such major breakthrough is the cancer vaccine. Presently, there are high unmet needs that these vaccines can cater to. An analysis.   At present, the global cancer vaccines market is occupied by cervical and prostate cancer    vaccines.    The vaccines available for cervical cancer are all prophylactic; the brands are Gardasil and Cervarix. The only therapeutic     vaccine     available in the market is Provenge from Dendreon Corporation. The global cervical cancer vaccine market in 2009 was worth $1.41 billion. GlobalData has estimated that the global cervical cancer market will grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5 per cent to reach $2.10 billion in 2017. The cost of three complete dose courses of cervical cancer more...

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, recently announced that US Food ' and Drug Administration (USFDA) has granted its US subsidiary an approval to market a generic version of sumatriptan succinate injection. This is the first Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval for a sumatriptan auto injector. The pharmaceutical company has got the permission to market - this injection in strength of 6 mg (base)/0.5 m. Annual sale for sumatriptan succinate injections in the US is approximately $190 million. Sumatriptan succinate injection is indicated for the acute treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura and the acute treatment of cluster headache episodes. This generic injection packaged in a single-dose syringe with auto injector is equivalent to Imitrex9 STAT dose System, 6 mg (base) 0.5 mL of GlaxoSmithKline.

India's biopharma sector may see a surge in R&D spending to about $25 billion in the next “.5 -years, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report that said favourable policies need to be implemented to attract investment and enhance innovation in the field. The paper was presented at the US-India Bio-Pharma summit organised by the USA-India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC) on June 24, 2011.  The   total   amount currently being spent   on   innovative discovery    programmes and development in the biopharma sector in India is about $2 billion. This amount can grow to $25 billion by 2025 if concerted efforts are made by various stakeholders like the government, academia and industry on developing R&D and innovation in the biopharma field. The investment is expected to come from multinationals, Indian industry and funding organizations ploughing money into discovery and innovation. "The Indian government needs to implement favourable policies that enhance innovation and more...

Jubilant Biosys, a unit of Jubilant Life Sciences, recently       announced that it has received an undisclosed amount as a milestone payment from AstraZeneca for its research on pain management in the neuroscience therapeutic area.  "The collaboration, which was initiated two years ago in neuroscience therapeutic area, has now expanded to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and focuses on the delivery of a steady stream of pre-clinical outcomes to AstraZeneca by Jubilant," stated a press release by Jubilant Life Sciences. Commenting  on  the development, Sri mosut) CEO & President, Jubilant Global Drug Discovery and Development, said, "We are pleased that we have delivered outcomes and  early success  to the portfolio efforts at AstraZeneca.   This   is the result of excellent collaboration     between scientists at Jubilant and AstraZeneca." The alliance between Jubilant and London headquartered drug firm AstraZeneca in the neuroscience  therapeutic area began two year ago. AstraZeneca own: the compound; developed under the more...

Bristol-Myers Squibb   (BMS) has recently signed a immunity-from-suit agreement with Matrix Laboratories Ltd to expand access to Reyataz® (atazanavir sulfate). This agreement will enable the generic company to manufacture and sell atazanavir as well as stavudine and didanosine in India and sub-Saharan Africa. Atazanavir is an important component of HIV combination therapy and this agreement will facilitate broader availability of the medicine in the developing worlds. This is the fifteenth agreement that BMS has signed for its HIV medicines, and the fourth for atazanavir. A key component of the agreement is the inclusion of pediatric formulations of the medicines to support the treatment needs of children with HIV.  WHO prequalification enables procurement organizations to purchase medicines using funding from United Nations agencies and the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria?

Waters Corporation has recently announced its entry into a non-exclusive co-marketing and reselling agreement with Premier Biosoft International. This collaboration is to conduct advanced lipidomics research. Waters will offer Premier Biosoft's SimLipid informatics platform for sale with Waters Acquity UPLC and high-resolution, exact mass SYNAPT and XEVO mass spectrometers for lipid analysis. Premier Biosoft released its SimLipid software product earlier in 2011, which generates portable reports and images in different file formats such as xls, csv, html, jpeg and png to facilitate dynamic information sharing. In addition, each structure is mined for its associated class, reaction, pathway and enzyme, so that scientists do not waste time and money on laborious manual annotation. This technology would provide high levels of specificity, liquid analysis along with separation of isobaric/isomeric liquid species. "Waters UPLC, ion mobility, advanced mass spectrometry and informatics technologies have created a lipid analysis platform, which provides greater insight into more...

Pfizer could earn $800 million after European Union (EU) countries extended exclusive rights to sell its most popular drug Lipitor until next year in exchange for tests that will provide a slightly modified version to a few thousand children. The US pharmaceuticals group will launch a chewable grape-flavoured low-dose version of its cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor in the EU in November, when the patents are due to expire, exposing the drug to cut-price generic competition. But under EU regulations designed to encourage research into medicines for children, Pfizer has sought a' supplementary protection certificate' in most EU countries extending its monopoly over supplies am pricing. According to IMS, the top five European markets alone account for 14 per cent of Lipitor's $11 billion in annual sales, indicating a six-month extension is worth $770 million. Few expected the system would provide drug companies with returns on the scale to be earned by Pfizer the additional tests it has carried more...

GlaxoSmithKline's booster vaccine, Boostrix has been approved by the US FDAto be used as a single dose booster vaccine to treat tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough in people over 65 years of age. Boostrix has already been approved by the FDA for adolescents between 10 to 18 years of age and for adults aged between 19 to 64 years. FDA said that this will be the first vaccine to provide protection against all three diseases among the elderly. With this approval, adults 65 and older now have the opportunity to receive a vaccine that prevents pertussis, as well as tetanus and diphtheria, said Karen Midthun, FDA.