PHARMA LITERATI

In this nice piece of article on Forbes,  http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenbrozak/2016/06/25/brexit-will-be-bad-for-pharma/#398890a57ab3  the author highlights the impact of Britain's potential exit from the European Union on the pharmaceutical industry. Summary: 1. Big Pharma’s   balance sheets just took a hit: Between the UK and the EU, most large pharmaceuticals have more than 20% of their sales in the region; as a result, these companies will be working the numbers this weekend to see how their performance will be affected by Brexit and the ensuing financial chaos. 2. The healthcare capital markets have now come to a screeching halt: With a decompensating banking system, the UK’s financial chaos will certainly have a domino effect across the rest of the continent. Management teams will be distracted, layoffs will certainly ensue and, once that happens, meaningful R&D will slow down as workers begin to worry about their jobs. 3....

Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University (DPSRU) and Controlled Release Society - Indian Local Chapter, better known as CRS-IC are organizing National Seminar on Advances in Technology, Regulatory and Clinical Aspects ts in Controlled Drug Delivery system. The details for the same are as follows: Date:                 July 15, 2016. Theme:             Affordable Medical Services via Pharmaceutical Research Poster Session: Young scientists will have an opportunity to present a concise overview of their research study. The posters will provide a platform for discussion, a forum to exchange ideas and ample opportunity for networking. Abstract submission: The research abstract should be appropriately structured and complete with the subheadings – Title, Authors, Address, Email id, Objective, Methods, Result and Conclusion. The title should be written ...

This post originally appeared on our partner blog Pharma Sastra at http://pharmasastra.blogspot.in/2016/06/blood-transfusion-and-its-risk.html 14 th  June , WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY,  a campaign marked by WHO (World Health Organization), established in 2004 in order to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. World Blood Donor Day celebration brings a precious opportunity to all donors for celebrating it on national and global level as to commemorate the birthday anniversary of KARL LANDSTEINER (a great scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his great discovery of the ABO blood group system). This year the theme of the day was “ Blood connects us all ”. And we should not forget that blood can also connect to us via a disease as well. This week itself, lots of blood donation program has been conducted by various organizations. But very less such organization take ...

The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) today welcomed the Centres decision to allow up to 74 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in pharmaceutical sector under the automatic route. With the objective of promoting the development of this sector, it has been decided to permit up to 74 per cent FDI under automatic route in brownfield pharmaceuticals and government approval route beyond 74 per cent will continue. "We welcome (the) governments decision to make changes to the FDI policy. We believe that this will provide an impetus to employment and job creation in the country," OPPI Director General Kanchana TK told PTI. "The decision...will augur well with our members who are constantly exploring ways of ensuring new drugs and medicines are made available to Indian patients ," Kanchana added. Under the existing policy in the sector, 100 per cent FDI is allowed under automatic route in greenfield pharma and up to 100 per cent...

The Drug Controller General of India has launched inspections against 200 drug makers, including leading firms like Cipla and Pfizer , for allegedly selling poor quality medicines and non-compliance to manufacturing norms. "We have already inspected 36 drug manufacturing plants over last three months. In the second phase, starting from Monday, we will conduct inspections in 20 more facilities, “an official in the health ministry told TOI. According to a source, notices have been issued recently to Cipla and Pfizer informing them of the upcoming inspection as well as violations found in their products. Cipla maintained it has not received any intimation so far. Pfizer did not comment. This is for the first time inspections on this scale have been undertaken by the domestic regulator. The move also assumes significance as it comes in the wake of the recent regulatory ban on 344 fixed dose combination drugs. The 200 companies, where "risk-based inspections...

In 2010, alarm bells went off when the government found that the pharmaceutical industry had witnessed about six local acquisitions by foreign drug makers in just five years. Ministries like Commerce and Health started wondering aloud if investment caps were required in a sector that was integral to keeping the “health security” of the country. In fact, multiple departments evaluated these concerns, including the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion), the Arun Maira committee and a Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the pharmaceutical sector. The resounding view was that new or greenfield projects could attract 100 per cent FDI, while brownfield investments (into existing operations) would go through a gate-keeper, a task bestowed on the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board), again after much discussion. This being the backdrop, the Centre’s latest move to relax foreign investments in domestic pharmaceutical operations up to ...

Govt’s decision to increase FDI to 74% in existing pharma companies is expected to boost mergers and acquisitions and private equity investments in the sector. The government’s decision to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) to 74% in existing pharmaceutical companies through the automatic route is expected to boost mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and private equity investments in the sector in future, said experts. Allowing FDI beyond 74% will continue through the government approval route. Earlier, 100% FDI was permitted through the government approval route. The government has also allowed 100% FDI under the automatic route in greenfield pharma. India’s pharmaceutical market may reach $20 billion this year and about $55 billion by 2020 from about $18 billion as of 2014, clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 22%, according to a joint study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)-TechSci Research released in...

Today's Google doodle is about Karl Landsteiner. Karl Landsteiner , (June 14, 1868 – June 26, 1943), was an Austrian and American biologist and physician. He is noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and having identified, with Alexander S. Wiener, the Rhesus factor , in 1937, thus enabling physicians to transfuse blood without endangering the patient′s life. With Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper, he discovered the polio virus in 1909. In 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The Telangana government on Friday ordered setting up of a " Pharma City " on 12,500 acres of land in Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar districts of the state. Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) shall send detailed project proposal (DPR) to the government on modalities for implementation and execution of project and also carry out all aspects related to the development of this park in a transparent manner duly following all relevant rules, a government order said. "As Telangana has traditionally been the bulk drugs capital of the country with almost 1/3 of the total production in value terms, state government intends to keep not only the leader status in the sector but also facilitate setting up of the most modern facilities along with all necessary where withal in an integrated manner," it added. The government has accordingly decided to set up a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical city, a one stop shop for pharmaceuticals manufactu...

Small and medium pharmaceutical industry centre (SMPIC) and NIPER, Mohali are organizing one-day Seminar on “Selection of excipients for oral solid dosage forms”. The details of the same are as follows: Date:                Thursday, 30 th June, 2016. Venue:             NIPER, Mohali.  Topic:               Seminar on “Selection of excipients for oral solid dosage forms” Please see:       http://www.niper.nic.in/2016_SMPIC_June30.pdf

Details available at: http://www.issx.org/page/ssxmeeting The Indian Society for Study of Xenobiotics (SSX ® ) is organizing its inaugural conference in Bangalore, September 1-3, 2016. The program will feature renowned speakers in drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics and toxicology, short courses, poster sessions, round-table discussions, mentoring sessions for students and young scientists, a vendor exhibition and numerous networking opportunities. SSX anticipates more than 200 attendees for this conference, with representation from academia, industry, CROs, government research institutes and vendors. Dates:              September 1 - 3, 2016. Venue:              JN Tata Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, India 560012. Themes:            Four main themes have been finaliz...

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/ University A novel pH sensitive macromer based copolymer and a process for the preparation thereof 2599/DEL/2005A 1) Suvarnapathaki Rupali Kedar 2) Kulkarni Mohan Gopalkrishna Council of Scientific Industrial Research

Paramita Health Care Society is organizing INNOPHARM 2 , an International Conference on Bridging Innovations in Pharmaceutical, Medical and Bio Sciences in Bhopal, on 10 - 11 Feburary, 2017. Conference Sessions: Sessions in the conferences will be classified under following thrust subject areas 1.     Pharmaceutics, formulation development, NDDS, regulatory affairs and IPR 2.     Natural drug research, pharmacognosy, phytomedicine and biotechnology 3.     Pharmaceutical/Medical Chemistry, analysis, synthesis and molecular drug design 4.     Pharmacology, clinical research, pharmacy practice and pharmacovigilance 5.     Biochemistry, microbiology, cell biology and miscellaneous Conference Scope: Topics of interests include, but are not limited to: ·          Pharmaceutical technology, novel drug delivery system ·     ...