Pharma News

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway to extend the cooperation within health sector through the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) for a period of three years starting from 2018 to 2020, here.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has taken step to introduce an effective “trace and track” mechanism on  top 300 brands, which would be included in the initiative. The top 300 brands were identified on the basis of moving annual total (MAT) data.

In an endeavour to encourage health innovations in India and Africa, a conclave was organised by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Amref Africa, the Institute of Development Studies, UK (IDS UK), Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar in partnership with NITI Aayog. This event was hosted at the GE Healthcare Centre in Bengaluru.

The National Institutes of Health plans to end funding to Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health (MACH) trial. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) funding for the MACH trial will end within the next few months following completion of an orderly closeout.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised retail prices of 22 formulations under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 in a notification dated 12 June 2018.

The central government has ordered pharmacies to display generic drugs on separate shelves so that consumers can opt for generic medicine to expensive brand name drugs.
Drug Comptroller General has issued a letter to all states and union territories to provide a shelf for display of generic medicines.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is joining Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal to launch the new "WHO Global action plan on physical activity and health 2018-2030: More active people for a healthier world."  Physical inactivity is more than a health challenge: the financial costs are also enormous.

FDA and the USDA announced the alignment of the USDA Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices Audit Program (USDA H-GAP) with the requirements of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA’s) Produce Safety Rule.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration filed a complaint against Innovative BioDefense, Inc. of Lake Forest, California, and Colette Cozean, the company’s president and chief executive officer, to prohibit them from selling Zylast topical antiseptics with claims that they are effective against infection by pathogens such as norovirus, rotavirus, flu virus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and Ebola. Claims that a hand sanitizer can protect consumers against infection from pathogens are drug claims and therefore, these products are regulated by the FDA as drugs. These products from Innovative BioDefense, Inc. have not been proven to be safe and effective for these uses and are not approved by the FDA.

Dug price regulator has directed all importers of medical devices to submit data in proper format.