Pharma News

The Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) has urged prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh to extend the income tax benefits offered for the pharma Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under section 10 B, the sunset clause, under the Income Tax Act to four more years till the year 2015 for the existing units, in an effort to support the pharmaceutical exporters in the country.

April 20, 2010 — Early vs late tracheotomy (6 - 8 days vs 13 - 15 days after mechanical ventilation) may not significantly lower the risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adult patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), according to the results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the April 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Pregnant women infected with the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus are at increased risk for death compared with others, but treatment within 2 days of symptom onset decreased this risk, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published in the April 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Celgene Corporation and Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc, a privately-held biotechnology company, announced the formation of a global strategic collaboration focused on targeting cancer metabolism. The goal of the collaboration is to discover, develop, and deliver novel disease-altering therapies in oncology based on the transformational science of Agios' innovative cancer metabolism research platform. This platform is based on the concept that targeting key metabolic enzymes unique to rapidly proliferating cancer cells can "starve" the cancer.

Scientists from the Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health in North East England have identified a molecular pathway which reacts to cell damage and stems the cell’s ability to divide. The experts have used state-of-the-art laboratory techniques and sophisticated mathematical modelling to help crack the problem of cell ageing.

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, a deemed university under the Ministry of Commerce, as part of its research study on ‘India’s Export Potential of Ayush Products with SAARC and ASEAN Countries’, held a seminar of exporters of Ayush products in Chennai, yesterday.

The meeting will be held at the Seminar Hall of IMPCOPS at Thiruvanmiyur in the afternoon. IIFT has been commissioned to carry out the research study by the Department of Ayush.

April 16, 2010 — In compliance with a rule about ozone-depleting substances, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that 7 available asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) metered-dose inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as propellants are being removed from the marketplace.

An experimental drug that boosts production of the immune system protein interferon worsens tuberculosis (TB) in mice, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The drug acts indirectly by drawing certain immune cells, in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) bacteria thrive, to the lungs. The findings may have potential implications for the care of people infected with TB, the authors note. The research is reported in the May 3 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation, now available online.

Although India remained a major supplier of doctors and nurses to the developed countries over the years, the domestic scenario looked bleak with the country ranking 67th among the developing nations in the case of doctor-population ratio.