Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are perpetual part of big pharmaceutical industries and we have witnessed many such mergers and acquisitions. The financial crisis and resulting uncertainty in the global economies has made it difficult for companies to predict future performance of their own or their target’s or to forecast synergies and other transaction benefits with the same level of confidence seen in the past. As a result, acquirors and targets have developed transaction structures that are aimed at bridging gaps in their respective assessments of valuation and risk.

This article is focusing on top Pharmaceutical M&As of the year 2019.

Orphan drugs are medicinal products intended for diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or very serious diseases or disorders that are rare. In USA, the Orphan Drug Act was passed in 1983 to give drug companies incentives to develop treatments for rare diseases. India does not have laws on orphan drugs though CDSCO defined orphan drugs as those intended to treat a condition which affects fewer than 200,000 people.

United States half pharmacies are located within drug stores, grocery stores, hospitals, department stores, medical clinics, surgery clinics, universities, nursing homes, prisons, and other facilities. The remaining pharmacies are considered to be independent or privately owned. In USA, average salary of pharmacists is 99000-140000 USD per annum. It can be varied depending on many factors.

Very soon we are going to see a huge gap for “right talent” in Indian pharma industry. In my view following could be the reasons and steps to be taken by industry:

1. Gender:
a. At +2 level, boys are for engineering, girls are for medicine, and those who fail to get medical seats opt for pharmacy. Hence there is an increase in trend of girls graduating out of pharmacy colleges.
b.  Most of Indians prefer their girl child to get married immediately after graduation or sometimes even when they are in their final years of course. (The latest demographic indicators provided by the health and family welfare ministry reveal that the national average age of marriage for girls was 20.6 years in 2008, up from 18.3 years in 2001. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-indian-women-push-back-marriage-age-1350166)
c. After marriage probability of girl continuing higher studies or getting into job is reduced.
d. Most of recruiters have bias in considering girls as they are uncertain on when these girls leave the job for the reasons of marriage, re-location due to husband’s place of job or maternity.

Simply, Artificial intelligence (AI) means machine learning and behaving like humans which ultimately facilitates works of humans.

Whether you do aware or not but in the modern world, we are all surrounded by AI. There are many examples of AI which we are using (may be unknowingly) in our day to day life. For exm, social media, search engines, product recommendations, Email filters etc.

ABOUT AUTHOR
Abdul Kader Mohiuddin
Department of Pharmacy, World University of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
Obtaining an accurate medication history, keeping and proper maintenance of patient medical records, tracking medication lists are essential parts of medicine reconciliation and these are the processes where pharmacists play a vital role in. Without all these, prescribers may inadvertently make incorrect decisions about a patient’s treatment, causing harm if previously discontinued medicines are restarted, or if current medicines are omitted or prescribed at the wrong dose for the patient. Medical records are a fundamental part of a physician’s duties in providing patient care. Medical records can contain a wide range of material, such as handwritten notes, computerized records, correspondence between health professionals, lab reports, imaging records, photographs, video and other recordings and printouts from monitoring equipment. Poor record keeping is a major factor in litigation cases brought against healthcare professionals.