|
Editor's
Note
Public
health vs private enterprise
Cover Story
Regulating
biologics
The absence of regulatory guidance or clarity is often followed
by chaos and misunderstanding. World over, the biopharmaceutical
industry, in all its perplexity, is waiting for concrete rules
to take over the mildly regulated biologics. Aashruti Kak
does a status check
Spotlight
New
faces in the making
GenX seems to be becoming a norm rather than the exception
in the lifecsiences business. Serum Institute's Adar Poonawalla
is the next young gun on the block. He cites the growth story
of the company. A profile by Arshiya Khan
Solution
Provider
Gene
Expression
For a researcher interested in doing quantitative gene expression
studies for scores of genes, current techniques of gene expression
are tedious, time consuming and expensive. The solution is
a new technique from Beckman Coulter which uses a patented
universal priming strategy to overcome potential bias in amplified
targets that are typically associated with other types of
multiplexed assays
Region Focus
Milken
Institute Study reinforces PA's strength
The Milken Institute Study released at BIO 2009 reinforces
Pennsylvania's strength and importance of the regional Life
Science industry to the economy. Supriya K, Associate Director,
Pennsylvania Trade & Investment Office- India give some
more details of the specific programmes
Money Moves
A
potential solution for biotech's future funding needs
A 'co-existence' model for Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies will help both camps them survive the current market
conditions, advocates Navroz Mahudawala, Associate Director,
Transaction Advisory Services, Healthsciences practice, Ernst
& Young
Film Review
Poison
on the Platter
When it premiered in February this year, the documentary film
'Poison on the Platter' directed by Ajay Kanchan and presented
by Mahesh Bhatt, opened to mixed reviews. Devinder Sharma,
a food and trade policy expert based in New Delhi, reviews
the film against the backdrop of the controversies surrounding
Genetically Modified (GM) food in India
News Maker
Setting
out national immunisation goals
The SIVAC (Supporting Independent Immunization and Vaccine
Advisory Committees) Initiative aims at contributing to the
development of national immunisation technical advisory groups
in six resource poor countries in Africa and six in Asia.
These committees will help national health authorities to
set up vaccination policy and programmes adapted to their
needs. Dr Kamel Senouci, was appointed as Programme Director
for the SIVAC Initiative in December 2008 and speaks about
this Initiative's strategy to Viveka Roychowdhury
News Capsule
- National
Biocon
launches diabetes insulin Basalog in India
Biocon has launched Basalog, a human insulin analogue, which
targets to provide relieve to diabetic patients of frequent
insulin use
Avesthagen
and Harvard Medical School sign MoU
Avesthagen and The Harvard Medical School's (HMS) Department
of Genetics entered into a long-term collaboration in the
field of genomics that includes data analysis, population
structure and various other studies
Sanofi
Pasteur gets US government's order to produce A (H1N1) vaccine
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis
Group has received the first of its series of orders from
the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to commence
production of a vaccine to help protect against the new influenza
A (H1N1) virus
Intas
Biopharma to market Bortezomib injection in India
Intas Biopharmaceuticals has launched Bortezomib injection
in India under the brand name of Borviz. It is effective for
the treatment of 'multiple myeloma', which is second-most
common cancer of plasma cell (blood)
Kemwell
and BI to set up biopharmaceutical facility in Bangalore
Kemwell, a formulations and contract manufacturing and development
services company and in a strategic collaboration with Boehringer
Ingelheim (BI), Germany is investing around Rs 200-250 crore
to set up an advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant
in Bangalore
Jubilant's
arm signs research pact with AstraZeneca
Jubilant Organosys's subsidiary, Jubilant Biosys has signed
a research collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca for focused
attention on delivering novel drug candidates into the AstraZeneca's
pre-clinical pipeline
MSD's
Gardasil vaccine obtains WHO prequalification
Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) announced that World Health
Organization has awarded prequalification of Gardasil, a vaccine
means to work against human papillomavirus quadrivalent which
causes cervical cancer
LifeCell
International ties up with Harvest Technologies
LifeCell International India's largest stem cell banking service
provider, which has also pioneered in stem cell research and
technology, has recently announced its association with Harvest
Technologies to bring-in a next generation technology Bone
Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (BMAC) system in India
Arbro
Pharma conducts hepatitis C and HIV clinical trial for Athelon
Medical
The New Delhi - based Arbro Pharmaceuticals will be conducting
clinical trials on hepatitis C and HIV virus along with its
parent company Qualtran Auriga Research, for US - based company
Athelon Medical
News Capsule
- Research News
Mexican
study reveals genetic variation between nation's population
and world's other known genetic subgroups
A recent study moves scientists closer to identifying individuals
at risk or resistant to flu and other diseases, and to the
potential of creating genome-customised drugs
Tech Visor
Rationale
for clean rooms
Finding a rationale for cleanrooms seems to be a catch 22
situation at every stage. Monisha Narke, Director Klenzaids
GMP Academy advises that one way of avoiding the irrational
tech-trap is to focus on operator protection and protection
of the proximity ambient
Tech Trendz
Cleanroom
technology in India
Cleanroom technology is crucial to the global plans of both
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Sachin Jagdale
analyses trends in the industry
Tech Zone
Understanding
Cleanroom Performance Testing
The majority of the cleanroom owners have started demanding
third party cleanroom performance testing to certify their
cleanrooms to hide errors and presentation of false documents.
This practice not only helps owners to cross verify the system's
performance but also in preparation and presentation of documents
for regulatory compliance. Bipin Patil, Founder, Aerience,
Institute of Air Science and Contamination Control, Pune gives
some pointers on cleanroom performance testing
Tech Products
Tech
Products
Networking
& Consortia
CPhI
India 2009 to introduce BioPh trail: Bio-Solutions for Pharma
After the successful introduction in 2007 of ICSE trail at
CPhI India, UBM India is now proud to introduce BioPh: Bio-Solutions
for Pharma
Catalysing
Research
Dr Swati Subodh from the Centre For Genomic Application, (an
IGIB-IMM Collaboration) reviews networking initiatives and
collaborations within the Indian scientific community
Networking
Post Event
US-India
drug discovery, collaborative research partnerships growing
despite global slowdown
US-India BioPharma & Healthcare Summit 2009 organised
by the USA-India Chamber of Commerce in Boston attracted over
300 senior biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and academic
leaders
|
