Industry News

(31st July, 2014); U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved EYLEA® (aflibercept) Injection for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). The recommended dosage of EYLEA in patients with DME is 2 milligrams (mg) every two months (8 weeks) after five initial monthly injections. Although EYLEA may be dosed as frequently as 2 mg every 4 weeks, additional efficacy was not demonstrated when EYLEA was dosed every 4 weeks compared to every 8 weeks.

(21st July, 2014); Novartis & Google join together to develop smart contact lens which will be useful in monitoring blood sugar level for diabetic patients and restore focusing capacity of eyes in patients with presbyopia. Alcon, eye care division of Novartis, has entered into an agreement with a division of Google Inc. to in-license its “smart lens” technology for all ocular medical uses.

(10th July, 2014); On 9th July 2014, the European Commission (the EU’s top competition regulator) decided to impose a wholly unjustified fine on Niche /Unichem (jointly and severally) contending that it had acted in breach of EU Antitrust Rules. The European Commission reached this conclusion because its subsidiary, Niche Generics Ltd (Niche), agreed to settle financially crippling patent litigation with Laboratories Servier (Servier) at the beginning of 2005.

(Business Wire India; 10th July, 2014); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) announced results of its phase III POSTURE study evaluating OTEZLA, the company’s oral, selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis. The OTEZLA arms did not achieve statistically significant improvement versus the placebo arm for the primary endpoint, the percentage of patients who achieve an ASAS (Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society) 20 response at week 16. However, in a prespecified analysis, meaningful efficacy was observed at Week 24 in a large subset of patients with early-stage disease. Evaluation of the efficacy results is ongoing.

[adsense:336x280:8701650588]

(Business Wire India; 20th June, 2014); Boehringer Ingelheim today announces a new study of Pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The RE-CIRCUIT™ study will investigate the safety and efficacy of uninterrupted anticoagulant treatment with Pradaxa® in patients with AF who undergo ablation. Results of the study are expected in 2016.

[adsense:336x280:8701650588]

(Business Wire India; 19th June, 2014); Wincere Inc., a visionary full service contract research organization and life sciences  focused consulting company today organized a panel discussion in association with International CMEs Oncology on “Precision Medicine – Trends in Oncology”, promising to revolutionize cancer research.

(Business Wire India; 16th June, 2014); Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a devastating form of blood cancer that mainly affects people over 60 years old. For older patients who receive chemotherapy, the median survival is less than a year. Even though AML is considered rare, it accounts for around 18,860 new cases and 10,000 deaths in the US each year and is the most frequent cause of leukaemia-related deaths.

(Business Wire India; 3rd June, 2014); Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene International, India’s largest contract research organization, today announced a five-year extension of their drug discovery and development collaboration in India. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Since 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb has been working with Syngene and its corporate parent, Biocon Ltd., to develop integrated capabilities in medicinal and process chemistry, biology, biotechnology, biomarkers, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, analytical research, and pharmaceutical development at the Biocon Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Center (BBRC) in Bangalore.

(Business Wire India; 28th May, 2014); Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, the market leader in Oral Care, launched a toothpaste with first of its kind technology – Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection Plus Sugar Acid Neutralizer ^TM.

(Business Wire India; 19th May, 2014); Ferring Pharmaceuticals marks World IBD Day (May 19th) with the launch of Guts4life (guts4life.com), a new interactive website with information, support and inspiration for people concerned with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, conditions known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IBD describes a range of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal system characterised by intermittent flares with debilitating symptoms that can affect a patient’s quality of life and lead to emotional distress and social isolation. Guts4life was designed together with IBD patients to provide support and encouragement throughout the IBD journey—from bowel symptom worries, to diagnosis, through managing and living with IBD.

[adsense:336x280:8701650588]