Company News

For the first time Sun Pharma secured the top position by doctor prescriptions. It outperforms Mankind Pharma long stand, according to market research firm, SMSRC.

Sun Pharma is the largest Indian pharma company by capital, but Mankind Pharma was leading market rank for number of doctor prescriptions for a long time. Recently as per market research firm, SMSRC, Sun Pharma, which has topped India’s pharma retail market for years, has now become the leader in prescriptions, bolstered by an increase in field force and a sharper focus on core therapies.

BioIVT, a leading provider of biospecimens, research models and services for drug and diagnostic development announced the launch of its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP-) grade VivoSTART  leukopaks. Leukopaks contain concentrated white blood cells and are used to research and manufacture cell and gene therapies.

Bharat Biotech has entered into a partnership with Biofabri, a Spanish biopharmaceutical firm, for the development, manufacturing and marketing of a new tuberculosis vaccine. This partnership will guarantee the supply of TB vaccines in more than 70 countries especially in Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa with a high TB incidence.

Roche announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 At-Home Test. The test uses a simple anterior nasal swab sample that can be conveniently self-collected and self-tested by individuals aged 14 years and older, and by an adult for children aged 2-13 years old. The test is able to produce accurate, reliable and quick results in as few as 20 minutes for SARS-CoV-2 and all known variants of concern, including Omicron.

Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral (MK-4482, EIDD-2801).

Strides Pharma gets No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) to export 50 million doses of Russia based, Sputnik vaccine which is developed by RDIF. The Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) is an adenoviral-based, two-part vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Initially produced in Russia, Sputnik V uses a weakened virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.

ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), with Pfizer Inc and Shionogi Limited (Shionogi) as shareholders, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Apretude, the first and only long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1. The long-acting injectable was approved for use in adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg who are at risk of sexually acquiring HIV and who have a negative HIV-1 test prior to initiation.

Merck, a leading science and technology company announced a strategically focused expansion of its neurology pipeline with the acquisition of the rights to develop cladribine for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Merck entered into an agreement to secure the global rights by acquiring Chord Therapeutics, a Swiss-based biotech company focused on rare neuroinflammatory diseases.