PHARMA LITERATI

Every week of thousands of patent applications are published in India. The  patent applications filed by the pharma academic research institutes in India  go un-noticed. We publish a list of Indian applications published related to pharma academics. This would provide us an idea about the kind of academic research being carried out in these institutes. For details of these patents, please write back to us at  pharmaliterati@gmail.com Invention Application no Inventors Institute A natural extract based polymeric prodrug for sustaining the release of a drug 3084/DEL/2015A 1) Gupta, Puneet 2) Singh, Neelam 3) Khosa, Ratan Lal 4) Annamalai Pandurangan 5) Kulkarni, Giriraj. T. Amity Institute Of Pharmacy, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. An oro-dispersible tablet and a process for preparing the same 665/MUM/2014A 1) Mr. Prasant Dilipkumar Jadav 2) Mrs. Vishakha Samir Hastak Not k...

Pharma companies may have to cough up huge penalties for unethical and illegal practices like offering freebies, gifts and foreign trips to doctors for pushing the sales of their products.  The government is set to make mandatory the uniform code of conduct for pharmaceutical marketing practices , which have so far been voluntary. The department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) is working on a draft which will curb unethical marketing methods and ban specific practices such as giving gifts and sponsor vacations of doctors by drug manufacturers, an official source said.  The draft mandatory code of conduct is expected to be finalized and put in public domain seeking stakeholder consultation by end of November, the official said. The draft is also likely to spell out the penalty and punishment for not complying with the prescribed code of conduct.  The move has been triggered by insufficient compliance to the existing norms by pharmaceutical companies. "Pharma compan...

The WhatsApp group of Pharma Literati has been turning out to be a helpful resource. We thank Mr. Arshad Khan for this post.  To get added your number to the WhatsApp group of Pharma Literati, send a message to 09769059971. Team Pharma Literati. 

Every week of thousands of patent applications are published in India. The  patent applications filed by the pharma academic research institutes in India  go un-noticed. We publish a list of Indian applications published related to pharma academics. This would provide us an idea about the kind of academic research being carried out in these institutes. For details of these patents, please write back to us at  pharmaliterati@gmail.com Invention Application no Inventors Institute Fast release taste masked dry powder for oral suspension 3782/MUM/2014 A 1) Mr. Umakant Verma 2) Mr. Gokul A. Khairnar 3) Dr. Vinod J. Mokale 4) Mr. Jayesh S. Patil 5) Dr. Jitendra B. Naik North Maharashtra University

We recently published a post on the "Nationwide Chemist Strike on 14th Oct against online medicines". We thank Mr. Pankaj Gupta for his comments: Please see http://pharmaliterati.blogspot.in/2015/10/nationwide-chemist-strike-on-14th-oct.html We have received a response from one of the readers, which is worth sharing here: "It`s unfortunate to see that Lakhs of chemists are making wrong decisions based on directives from few people in associations who have vested interests behind such strikes. We at Mera Medicare LLP (www.meramedicare.com) aspire to bring efficiency, transparency and innovation in the overall Healthcare sector but these kinds of strikes and blind following is truly regressive for the society.  Local chemists don`t really understand who`s their competitor and who`s their partner and that`s why they are falling into this 'Bhed-chaal'. Hyperlocal Marketplace such as Mera Medicare is a true partner of these local chemists while c...

Graduate students across the country, with an interest in health care and medical research, will soon have the opportunity to learn about a lesser-known area of patient care - the drug discovery and development process. Eli Lilly and Company has collaborated with 10 leaders from academic institutions to create an elective graduate level course, " Making Medicines: The Process of Drug Development. " Lilly will formally unveil the eLearning course at the American Osteopathic Association scientific conference in Orlando, Florida, October 17-21, and launch its pilot programme with academic partners beginning in 2016. The online drug development course provides an interactive platform for students to explore the fundamental principles of drug development, learn about the regulatory environment that govern the biopharmaceutical industry, and identify the roles of key stakeholders, including physicians, who develop, investigate, and regulate biopharmaceutical products. The co...

The country, which has dominated the generic drugs industry for decades, is falling behind in the race to make copies of complex biotech drugs, which are expected to generate tens of billions of dollars in sales in the coming years. While domestic firms have launched a few such products on the domestic market, where regulatory barriers are relatively low, they are being overtaken by European, American and South Korean firms in the race to supply lucrative Western markets. Just three groups - Biocon Ltd, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd - are working with partners on so-called biosimilars aimed at the United States and Europe. Biotech drugs, which require genetic engineering, account for a growing share of new drugs and the future sales of copycat products will also switch to this category of pharmaceuticals from simple small-molecule pills like aspirin. The global biosimilars market is predicted to have sales of $25 billion by 2020, acco...

Amid a nationwide strike of chemists against "illegal" online sale of medicines, private players in the e-pharmacy space have come together to form an association. "The Indian Internet Pharmacy Association (IIPA) officially formed with the mission to promote and protect the public health by ensuring that its members operate in accordance with the existing Drugs & Cosmetics Rules of Information Technology Act, 2008, and Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015," IIPA said in a statement. With growing penetration and awareness of e-commerce companies enabling retailing of medicines and healthcare products, IIPA wants to make sure that its members adhere to the rules governing pharmacies and the dispensing of prescription medications. IIPA will cater to public's demand for safe and easily accessible medicines at affordable prices. It also aims to be at the forefront to fulfil the Prime Minister's vision for a Digital India, it added. The asso...

Cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) deals rose 10% in terms of deal value in the July-September quarter this year compared with the same period last year, said law firm Baker and McKenzie’s quarterly cross-border M&A Index launched on Wednesday. The 1,230 deals in the quarter were worth $375 billion. India ranks among the top 10 acquirers in the US market for 2015, with 16 transactions valued at $1.7 billion. The majority of those deals are in the life science sector, with six transactions totalling $1.5 billion, as Indian companies seek to increase their scale in the US generic drugs market, said Baker and McKenzie, a Chicago-based firm. “Indian companies (particularly in the pharmaceutical sector) have been on a acquisition spree and I think this trend will continue in the near term given the low valuation and the need for Indian companies to increase their scale to compete in the increasingly competitive generic markets, as well as to dip their toes into the...

Of India's 559,718 diabetics, at least a quarter or some 161,578 are in Gujarat. Retinopathy is one of the most serious microvascular complications of diabetes, resulting in blindness for over 50% patients across the country. In such a scenario, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Niper), Ahmedabad has not only developed new markers to predict such secondary complications but also modified an antidiabetic molecule to reduce the cost of drugs. Present anti-diabetic drugs cost between Rs 100 to Rs 650 per mg. But the one developed by NIPER costs only Rs 20 per mg and will benefit millions of diabetes patients in the country. NIPER has also secured a patent for the invention which promises to be a revolution in the healthcare sector. Led by institute director Prof Kiran Kalia , the team has also created proteomic and genomic markers to predict onset of secondary complications in diabetics like retinopathy and nephropathy. "Presently, secondary comp...

Pharma Literati started with a dream on 15th October 2014. A dream of connecting the pharmacy professionals across India from industry, academia and various domains under one umbrella.  With globalization and changing dynamics of the industry, the pharmaceutical field is constantly changing. Be it community pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, drug regulations, research activities, manufacturing quality or patents, newer things are being introduced every day.  In this era, what is required is the need of a mindset to get adapted to the changes, transform yourself according to the needs and be competitive.  The first and foremost important thing required for a change is the knowledge of external environment viz. for a pharmacy student, faculty or industry resource , it is essential to know what all is happening in the filed surrounding them.   When we started this concept with only two people inv...

We had posted about National Pharmacy Week - 2015 with the theme of  "Responsible Use of Antibiotics Saves Lives" here: http://pharmaliterati.blogspot.in/2015/07/national-pharmacy-week-2015.html IPA has announced competitions on the occasion of National Pharmacy Week, 2015. Please see: http://www.ipapharma.org/html/npw_2015.html

We would like to thank Dr. Milind Umekar, President, APTI Maharashtra State and Principal,  Smt. Kishoritai Bhoyar College of pharmacy , Nagpur for sending us this update. Dear fellow pharmacists,  There is a lot of wrong messages circulating on social media and emails that the pharmacists are empowered under Pharmacy practice Regulations 2015 to open clinics and practice medicine. This is false and there is no such provision.  Pharmacy practice regulations provide for practicing the pharmacy profession by providing pharmaceutical care to patients  which includes providing advise on medication, drug information, reporting adverse drug effects to the physician, and supporting the physician in medication management. This is provided in the interests of the patient with the idea of supporting the physician in health care delivery . Under no circumstances the pharmacist is empowered to practice medicine or open clinics to provide medical care. Please circulate ...

Every week of thousands of patent applications are published in India. The  patent applications filed by the pharma academic research institutes in India  go un-noticed. We publish a list of Indian applications published related to pharma academics. This would provide us an idea about the kind of academic research being carried out in these institutes. For details of these patents, please write back to us at  pharmaliterati@gmail.com Invention Application no. Inventors Institute A process of isolation of immunostimulatory fraction containing flavonoids from andrographis echioides 3182/MUM/2014A 1) Dr. Ghule Balu Vinayak 2) Ms. Palve Sima Popatrao 3) Dr. Yeole Pramod Govindrao IPER, Borgaon (Meghe), Wardha, Maharashtra. A peptide based drug for the inhibition of angiogenesis 935/DEL/2014A 1) Koneriajapuram Natarajan Sulochana 2) Mohan Arun 3) Renga...

We recently received a query regarding cost of patent filing in India via email. For our reader's information, please find below the answer for same: Patent filing involves various activities like patentability evaluation; patent draft preparation; official filing costs and handling or courier charges.  Activity Cost Patentability evaluation Depending upon invention varies from 6,000 Rs. to 25,000 Rs. Patent drafting Official filing fees 1800 Rs for  natural  persons Handling/ courier charges 1000 Rs Total 10000 to 30,000 Rs approximately Any individual can file a patent with Indian patent office. However, preparing a patent draft requires techno-legal expertise and hence needs to be prepared by experts. The expert may be a lawyer or even a non-lawyer.  For further details, please send an email to pharmaliter...

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AllMS) at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). This involves financial implication of Rs.4949 crore. The new AIIMS will be established as institutes of national importance for providing quality medical education, nursing education and also to provide tertiary healthcare facilities to the people of these locations. The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 960 beds. In addition, there shall be a teaching block, administrative block, Ayush block, auditorium, nursing college, night shelter, hostel and residential facilities. Of the total expenditure of Rs.4949 crore, the cost of the new AIIMS at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh will be to the tune of Rs.1618 crore, at Nagpur in Maharashtra of Rs.1577 cror...