Pharma News

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Tabrecta (capmatinib) for the treatment of adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread to other parts of the body. Tabrecta is the first FDA-approved therapy to treat NSCLC with specific mutations (those that lead to mesenchymal-epithelial transition or MET exon 14 skipping).

ICU Medical, Inc. is voluntarily recalling one single lot of Lactated Ringer's Injection, USP. The products are being recalled to the hospital/user level due to the presence of particulate matter identified as iron oxide. ICU Medical became aware of this issue through a single customer complaint.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a research-led, integrated global pharmaceutical company has initiated Phase 3 clinical trials in India on Antiviral tablet Favipiravir, for which it received approval from India’s drug regulator DCGI in late April. Glenmark is the first company in India to initiate Phase 3 clinical trials on Favipiravir for COVID-19 patients in India. Favipiravir is a generic version of Avigan® of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation. Clinical trials have commenced and over 10 leading government & private hospitals in India are being enrolled for the study. Glenmark estimates study completion by July/August 2020.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Glenmark), a research-led global integrated pharmaceutical company, today announced the launch of a Single Inhaler Triple Therapy AIRZ-FF - a combination of two bronchodilators, Glycopyrronium & Formoterol and the inhalation corticosteroid Fluticasone propionate, for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

To urgently develop safe and effective Biomedical solutions against SARS CoV-2, Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) had invited applications for COVID-19 Research Consortium. In addition, BIRAC has also created a provision to fund COVID-19 solutions that are ready for immediate deployment under a ‘Fast Track Review Process’.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) have partnered to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 using the virus strain isolated at ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

Zydus Cadila, a global innovation driven healthcare company, announced that it is launching Enzalutamide, a highly effective drug for the treatment of Prostate Cancer, under the brand name ‘Obnyx’ in India. In a step that can significantly reduce treatment cost by almost 70%, the drug is priced at Rs 5995 (weekly therapy) reducing the monthly treatment cost to less than Rs. 27000. The current MRP of Enzalutamide drug ranges from Rs. 70000 to Rs 80000 for a monthly therapy and can be a huge financial burden for the elderly patients as they need to continue the therapy for a long period of time. This price reduction will benefit many prostate cancer patients to adhere to the treatment.

A two-week course of antiviral therapy with interferon beta-1b plus lopinavir-ritonavir and ribavirin, started within 7 days of showing COVID-19 symptoms, is safe and more effective at reducing the duration of viral shedding than lopinavir-ritonavir alone in patients with mild to moderate illness, according to the first randomised trial of this triple combination therapy involving 127 adults (aged 18 and older) from six public hospitals in Hong Kong.

According to many observations, certain virus infections may play a part in the autoimmune attack that leads to type 1 diabetes. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and their Finnish colleagues have now produced a vaccine for these viruses in the hope that it could provide protection against the disease. The study is published today in the scientific journal Science Advances.