Pharma News

Focused academic research can go a long way in strengthening the health sector, and provide solutions to many challenges facing the country in providing accessible and affordable health care to all, particularly the needy and vulnerable. Similarly, IT can play a crucial role as an enabler to address several critical issues in the country’s health sector.

Piramal Enterprises Limited today announced that it is in final stages of discussion with the University of Kentucky for the potential acquisition of Coldstream Laboratories Inc. (‘Coldstream’) for a total consideration of USD 30.65 million.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Company and the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) entered into a worldwide research collaboration to develop novel small molecule anti-fibrotic therapies, and an exclusive license agreement that allows BMS to develop, manufacture and commercialize Calibr’s preclinical compounds resulting from the collaboration.

Quintiles today announced that the company was awarded “Best Contract Research Organization” at the annual SCRIP Awards for the third year in-a-row. This is the company’s fourth award received in this category in the last five years. The SCRIP Awards acknowledge excellence in the biopharmaceutical industry, based on judging by an independent panel of 12 life sciences experts.

Three-year outcomes from an ongoing clinical trial suggest that high-dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by transplantation of a person's own blood-forming stem cells may induce sustained remission in some people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). RRMS is the most common form of MS, a progressive autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the brain and spinal cord. The trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted by the NIAID-funded Immune Tolerance Network (ITN).

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India has approved 25 panels of experts of various therapeutic areas. These panels will ensure the approval of right clinical trials at right time.

The skewed ratio of hazardous waste generated daily to innovations in hazardous waste management, points to a large unmet need for novel hazardous waste management technologies and processes. Apart from the rising volumes of hazardous waste, technology development in this space will also get a huge boost from the treaties signed by various countries for stopping transboundary waste shipping and public opposition to landfills.

Novartis announced today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) approved Cosentyx(TM) (secukinumab, formerly known as AIN457), for the treatment of both psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adults who are not adequately responding to systemic therapies (except for biologics). This approval marks the first country approval for Cosentyx in the world and makes it the first interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor to receive regulatory approval in either of these indications in Japan.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd announced on 9th December that they have received the order of the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) dated December 5, 2014(“Order”) by which CCI has approved the acquisition of Ranbaxy by Sun Pharma, subject to compliance with certain conditions.