Archives June 2011

...says Dr Panchapagesa Murali, Managing Director and CEO, Evolva India. He was also the Founder and Director of Dalmia Centre for R&D. He holds more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and healthcare R&D. He discusses the future of R&D in the Indian market. Jasleen Kaur Batra After spending considerable time at Dalmia Centre, why the switch to Evolva? Switching to Evolva from Dalmia was never about the job or opportunities; it was purely on the basis of trying to understand science and the various options it offers. At Dalmia (one of India's oldest and most distinguished business houses, which is into developing and launching natural products) we worked with natural products that were found in plants, we used whole cell plant cocktails and tried to launch a process where one may hot even know what is the active molecule or the mechanism of the action; one could only more...

As packaging lines in pharma gathers momentum/ there is an increasing need for adequate quality check to maintain the standard of products. ACG Inspection with its hi-tech systems aims to eliminate possible danger and loss. chandreyee Bhaumik Over the last four decades ACG Worldwide has been dedicated  to  providing end-to-end solutions for the pharma industry and fulfilling the requirements of over 1500 customers in more than 80 countries. It is one of the few companies globally that offers technology solutions for pharma manufacturing, packaging, security and R&D solutions, all under one roof. With globalization and increased speed of packaging lines, there is a major challenge for effective online checks to maintain product quality. Thus, ACG Worldwide addressed this requirement of the industry by establishing ACG Inspection in 2009. It is a company that aims to provide hi-tech camera systems to increase the possibilities of revenue and reputation. The group offers more...

Market overview Today, India is considered the "pharmacy of the world' as it now supplies one third of all the pharmaceutical products sold worldwide. Indian drug manufacturers attribute this success to continuous R&D on products and standardized process infrastructure. India has the largest number of FDA-approved manufacturing plants outside the US. Combined with a low cost of production, innovative scientific manpower and increased outsourcing of manufacturing processes to India, this makes Indian pharmaceuticals a powerful industry group. The sector is currently experiencing an annual growth rate of around 16%. This phase of rapid expansion is due to the anticipated loss over the next few years of patent protection on major blockbuster drugs worth US$120 billion, with Indian generic drug manufacturers planning to capture more of this market.  There are approximately 250 large units and about 8000 small-scale units that form the core of the pharmaceutical industry in India. This includes more...

A pharmaceutical company seamlessly upgraded its SAP system, enabling operators to focus on the core business of making pharma products. Concerns arose about whether existing transactions and links would work, or even exist, once the upgrade was completed. All these were answered. The goal of a SAP interface system is to alleviate manual data entry into SAP performed by production operators. The SAP interface system helps operators to request production material and product to their suite from the same terminal that is used for operating equipment. A major North American pharmaceutical company implemented its Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) in 2005 with the help of Grantek Systems Integration, a Rockwell Automation Solution Provider. The pharma company needed to upgrade its corporate SAP system from SAP R/34.6C to SAP ECC 6.0. The focus of the upgrade was on the technical aspects and the impact on the validated systems, Testing is vital for more...

With the annual turnover (from domestic sales and exports) inching towards the $23-billion mark along with a steady double-digit growth rate, the Indian Pharma Inc never had it so good. Furthermore, according to a report by McKinsey, the country is poised to rank among the top 10 markets of the world by 2015. Amid this extensive growth and given the knowledge-intensive nature of pharma business, the strategic role of human resources cannot be overemphasized. There are multiple perspectives to this evolving success story. While the present opportunities and future prospects make a bright case for a successful career in pharma, the challenge seems to be in not only recruiting the right talent with the required experience but also retaining these resources for a reasonable time. The span of requirement ranges from workforce in research to manufacturing, marketing to supply chain management, among others. One of the key questions facing the more...

 Bausch + Lomb, the global eye health company, recently announced its entry into the growing Indian pharmaceutical market by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Micro Labs India, a leading provider of quality healthcare products. With this collaboration Bausch + Lomb will be finally entering the Indian pharma market after having a presence in the pharmaceutical vertical worldwide for over two decades. "Our company entered the pharma vertical in the year 1986 but at that time there was less confidence in the Indian pharma market from the company s side, and also we did not get any good collaborative opportunity like this. So we were just waiting for the right moment and the right opportunity," said Harish Natarajan, Managing Director, Bausch + Lomb India. Through the agreement with Micro Labs, Bausch + Lomb aims to capture part of the rapidly expanding ophthalmic pharmaceuticals market in India, which is expected more...

Drugmaker J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals has announced the launch of a new business division catering to gynaecology and dental therapies with 15 products, and would exploit other therapeutic areas having good growth potential, sending its shares up by over 7 per cent. The gynaecology and dental segments have a combined market size of about Rs.2, 000 crore in India and are growing at 16 per cent every year. The new division has a sales force of over 100 representatives and it would triple the count over the next two years, it added. The launch would help company strengthen its position in the rural as well as urban markets in India. Pranabh Mody, President, J B Chemicals, had stated in May that the company would launch at least 15 new products from gynecology and dental division m India this year and would concentrate on Contract Research and    Manufacturing   Services (CRAMS) more...

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has announced that it has received final approval from the US PDA to manufacture and market alprazolam extended-release tablets in the quantities of 0.5 mg, 1 ing, 2 nig and 3 mg. Alprazolam extended release tablets that would be manufactured and marketed by Aurobindo pharma is the generic equivalent to the reference listed drug Xanax® XR Tablets 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg and 3mg of Pharmacia and Upjohn. These tablets are used for the treatment of panic disorder, with 01 without agoraphobia and fall under the Central Nervous System (CNS) therapeutic segment. The product has a market size of approximately $26.5 million for the twelve months ending September 2010 according to IMS and will be launched soon.

Marck   Biosciences   Ltd, India's leading manufacturer and marketer of sterile dosages and Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) specialist, is ready to launch world's first ever paracetamol IV in plastic pack manufactured using BFS technology in India. Marck will be contract manufacturing paracetamol IV and will also launch it under its own brand name of' Febramol IV in India. Paracetamol IV is a ready to infuse dosage form of paracetamol (in 10 mg/ml solution), which is indicated for the short-term treatment of moderate pain, especially following surgery and for the short- term treatment of fever urgently when other routes of administration are not possible. Paracetamol IV in plastic has lower freight costs and breakages and helps in more competitive pricing in comparison to     glass     bottles. Marck has invested approximately $3.5 lakh to commercialize the production of paracetamol IV and expects growth of approximately $1 million sales with paracetamol IV in the first year of more...

Amgen and UCB (Euronext Brussels, UCB) have collaborated with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to conduct a test of an antibody called sclerostin. This experiment would be conducted in space shuttle Atlantis on the final shutter mission of NASA, which was scheduled to be launched on July 8,2011. The antibody is going to be designed to inhibit the action of sclerostin- a protein that acts as a regulatory for bone formation, bone strength and bone mass. The findings from the research would help provide an insight into the prevention and treatment of skeletal fragility that can result from 'skeletal disuse' in conditions such as immobilization, stroke, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury and reduced physical activity. As loss of bone mass during space flights is one of the major concerns of the human space mission as it causes a lot of discomfort especially for people in long flights. AMG 785/CDP7851, a different sclerostin more...