Ranbaxy’s US arm receives prestigious outstanding supplier award from Wal-Mart
Ranbaxy Laboratories (RL) announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc (RPI), received the prestigious Supplier Award from Wal-Mart, the largest chain store in the US, for outstanding performance in the first quarter of 2005. RPI was commended for consistency of products and programmes provided to Wal-Mart.

Packlock Machines offers automatic liquid, semi solid, granule filling line
Kerala-based Packlock Machines, promoted by Pilot India, has introduced a fully automatic liquid filling line and semi-solid filling line. The 20-year-old with staff strength of 250 skilled employees is located at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district. They presently have six units in Kerala and branch offices in Chennai and Hyderabad. They also export to Africa, Gulf and some European countries.

Natco Pharma continues fight against cancer drug of Novartis
Natco Pharma said that it is still opposed to the application of Novartis India for grant of a patent for anti-cancer drug, Imatinab Mesylate (a drug useful in the treatment of certain forms of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia). Natco has now filed a pre-grant opposition application with the Controller of Patents, Government of India, challenging the validity of patent application (No 1602/MAs/1998) concerning crystalline modif-ication of the drug.

Moin Din joins Chiltern as resourcing manager
Chiltern International has announced that Moin Din has joined its Integrated Resourcing Solutions (CIRS) team as Resourcing Manager.

WHO launches project to minimise risks of Radon
The World Health Organization (WHO), in an effort to reduce the rate of lung cancer around the world, is launching the International Radon Project to help countries reduce the health risks associated with radon gas. According to a WHO release, the project will identify effective strategies for reducing the health impact of radon, promote sound policy options for countries and increase public and political awareness about the consequences of exposure to radon.

Mexico emerging as a high-growth pharma market
The government’s commitment to improving access to high quality healthcare and a high demand for modern medicines from its growing population are helping Mexico emerge as the leading pharmaceutical market in Latin America.