Pharmacy

Biocon has delivered strong multi- Sector growth for the financial year 2011. Commenting on the results, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon, stated, "Emerging markets have realized significant and sustained growth for our Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), whilst our branded formulations have scripted business success in the Indian market place. Licensing income from Pfizer and others has contributed materially to profit generation this fiscal. Our research services businesses supported by Syngene and Clinigene have signaled a turn around. We are confident this will drive robust profitability next fiscal. To support our expanding business operations, we expect to increase our employee strength by around 1000 in FY12.1 am pleased to announce the payment of an interim dividend of RS. 1.50 Per share and recommend a final dividend of RS. 3.00 per equity share as our on-going commitment to building incremental shareholder value. “The total annual income of Biocon group has more...

Piramal Healthcare Ltd (PHL), hs recently announced the Quarter 4 (Q4) and year ending results for the Financial Year (FY)2011. For the continuing businesses, total operating income for the quarter was up by 62 per cent to RS. 689.1 crore. The total operating income includes RS. 130 crore towards income from investments. Including this income, the operating profit for the quarter was at RS. 263.1 crore against RS.58.5 crore for Q4 FY 2010. Net profit for the quarter was RS.201.8 crore and Earnings per Share (EPS) was RS. 9.0 Per share. During the quarter the Piramal facilities at Ahemadabad, Ennore and Canada were audited by 14 out of the top 20 global innovator companies. Revenues from Piramal Critical Care business have grown by 31 per cent to RS.116.0 crore against? 88.4 crore in Q4FY2010. Sevoflurane market share for PHL in US has increased from 14 per cent as on March more...

Dr Reddy's Labs (DRL), India's second-largest pharmaceutical company has entered the race to acquire Doktor Mom, one of the largest selling Over-The-Counter (OTC) ranges of drugs in Russia & the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), along with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) who is also in talks to buy Doktor Mom, according to various sources. Doktor Mom, a range of cough and cold products, is owned by Mumbai-based JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals. With annual sales of ? 200 crore, it is the company's largest OTC brand. The range is marketed in Russia and the CIS countries by Unique Pharmaceutical Laboratories, a JB Chemicals subsidiary. J& J and JB Chemicals were in talks for a while now, and DRL joined the race only recently. According to industry sources, the deal could be in the range of $250-300 million. Last year, DRL had entered into an agreement with Cipla for exclusive rights to more...

A remarkable new breakthrough in the field of nanomedicine was reported by Prof Sylvain Martel, Director - Nanorobotics Laboratory, Polytechnique Montreal (Canada). By utilising a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system, his team effectively guided microcarriers loaded with a dose of anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream of a living rabbit, right up to a targeted area in the liver, where the drug was successfully administered. Further, Therapeutic Magnetic Microcarriers (TMMCs) were developed by Pierre Pouponneau, a PhD candidate under the joint direction of Prof Jean-Christophe Leroux and Prof Martel. These drug delivery agents that are made from biodegradable polymer and measure 50 um in diameter, encapsulate a dose of a therapeutic agent as well as magnetic nanoparticles.  

The particular attention paid to leak tightness of pharmaceutical containers has been increasing within the past months. Seidenader stays abreast of these changes with the development of a module for Head Space Analysis (HSA). Besides the penetration of oxygen and its possible reaction with the product, the loss of sterility of parenteral products is the most serious threat to the health of patients. Up to 600 vials per minute and 100 measurements per container are analyzed using the Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) technology. The vials pass the laser head in a precise handling system. The laser beam, tuned over a certain wavelength range, is sent through the headspace of the vial. A photo sensor receives the transmitted light and determines the absorption profile of the headspace gas. The analysis of this profile results in precise information. The obtained data are compared to threshold values to generate pass/fail decisions. more...

Sage-N Research, Inc, the world leader in computational proteomics has recently announced a new Application Programming    Interface    (API) toolkit for developers of proteomics data analysis software. The toolkit will   enable   software developers to add the power and sensitivity of SORCERER analyses to their existing software packages, expanding the utility of the SORCERER platform for high-throughput proteomics laboratories. The new toolkit comprises a web service API based on XML data formats and accessible across a network. It also has a cross-platform client library to access the API on Windows, Linux and other operating systems. It also includes a Developer's Toolkit with test beds, documentation and other resources the toolkit has been designed and built in collaboration with Sage-N Research's partners and is available immediately for application integration. Following the initial roll- out to partners, it will be made available to other third party application developers by arrangement, and it will also more...

Selexys Pharmaceuticals has initiated enrollment in a phase I clinical study of its lead compound, SelGl, a humanized anti-P-selectin   antibody   for   sickle cell disease. This placebo-controlled, double-blind, first-in-human, ascending single dose and multiple dose study of SelGl will enroll approximately 30 healthy subjects. This study will evaluate the safety and pharmacology of SelGl prior to advancement into a phase II trial in patients with sickle cell disease. Dr Scott Rollins, Selexys President and CEO, said, "This phase study represents the first step in understanding the potential of SelGl to address the unmet medical need  sickle cell disease and we are excited to initiate the clinical development of this novel compound. This phase I trial represents a key milestone for Selexys as we transition from a preclinical to  a  clinical  development  stage biopharmaceutical company." In 2008, Selexys received orphan- drug designation for SelGl from the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development more...

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc, has signed a collaboration agreement with Transgene S A and ChronTech Pharma AB to evaluate a novel therapeutic vaccination strategy against genotype 1 Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in a phase I clinical study. In this collaboration, the strategy is to use different prime and boost vaccines with the goal of obtaining a clinical effect by inducing different immuneresponses. A phase I study, to be started later this year, will use ChronTech's ChronVac-C® plasmid DNA vaccine delivered by in vivo electroporation using Inovio's Medpulser® DDS as the prime and Transgene's therapeutic vaccine TG4040, a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA), as the boost. In the planned phase I clinical study, each company will contribute their respective products and equally share study-related costs. The study will enroll 12 treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C at a site in Germany. Dr J Joseph Kim, President and CEO, Inovio, said, "We look forward more...

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc's new EpiQ™ Chromatin analysis kit is a real-time PCR assay for the rapid quantitative assessment of chromatin  structure. Complementing existing epigenetic assays is DNA methylation and chromatin Immuneprecipititation, the EpiQ™ kit Is The first commercial research tool helps scientists quantify the impact: of epigenetic events on gene expression regulation through chromatin State changes. The EpiQ™ kit can provide alarsritative information about chromatin accessibility, which correlates strongly with gene expression. The key benefits of the EpiQ™ chromatin analysis kit include assessment of chromatin structure in cultured cells within six hours, requirement of relatively few cells (as few as 50,000) to perform analysis and generation of quantitative chromatin structure information for multiple genomic elements. The chromatin state of a gene can be identified in situ based on its sensitivity to the action of the nuclease in the EpiQ™ kit. In heterochromatin, genomic DNA is inaccessible to nuclease digestion more...

Thermo Scientific biological safety cabinets combine smart design and extraordinary value with best-in- class energy efficiency, reliability and usability. The advanced design of the MSC-Advantage biological safety cabinet improves overall operation and maintenance, maximizes safety and optimizes service and clean-up. Units feature 60 per cent less energy consumption and heat output. The MSC-Advantage fully complies with the EN 12469 safety standard as independently tested and certified by TUV Nord. It is available in 130 and 190 cm widths with microprocessor control. It has large front-panel display that provides constant readout of down flow and inflow velocities and filter usage status. The exclusive performance factor monitoring system advises when cabinet service is needed. The patented window opens to 20 cm working height, 53.5 cm maximum height and easily lowers for interior cleaning. It has an ergonomically angled window that is sloped at 10° for better comfort and reduced operator fatigue. more...