Pharma News

The roles that pharmacists in community, hospital and clinical biology can play in preventing the spread of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV and supporting the efficient management of infection by healthcare systems are outlined in a new document published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The document was developed by an emergency taskforce set up by FIP following the World Health Organization’s declaration that the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

As part of its quest to provide access to life-saving medication and making a difference in the lives of patients, Cipla Medpro South Africa (Pty) Limited (“Cipla Medpro”), wholly-owned subsidiary of Cipla Limited, India (“Cipla”) and South Africa’s third largest pharmaceutical company in the private sector, has recently concluded an exclusive agreement (the “Agreement”) securing originator and authorised generic brands of an atypical anti-psychotic drug, Quetiapine (the “Medicine”).

U.S Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to enable emergency use of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2019-nCoV Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel. To date, this test has been limited to use at CDC laboratories; today’s authorization allows the use of the test at any CDC-qualified lab across the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO)  spells out the need to step up cancer services in low and middle-income countries. WHO warns that, if current trends continue, the world will see a 60% increase in cancer cases over the next two decades. The greatest increase (an estimated 81%) in new cases will occur in low- and middle-income countries, where survival rates are currently lowest.

An artificial virus capable of attacking superbug infections resistant to antibiotics has been bioengineered by researchers at UCL, NPL, University of Cambridge, University of Exeter and King’s College London.

Strides Pharma Science Limited (Strides) announced that its step‐down wholly‐owned subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global Pte. Limited, Singapore, has entered into a definitive asset transfer and licensing agreement with Pharmaceutics International, Inc.(Pii) to acquire 18 ANDAs for the US market.

Cipla Foundation-IISER Pune Centre for Chemistry Education and Research on the IISER Pune campus has been inaugurated by Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, Non-Executive Chairman, Cipla Ltd. He was accompanied by Mrs. Farida Hamied and Ms. Rumana Hamied, the Managing Trustee of Cipla Foundation. The Centre, housing chemistry research labs along with an in-class demo facility provides space for outreach activities involving teacher and student training and will serve as a platform for developing industry-academia interactions.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Palforzia [Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Allergen Powder-dnfp] to mitigate allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, that may occur with accidental exposure to peanuts. Treatment with Palforzia may be initiated in individuals ages 4 through 17 years with a confirmed diagnosis of peanut allergy and may be continued in individuals 4 years of age and older. Those who take Palforzia must continue to avoid peanuts in their diets.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has stopped administration of vaccinations in its HVTN 702 clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine. This action was taken because an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found during an interim review that the regimen did not prevent HIV. Importantly, the DSMB did not express any concern regarding participant safety.

Homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant and postpartum women in Louisiana, according to an analysis of birth and death records from 2016 and 2017. The study, appearing as a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics, was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health. The research team was led by Maeve E. Wallace, Ph.D., of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans.