Indian Health Care Sector

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Jan 2012 18:04

After polio, cerebral policy is the next challenge

Madurai:Cerebral palsy is going to be the next big challenge after polio because of the increasing number of cases where children are getting disabled due to developmental disorders, R. Sivakumar, city's leading orthopaedic surgeon, said on Sunday.

He has appealed to the parents not to rely on just one doctor of their child is affected by CP since it requires a multi-disciplinary intervention of an orthopaedic, speech therapist, ophthalmologist and physiotherapist n order to make the child lead a near normal life.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Feb 2012 10:35

The below is not directly connected with the Indian Healthcare sector, but it was a speech delivered at Chennai.Quite interesting.

Wideranging application for Pluripotent Stem Cells - The Hindu

While applications of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in stem cell therapy may be limited to a few diseases, its applications in drug discovery are wide-ranging, and many more diseases can be targeted, Shinya Yamanaka, Director, Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application, Japan, has said.

The Japanese scientist, whose breakthrough was the creation of embryonic-like stem cells from adult skin cells, believes that the best chance for stem cell therapy lies in offering hope to those suffering from a few conditions, among them, macular disease, Type 1 Diabetes, and spinal cord injuries. On the other hand, there were multiple possibilities with drug discovery for a range of diseases, and Prof.Yamanaka was hopeful that more scientists would continue to use iPS to study this potential.

He currently serves as the Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application and as Professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University. He is also a Senior Investigator at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) - affiliated J. David Gladstone Institutes.

An invited speaker of the CellPress-TNQ India Distinguished Lectureship Series, co-sponsored by Cell Press and TNQ Books and Journals, Prof. Yamanaka spoke to a Chennai audience on Tuesday evening about those “immortal” cells, that he originally thought would take “forever” to create, but actually took only six years. “My fixed vision for my research team was to re-programme adult cells to function like embryonic-like stem cells. I knew it could be done, but just didn't know how to do it,” Prof. Yamanaka said.

Embryonic stem cells are important because they are pluripotent, or possess the ability to differentiate into any other type of cell, and are capable of rapid proliferation. However, despite the immense possibilities of that, embryonic cells are a mixed blessing: there are issues with post-transplant rejection (since they cannot be used from a patient's own cells), and many countries of the world do not allow the use of human embryos. Dr. Yamanaka's solution would scale these challenges if only he and his team could find a way to endow non-embryonic cells with those two key characteristics of embryonic stem cells.

In 2006, he and his team of young researchers -Yoshimi Tokuzawa, Kazutoshi Takahashi and Tomoko Ishisaka – were able to show that by introducing four factors into mouse skin cells, it was possible to generate ES-like mouse cells. The next year, they followed up that achievement, replicating the same strategy and converted human skin cells into iPS cells.

“All we need is a small sample of skin (2-3millimetres) from the patient. This will be used to generate skin fibroblasts, and adding the factors, they can be converted to iPS cells. These cells can make any type of cell, including beating cardiac myocytes (heart cells), Prof.Yamanaka explained.

iPS cells hold out for humanity a lot of hope in curing diseases that have a single cell cause. Prominent among them are Lou Gehrig's Disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease. Motor neurons degenerate and die, and no effective treatment exists thus far. One reason is that there have not been good disease models for ALS in humans. It is difficult to get motor neuron from human patients and motor neurons cannot divide.

“Now, iPS cells can proliferate and can be differentiated to make motor neurons in large numbers,” he explained. Already a scientist in Japan has clarified motor neuron cells from iPS. “We are hoping that in the near future we would be able to evolve drug candidates that will be useful for ALS patients.” Treatment of spinal cord injuries using iPS cells has showed good results in mice and monkey specimens, and it is likely that in two or three years, scientists will be ready to start treatment for humans.

Toxicology, or drug side effects, is another area where iPS cells can be of use. Testing drug candidates directly on patients can be extremely dangerous. However, iPS cells can be differentiated into the requisite cell type, and the drugs tested on them for reactions. And yet, as wonderful as they may seem, iPS cells do have drawbacks, and there are multiple challenges to be faced before the technology can be applied to medicine. Are they equivalent and indistinguishable from ES cells? For a technology that has been around for only five years, the questions remain about safety. Also to derive patient-specific iPS cells, the process is time, and money-consuming, Prof. Yamanaka pointed out.

There are however, solutions in the offing, for the man who made the world's jaw drop with his discovery. One would be to create an iPS cell bank, where iPS cells could be created in advance from healthy volunteers donating peripheral blood, and skin fibroblasts, apart from frozen cord blood. The process of setting a rigorous quality control mechanism to select the best and safest iPS clones is on and would be complete within a year or two. “Many scientists are studying iPS cells across the world, and I'm optimistic that because of these efforts, we can overcome the challenges of iPS, and contribute to newer treatments for intractable diseases,” Prof. Yamanaka said.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 03 Feb 2012 07:40

Posting here since the subject company is a player in the Indian market: AstraZeneca axes jobs even as it reports a 24% increase in 2011 profits.

The profit advance was helped heavily by a $US1.5 billion gain from the sale of its dental subsidiary, Astra Tech.

The company said revenue this year will be hit by government interventions on prices, generic competition and the loss of exclusivity for Seroquel IR, a drug for the treatment of depression, and hypertension drug Atacand in global markets.

The company reported double-digit sales gains for cholesterol drug Crestor, Symbicort for asthma and Seroquel XR.

AstraZeneca said it was reshaping its research and development activity to focus on neuroscience, employing 40 to 50 scientists in a new Innovative Medicines unit based in Boston in the United States and Cambridge in England.

The company will close its facility in Montreal and lay off some staff in Soedertaelje in Sweden.

From initial impressions, it looks like the company is restructuring around the Anglo flag while the Scandinavians have been left out in the cold, the "real meat" of the R&D is being built upon in (New) England.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Feb 2012 09:16

Back from jaws of death

Doctors at K.G. Hospital in Coimbatore have said that in a nerve-wracking six-hour surgery and an equally taking pre-operative and post-operative phase, they have managed to save Palanivel Natarajan, whose internal organs in the abdomen were disorganised after being stabbed in Iraq, where he was working in an ice factory.

One night, a person stabbed Mr. Natarajan in his abdomen and escaped. The stab wound was so big that the internal organs were almost out.

He was immediately rushed to a local hospital where surgeons could not close the abdomen.

Quoting the patient and his family, the hospital said Mr. Natarajan has slipped into coma and another surgery to close the abdomen was done after 15 days. But, it was not successful.

The Government of Iraq, therefore, airlifted him to a hospital in Dubai. But, there too, surgeons could not close the abdomen.

K.G. Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam said his hospital was told of this case. He and Chief General Surgeon and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgeon V.P. Shanmugasundaram, studied the case.

The doctors had not come across such a critical case so far, but took up the challenge of reviving Mr. Natarajan.

He was brought to Coimbatore in an air ambulance from Dubai. The patient's nutritional condition was first improved through a catheter that was placed near the heart.

The surgeons found that the organs were also infected. The entire abdomen was cleaned, procedures done to restore normal condition of skin and muscles and even damage to the pancreas corrected.

Dr. Shanmughasundaram was assisted by anaesthetist R. Senthil Kumar and plastic surgeon A. Ragu.

Mr. Natarajan opened his eyes a week after the surgery. After a fortnight, he could recognise his family members.

Now, after a month, Mr. Natarajan was able to eat and walk.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 10 Feb 2012 20:25

India's global pharmacy role threatened by EU pact

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 834386.cms

Efforts by India and the European Union to strengthen trade are threatening India's ability to deliver lifesaving medicines to the world's poorest, analysts say as the two sides push through protracted negotiations on a free-trade pact.

India's prime minister and top EU officials are hoping their summit Friday in New Delhi helps move beyond disagreements over issues like European labor market limits and Indian duties on cars.

But health industry workers and activists worry that India may bow to EU demands for strict intellectual property protections and investor guarantees, which could close down the world's generic drug supply.

India's $26 billion drug industry has become an immense profit engine, growing at 15-25 percent a year _ but also a lifeline for millions of patients in poor countries, many in Africa, unable to pay sky-high Western prices to treat illnesses that include HIV, malaria, asthma and cancer. For HIV alone, India makes more than 80 percent of the world's medicines.

The EU says it has suggested a clause in the free-trade pact ``to ensure that nothing in the proposed agreement would limit India's freedom to produce and export lifesaving medicines.''

Despite the EU assurance, Indian drug makers and health workers say two broad provisions in the agreement _ one on intellectual property rights, and the other on investor lawsuits _ would make it much easier for international pharmaceutical giants to sue the Indian government, drug manufacturers and distributors.

That, they argue, would dramatically curtail Indian production of many lifesaving drugs, or cause prices to rise to levels many cannot afford.

``The EU has changed strategy and has now focused on enforcement,'' trying to create an intellectual property rights regime ``that will intimidate even legitimate generic manufacturers and thereby impact access and availability,'' said Dilip G. Shah, a former Pfizer executive who now heads both the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and the industry's Vision Consulting Group.

Activists have unleashed a global campaign to call the EU out on the policies. Analysts and drug makers say they have a point. While India's pharmaceutical companies would likely survive under a regime limiting generics, millions of the world's neediest patients, including within India, may not.

``The industry will be OK. They can produce anything'' including drugs for Western multinationals, pharmaceutical analyst Bino Pathiparampil of IIFL Capital said. They may also gain from easier access to European markets.

``But there would be a serious impact on society, as many of the poor would be cut off from treatments,'' he said.

Since the talks began in 2007, Indian negotiators have refused to hamper the country's generic drug industry by undermining the low-cost production, high-quality professionalism or permissive licensing regime that has helped the industry grow.

But India and the EU both face different pressures today than when they started five years ago. Following a year of economic turmoil, Europe is eager to reach India's young and upwardly mobile market of 1.2 billion people, while India wants to prove its place among the world's economic powerhouses.

Now would also be an ideal time for India's government to show progress on a pact that can distract from a year of embarrassing corruption scandals.

The EU is India's biggest trading partner, accounting last year for $92 billion in bilateral sales. The trade pact, they say, would lift that to an annual $237 billion by 2015.

With the talks held behind closed doors and without participation by health ministers, analysts say there are few voices to prevent the final draft from giving multinational pharmaceuticals enough power to shut generics down.

On Friday, hundreds of people living with HIV protested in New Delhi to press Indian officials to reject any rules that might limit world supplies of anti-retroviral treatments.

``Whether we get to live or die should not be up to trade negotiators,'' Mundrika Gahlot of the Delhi Network of Positive People said in a statement.

Half of the generics India produces are used domestically, as India grapples with its own health care crisis and many impoverished patients are left to pay for care themselves.

The European Union has suggested it could drop two demands that would have affected the generics industry, specifically on patent extensions and on allowing companies to keep scientific data and clinical studies under wraps.

But experts say there are even more worrying provisions in the draft, which has been leaked during the talks and discussed by Indian negotiators with health care workers.

Measures to strengthen intellectual property rights, for example, would require courts to impose injunctions on drug production whenever a complaint is filed, whereas courts today often allow production of lifesaving drugs to continue while cases are pending.

There are also measures for widening lawsuits so patent holders can sue not just pharmaceuticals producing generics, but also those who supply materials as mundane as plastic bottles, nonprofit groups and foreign governments who purchase the drugs, and hypothetically even those who use them _ the patients.

Another measure would let investors sue the Indian government if they feel their investment is being undermined, for example, by a license that allows a generic to be produced.

``Who do these measures serve? Not the European people, not the Indian people, not even the governments,'' said Indian lawyer Anand Grover, who since 2006 has served as a U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights to health. ``In fact, this is for a very small, profit-taking group of people.'

An example of how important a role Indian generic drug makers play.
http://www.indianexpress.com/Storyold/170268/

Indian generic drug firm Cipla Ltd said it was offering a triple-therapy cocktail of AIDS drugs to the world's poor at a special price of $350 per patient a year, undercutting multinational drugmakers.

Cipla Chairman Yusuf Hamied said the offer had been made to international charity agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Tuesday, and would cover the drugs stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine.

The cut-price treatment is aimed primarily at those infected with the HIV virus in Africa, where anti-retroviral drugs commonly used in the West are out of reach financially.

The average cost of AIDS drug cocktails in developed markets is $10,000 to $15,000 a year. Leading drug companies have recently negotiated discount deals with Senegal, Uganda and Rwanda which bring the cost down by up to 90 per cent -- but that still leaves their products at a premium to Cipla's offer.

"We are offering the drugs at a humanitarian price," Hamied said.

"Our normal price -- at which we sell to wholesalers in India -- is $1,200 per patient per year. We also have a price of $600 which we offer governments under tender, and then there is the humanitarian price," he said.

We should not play ball with EU at the cost of our Generic Drug Companies.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Feb 2012 07:56

Parkinson's Disease: Some hope for patients

Hyderabad: Holding out hopes to those afflicted with Parkinson's disease, a specialised procedure on a 53-year-old farmer, who could not do simple tasks earlier, not only reduced trembling caused by the ailment but also improved his ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder affecting the nerve cells in the brain that control movements. As a result the nerve cells or neurons do not make the chemical dopamine leading to disharmony of neurotransmitters and cause the disorder

Around one per cent of the country's population is estimated to be afflicted with the disease, which is more common in men and usually occurs around 60 years (adult onset). However, it is manifesting almost a decade earlier among Indians and even cases of young onset (below 40 years) are on the rise, according to Dr. Manas Panigrahi, neuro surgeon and Dr. Sita Jayalakshmi, neuro-physician at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS). In most cases relating to “young onset” of the disease, the cause could be genetic.

Pallidotomy

Under the specialised procedure, called Pallidotomy, a small 2-3 millimetre lesion in the sub-thalamus region of the brain is done and specific nucleus responsible for causing the involuntary and excessive movement of either hands or any other limb is destroyed by giving radio-frequency ablation. This, in turn, would set right the imbalance in neuro-chemicals in the brain and in the circuit. The procedure was carried out on the farmer, Lingaiah, hailing from Nalgonda district recently at KIMS.

Although another procedure -- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), involving implantation of electrodes in brain and connected to pace-maker -- was also is in vogue to provide relief to patients suffering from PD, Dr. Manas and Dr. Sita said that Pallidotomy was far less expensive than the former technique. While DBS costs around Rs. 7 lakh, Pallidotomy would be in the region of Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh.

Dr. Manas said another advantage with Pallidotomy was that it was a one-time procedure and the patient need not come once every two to three months as needed in the case of DBS.

They said both DBS and Pallidotomy were being done at a few centres in the country, including NIMHANS, Bangalore and Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Anil Kumar, son of Lingaiah, told The Hindu, that there was significant improvement in his father's ability to do daily tasks after undergoing Pallidotomy. Lingaiah underwent the procedure twice in the right and left sides of the brainto help control involuntary movements of left and right hands.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Feb 2012 08:01

Surveillance up at borders to check imported polio cases

India has put in place an emergency preparedness and response plan to enforce its commitment to zero tolerance of polio. Any new polio case would be declared a public health emergency.

Rapid response teams have been formed in all the States and Union Territories to respond to any polio case. All States bordering the neighbouring countries have been put on alert and asked to strengthen surveillance for early detection of any imported polio case.

Speaking at the launch of a nationwide Pulse Polio Campaign for 2012 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said special booths were established in the bordering areas including Wagah border and the Attari railway station in Punjab and Munabao in Barmer district of Rajasthan, to ensure that all children under five coming from across the border were given polio drops.

The coverage of children even in the most endemic States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has crossed 99 per cent. “This level of coverage is unprecedented, not witnessed anywhere in the world,” the Minister added. He hoped that efforts would be taken with the same degree of vigour for at least the next two years, so that India could be declared a polio-free country in January, 2014.

The drive will cover more than 17 crore children under 5. Over 23 lakh volunteers will participate in this massive national effort and more than 1.5 lakh supervisors will monitor quality and coverage.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Feb 2012 13:25

Schoolboy operated for multiple coronary blocks

Chennai: For over six months, Raghuveer Soni had been experiencing chest pain after minimal physical exertion. “Previously, my hand and neck would hurt. But, now I don't have any pain,” said the timid 17-year-old, addressing presspersons on Tuesday at Fortis Malar Hospital.

Raghuveer's condition was initially misunderstood as a gastric problem but further diagnosis revealed high levels of serum cholesterol and a coronary angiogram indicated severe blocks in three blood vessels of his heart. There was an immediate need for revascularisation, said Sanjiv Agrawal, Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiologist at the hospital.

“It is unusual for a boy of Raghuveer's age to suffer from multiple blocks. We performed a multivessel angioplasty to treat his condition and implanted five medicated stents in all the blood vessels,” said Dr.Agrawal.

“He has a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, which is a genetic disorder and leads to development of heart disease at a very young age.”

Dr.Agrawal said there is a misconception that angioplasty is only to treat single blocks while bypass surgery is for multiple blocks. “Multivessel angioplasty is an effective alternative to bypass surgeries and reduces the chances of serious complications in the future.”

Raghuveer is the youngest patient to undergo such a treatment, said Dr.Agrawal. “He was able to resume school in one week.”

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 25 Feb 2012 09:49

Drug resistance mechanism in leukemia

A drug that will overcome the drug resistance of leukaemia is a major area of research taken up by the Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine.

In a presentation on the research taken up in this regard at the ongoing international conference ‘Nanobio 2012,' Mansoor K, Professor at Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, said his team had identified the molecular mechanism of drug resistance in leukaemia and a blood protein-based nano particle had been developed to overcome this resistance. “Right now, the drug is at the toxicity screening stage, after which it will be tested on animals,” Dr. Mansoor said.

Arav · Post by **Arav** » 25 Feb 2012 12:55

India taken off polio endemic list by WHO

India, which has been polio-free for over a year now, was on Saturday taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation.

This announcement was made by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the polio summit 2012 here in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Feb 2012 08:01

Balloon-like device may replace stents

Results of a study concluded by eminent cardiologists across the country over the past three years on 97 patients and released in the Capital on Saturday have indicated that SeQplasty, a balloon like device coated with drugs, is a ‘no foreign body device' technique and could prove to be a good replacement for stents in many cases.

“The study has concluded that SeQplasty, a revolutionary technique in interventional cardiology is a sure shot replacement for drug-eluting stents,” said a release issued after the study.

Dr. Upendra Kaul and Dr. Ashok Seth of Fortis Escorts, Dr. Praveen Chandra of Medanta Delhi, Dr. V. K. Bahl of AIIMS Delhi, Dr. Oomen George of CMC Vellore, Dr Ajit Mullasari of Madras Medical Mission Chennai, Dr. Seshagiri Rao of Nizams Institute Hyderabad and Dr. M. S. Hiremath of Ruby Hall Clinic Pune had participated in the study.

“SeQplasty, coated with drugs, is inflated at the fatty deposits in the blood vessel or artery for 45 minutes. The drug gets absorbed in the wall and the blockage is cleared,” said Dr. Kaul.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Feb 2012 08:09

Citing failure rate, surgeons recommend five-year spine surgery course

The Neuro Spinal Surgeons Association of India is planning a formal recommendation to medical universities and also the Medical Council of India that a full-fledged five-year post-graduate course in spine surgery be introduced.

What seems to be driving this idea is the failure rate of spine surgeries and also the confusion among patients over whom to approach – neuro surgeon or orthopaedic. At present, there is no degree in spine surgery, only a fellowship for a very short period for those who have done post-graduation in orthopaedic or neuro surgery.

Many young surgeons are trained by experienced spine surgeons with proven track record and success rate. The association is convinced that this alone will not do.

Elaborating on the association's proposal, its president J.K.B.C. Parthiban told reporters here on Saturday that it was important that spine surgeons were well versed in both orthopaedic and neurological aspects of the spinal structure. It is a combination of spinal bone and the cord that was made up of nervous tissues and support cells. Therefore, the new course should be a combination of both orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery.

Dr. Parthiban said it was not enough if a few neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons also performed spine surgeries in addition to other procedures. The spine itself offered many areas of specialisation, such as problems of the cervical spine and lumbar spine. Scoliosis, a congenital defect that left the spine S-shaped, was another area that needed specific minute focus.

With many minute-focus areas, it would be appropriate that a separate course for spine surgery is designed.

On why a post-graduate course for five years, he said that this was needed considering the need to have both orthopaedic and neurological aspects of surgery and also specialised training.

“Basically, we want surgeons to have the expertise to judge when a surgery is needed and when it is not. There is no need to perform a spine surgery for the common low back pain,” Dr. Parthiban, who is also senior consultant spine-neurosurgeon at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, said.

A number of failed surgeries could be attributed to error in judgment. “Over enthusiasm in performing spine surgery can turn counter-productive. The failure rate it triggers will confuse patients, even to the point of their faith in spine surgery eroding.”

member_21708 · Post by **member_21708** » 26 Feb 2012 09:27

Defunct vaccine PSU resumes operations in Kasuli

New Delhi, Feb 25, 2012, DHNS:

Four years after it was closed down for being an outdated unit, the newly refurbished government vaccine manufacturing centre at Kasuli has begun re-supplying vaccine for the universal immunisation programme.

This has lowered the government’s dependency on private companies for essential vaccines somewhat.

The Central Research Institute (CRI) at Kasauli last week delivered 16.84 lakh doses of DPT (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus) vaccine to the Union health ministry and was expected to complete its first order of 30 lakh doses by next month, sources said.

From April 1, CRI would produce 30 lakh doses of DPT vaccine for global use.

CRI, along with Pasteur Institute of India (PII) at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu and BCG Vaccine Laboratory at Guindy, Chennai was closed down by then Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss in 2008 who cited the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for closing the three public sector manufacturers for not being good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant.

Ramadoss’ plan was to shift to private sector vaccine manufacturers for a temporary period before switching over to a new vaccine-manufacturing park to be set up near Chennai. The plan backfired as the private companies charged much more for the vaccine and could not meet the supply creating a vaccine shortage.

The controversial UPA-I health minister also came under severe criticism from Left parties as several allegations of corruption and nepotism flew thick and fast. Probes were ordered and some of the legal cases are still going on.

An internal health ministry inquiry report stated that the responsibility for the decision would rest on the then health minister and health secretary. In other words, it indicted Ramadoss and then Health Secretary P K Hota. Meanwhile, the government began working on a revival package. It set up an expert panel under former health secretary Javed Chowdhury. The panel recommended revocation of the licence in 2010 and described the licence suspension as “incorrect”, which was based on an “illegal procedure” and a “flawed appreciation” of the issues.

For revival, the UPA-II government gave some money to all the three units so that they can become GMP compliant.

The PII is expected to start supply of vaccine from June, 2012 with a target of 20 lakh doses per month.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/230 ... tions.html

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Feb 2012 09:29

Measles & neo-natal tetanus to be next targets after polio

Emboldened by the remarkable success achieved in its drive against polio, the government will now focus on elimination of measles and neonatal tetanus in the country. Thousands of children die of these two diseases in India every year.

“We are moving towards it. Some of our lessons from the polio programme could prove to be extremely useful in accomplishing these tasks,” Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 29 Feb 2012 20:24

India plans major boost to health sector, to invest 2.5% of GDP by 2017

The decision was taken in a meeting held in the PMO on the government's priorities in health sector, particularly over the next five years.

member_21708 · Post by **member_21708** » 05 Mar 2012 09:39

Ayurvedic Ashwagandha Can Cure Alzheimer's Disease

New Delhi, March 4 : Studies at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) have shown that extract from the roots of Ashwagandha can provide cure for Alzheimer's disease, The Times of India reported today.

NBRC scientists found it can reverse memory loss and may prove to be an effective cure for the disease in humans.

NBRC neuroscientist Vijaylakshmi Ravindranath tested the semi-purified sample extracted at Delhi University on genetically modified mice with Alzheimer's disease.

Two sets of test mice - middle aged (9-10 months) and old (2 years) - were given oral doses of the extract for 30 days and monitored.

Over the month, scientists found a reduction in amyloid plaques (a symptom of Alzheimer's) in the mice brains and improvement in the animals' cognitive abilities. Their study was published recently in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and the Nature India Journal.

The mice used for the experiment carry the mutation that is characteristic of Alzheimer's disease and produce the amyloid in greater quantities.

"We got the mice from Jackson Labs in US. They were tested on a radial arm maze, where they are trained to go and pick food from four of the maze's eight arms. Since the mice had Alzheimer's, they were neither able to learn nor retain the learning.

But after 20 days of the Ashwagandha treatment, we noticed a difference, and after 30 days they had started behaving normally," said Ravindranath, former founder-director of NBRC, and chairperson of Centre of Neurosciences, Indian Institute of Science.

She explained that the extract didn't work directly on the brain. It enhanced a protein in the liver that is thrown out in the blood and acts like a sponge to pull out the amyloid from the brain.

"I am very interested in Ayurveda. This experiment gives us hope," Ravindranath said.

The NBRC's results have also boosted morale at DU's Natural Products Laboratory.

"Professor Vijayalakshmi had approached us to evaluate some plants and their effect on neurological disorders.

Most medicines that are currently being used for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are synthetic drugs that have some side effects," said professor Subhash Chand Jain of Delhi University.

The team at DU selected the root of Ashwagandha and followed up with a series of extractions at the lab.

"We did the extraction using a solvent system. And then it was further fractionalized to see which fraction was most active. At this point, Vijayalakshmi was very excited because she saw that some of the fractions were active. Then we worked on pinning down the fraction that was most active," Jain said.

Former US President Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer's before his death, while former Defence Minister George Fernandes is staill battling it.

The disorder marked by memory and judgment loss usually occurs in people older than 65, and has defied a cure so far.

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/India/A ... 14691.html

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 05 Mar 2012 16:32

Ramdev's Patanjali products to enter open market

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... aba-ramdev

The yoga guru said his products would be cheaper by 30 per cent compared to products being sold by MNCs like Hindustan Lever and P and G. Ramdev said his business model would boost the lives and economy of people in rural India.

"Yoga, Ayurveda and swadeshi are not a profession but a mission for us," Ramdev said.

"Approximately half the economy of the country is in the clutches of corrupt people and foreign companies. Our mission is to strengthen swadeshi," he said.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 12 Mar 2012 22:56

India's first compulsory licence granted to Natco for Bayer's cancer drug

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/com ... epage=true

The country's first compulsory licence has been granted by the Indian Patent Office to Hyderabad-based drug-maker Natco.A landmark decision, under the amended Indian Patents Act (2005), allows Natco to make and sell in India, a similar version of Bayer's Nexavar, an advanced kidney cancer drug.Natco will have to pay Bayer royalty pegged at six per cent of net sales, every quarter. Buoyed by the development, Natco shares closed up 6 per cent on the BSE, on Monday.

Landmark judgment

The 62-page judgment is Mr P. H. Kurian's last as the Patent Controller. The judgment reasoned that the patent-holder, Bayer, had not met the reasonable requirement of the public. It had not “worked the patent” or manufactured it to a reasonable extent in India. Besides, the drug was not available at an affordable price.

Compulsory licence

A compulsory licence (CL) is granted by a country on health grounds, where patients are unable to access a life-saving medicine.

Bayer imported the product, and while its global sales of Nexavar was $934 million in 2010, in India it clocked sales of Rs 16 crore in 2009, the judgment said. The figures demonstrate “neglectful conduct” of the patentee (Bayer) in India, the judgment added.Only 2 per cent of the 8,842 patients needing the drug got the medicine, it observed. The patients needing the drug “far exceed” the supply of the product, he added.

Bayer reaction

A Bayer spokesperson, however, said: “We are disappointed by the decision of the Patent Controller in India to grant a compulsory licence for Nexavar. We will evaluate our options to further defend our intellectual property rights in India.”

Cipla too sells its version of generic Nexavar in India, from April 2010.But Bayer had subsequently taken them to the Delhi High Court over patent-infringement.

On Monday, Mr Kurian also handed over charge at the Patent office to Mr Chaitanya Prasad.

Our Hyderabad bureau adds: Dr P. Bhaskara Narayana, Chief Financial Officer, Natco, said the market for the product was around Rs 30 crore a year. The company will begin selling the drug after a stay granted by the Delhi High Court is vacated.

“The stay will be vacated once we submit the order of the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks to the High Court,” he said.

“We welcome this order as it opens up a new avenue of availability of life-saving drugs at an affordable price to the suffering masses in India,” he said. Natco also expects the market for the drug to expand now, though it might come down in value terms.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 12 Mar 2012 23:00

Health groups hail verdict, pharma body disappointed

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/com ... 988316.ece

Natco's baby step may pave the way for a giant leap of sorts, where many more drug patents are subjected to this “stick” to help bring down highly excessive prices for a country like India, says Mr Shamnad Basheer, an intellectual property expert.He was commenting on the grant of the country's first ever compulsory license by the Patent Office to Natco, allowing it to make Bayer's advanced kidney cancer drug Nexavar. Natco would have to pay Bayer a royalty of six per cent on the net sales of the drug every three months.

“Given that more than 90 per cent of MNC drugs are imported , this order may pave the way for wholesale compulsory licenses to be issued against a wide spectrum of drugs in the near future. This interpretation of “working” to mean “local working” (local manufacture within India) may in fact prove the most controversial part of the order and may perhaps attract a TRIPS challenge as well,” he pointed out.

Health advocacy groups and humanitarian organisations also lauded the judgement.

“We have been following this case closely because newer drugs to treat HIV are patented in India, and as a result are priced out of reach,” said Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign. “But this decision marks a precedent that offers hope: It shows that new drugs under patent can also be produced by generic makers at a fraction of the price, while royalties are paid to the patent holder. This compensates patent holders while at the same time ensuring that competition can bring down prices.”

OPPI downbeat

But expressing disappointment with the judgement, Mr Ranjit Shahani, President of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, said that the issue of compulsory licenses should be used only in exceptional circumstances.

“The poor in developing countries like India will suffer needlessly until a wide variety of issues such as lack of diagnosis, healthcare infrastructure and distribution are solved. Existence of trained healthcare staff and infrastructure, cultural acceptability of treatment, accessibility of healthcare facilities and quality of care all play a role in making medicines available,” he added. The OPPI is a platform largely for foreign drug makers.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 18 Mar 2012 16:10

^^This is indeed a good step but still lots needs to be done. This below article is a good read as it explains why still poor people in India are away from any affordable treatment.

Nexavar (Nexavar is the trade name for the generic chemotherapy drug Sorafenib) by Natco will still cost
Rs 8800/month compared to 2.8 lacs from Bayer. I agree, this is a huge drop in price (approx 97%) but still i doubt if poor will be able to even afford Rs 8800 per month. This is just a cost of a drug and we are not even including cost of xrays, sonography, surgery etc.

Cheap generics no panacea for India’s poorest

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 22 Mar 2012 09:38

E Mamta

Gujarat sought to reduce avoidable child and maternity-linked deaths, and had some success in a short span of two years prompting the central government to adopt it across the country.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tec ... 360459.cms

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 24 Mar 2012 17:52

Roche to sell cheaper cancer drugs in India

Mumbai: Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding plans to offer cut-price versions of two blockbuster cancer drugs for the Indian market soon, a company spokesman said on Friday, days after the government moved to slash the price of another cancer treatment.

India stripped German group Bayer of exclusive rights to Nexavar earlier this month and licenced a local company to produce a cheap, generic version, on the grounds that poor Indians could not otherwise afford the life-saving drug.

Roche, the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs, said it would offer "significantly" cheaper, locally branded versions of its two cancer drugs, Herceptin and MabThera, by early next year, under an alliance with India's Emcure Pharmaceuticals

"The scope is to enable access for a large majority of patients who currently pay out of pocket as well as to partner with the government to enable increased access to our products for people in need," spokesman Daniel Grotzky said by phone from company headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

How come they suddenly realised that patients are paying out of pocket? Seems like Roche is in direct competition with Bayer, who are now forced to make drugs more affordable.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 28 Mar 2012 12:07

Pharma companies need to do more to cure the country of its health care ills

Y.K. Hamied, the usually upbeat head of Cipla, a generics giant, believes Indian companies will soon rid the patients of the problems created by pricey drugs. "Give Indian companies another two years and you will see many of them, including us, launching Herceptin and Avastin-like drugs in India," says Hamied. Like Herceptin, Avastin too is a cancer drug from Roche's stable. Together, they earn billions of dollars for their patent holder. Hamied's confidence may stem from the fact that Cipla shook up the global pharma industry in 2001 with the launch of its anti-AIDS drug Triomune. A cocktail drug, it cost $300 for a year's treatment, against $12,000 a patient in the West had to spend on similar treatment.

Hamied is firm in his belief that the government must bring under price control all drugs sold under monopoly, a view that is finding resonance in the government. The Prime Minister's Office was initially backing market-driven prices but has of late, according to officials, been in favour of making sure that essential drugs are available at low prices.

According to G.V. Prasad, CEO of Dr Reddy's, another early devotee of the research strategy, India will never be a major force in drug discovery because "we do not have the critical mass for it."

At a time cheap new medicines are not exactly oozing out of our laboratories, better insurance coverage and public health programmes would go a long way to alleviate patients' pain. According to a paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly by economists Sakthivel Selvaraj and Anup K. Karan, as India spends around 4.2 per cent of its gross domestic product on health care, the government's contribution is just onefifth; households' out-of-pocket expenditure is more than two-thirds. This limits people's ability to spend on health care, especially of the low and middle-income groups, which comprise 95 per cent of the population.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 28 Mar 2012 16:51

Vaccine makers give India shot in the arm

A few days earlier, clinical trial investigators in Pune, Vellore and Delhi completed vaccinating 6,800 infants with Rotavac, an experimental rotavirus vaccine being developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

The vaccination was part of the final phase (phase III) of clinical trials, which began about 12 years before. A couple of months from now, these trial results will be out and Bharat Biotech stands a fairly good chance to market India’s first ever indigenous vaccine that prevents the lethal rotavirus diarrhoea, that (as estimated by the World Health Organisation) kills 100,000 children below the age of five in India every year. Bharat will become only the fourth company globally that has developed this new generation of vaccine when it becomes available in the market in a year or two.

Rotavac is not an isolated case. India’s handful of vaccine makers—Panacea, Serum, Zydus Cadilla, Shantha and others—are busy developing many more, helping the country shed its image as just another manufacturing hub of traditional vaccines like polio, tetanus and diphtheria to a place where newer, more cutting-edge work in the vaccine world takes place.

Emerging capability

This ability to move up the vaccine value chain became discernable on the world stage during the outbreak of H1N1 (swine flu). Within a year’s time, nearly half a dozen companies were ready with the H1N1 vaccine. Zydus Cadilla, the Ahmedabad-based drug major which was first to launch the H1N1 vaccine in 2010-11, has since commissioned a new state-of-the-art Vaccine Technology Centre (VTC) with 60 dedicated scientists to run multiple vaccine research programmes.

Deepak Gaur and Virander S Chauhan of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, say these are early indications of Indian firms beginning to make inroads into innovative health product discovery and development.

“Shantha Biotech and Serum Institute of India are both working to develop a pentavalent vaccine to protect against five infectious agents, including DPT, Hepatitis-B and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib),” say Gaur and Chauhan in a recently published research paper.

“Bharat Biotech International is in the process of developing novel vaccines against malaria, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis and chikungunya. In addition, companies such as Panacea Biotec, Biological E, Bhat Biotech, Bharat Serums and Vaccines and Transgene Biotek are developing novel vaccines against many locally relevant diseases,” the researchers point out.

In fact, Shantha’s Shanvac-B, the indigenously developed Hepatitis B vaccine, had pioneered this trend over a decade ago, when Shanvac-B was priced less than $1 a dose, as compared to the prevailing $23 a dose cost of imported Hepatitis-B vaccine. Shantha was later acquired by French drug major Sanofi-Aventis.

Price warriors

The opportunity for these vaccine makers may in fact not be too far from their own doorsteps. According to a McKinsey report on the Indian pharmaceutical sector, “at two per cent penetration, the vaccines market of India is significantly under-penetrated.’’ It is estimated the current Indian vaccine market is around $900 million, with a potential to touch $4.6 billion by 2017.

However, this doesn’t mean Indian vaccine makers are hoping to make a windfall profit through premium pricing in an underserved market. The model most Indian vaccine makers follow is similar to what domestic generic drug companies have been doing for a long time. Much like Indian generic medicines, Indian vaccines are also being projected as low-cost alternatives to high-priced vaccines produced by global majors.

The Serum Institute of India, one of the country’s leading vaccine producers, claims “two of every three children immunised in the world is vaccinated by a vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute”. The company’s products, used in 140 countries, are again known for their low cost.

Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech, recently reiterated a promise he made when his company had initiated the development of Rotavac a decade ago, that the vaccine, as and when approved, will be priced below $1 a dose for global supplies.

In essence, as new-generation vaccines emerge, India's vaccine market will transition from being a publicly-funded initiative to a private business where vaccines are prescribed by private practitioners across the country. "The 330 million (middle class) people in India, who are not price-sensitive, will drive private market sales in the domestic vaccine segment,’’ predicts N K Ganguly, former chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Experts say at least three domestic vaccine companies are trying to make low cost versions of a cervical cancer vaccine (HPV vaccine) through non-patent infringing methods. “Once such new vaccines start coming into the market, the vaccine industry will grow irrespective of the inclusion of the products in the national immunisation list,” Ganguly says.

Unique partnerships

“Normal understanding of financial returns will not work in the vaccine industry. In vaccines, partnerships with government, universities, medical colleges are all essential”, says Rajesh Jain, joint managing director, Panacea Biotec.

And, that kind of collaboration is a reality—indeed, a necessity—in India today. Bharat Biotech’s Rotavac was developed through a public-private partnership that involved the Department of biotechnology, the Bill Gates Foundation, the Programme for Appropriate Technologies in Health, Centre for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and some others. The Japanese encephalitis vaccine, undergoing Phase-II clinical trials in India, is being developed by Hyderabad-based Biological E, in partnership with an Australian company Intercell.

VANGUARD OF INDIAN VACCINATORS

Vaccine under
development

Company/institution involved

>Rotavirus from Bharat Biotech & AIIMS

>Cholera from Institute of Microbial Technology,
Chandigarh

>Malaria from International Centre for Genetic
Engineering & Biotechnology

>Typhoid from USV & AIIMS

>Dengue from International Centre for Genetic
Engineering & Biotechnology

>Tuberculosis from University of Delhi

>Infuenza from Panacea

>Pneumococcal from Transgene Biotech

>HIV from Translational Health Science and Technology Institute

>Cervical cancer (HPV) from SerumInstitute

>Japanese Encephalitis from BiologicalE

Criticisms

Still, amidst all the positive developments in vaccines, the growth in vaccine research and marketing is not immune to controversy. The manner in which post-marketing trials of cervical cancer vaccines were conducted by two global vaccine majors through partnerships in India witnessed a major controversy in the recent past.

In a critique last month, Delhi-based researchers Y Madhavi and N Raghuram severely criticised the central government’s ‘National Vaccine Policy 2011’ as they feel the new policy, meant to encourage vaccine development in the country, “is more about spending and coverage, than about protecting children”.

“It is not designed to enhance national public capacities for public immunisation programmes, but to justify spending public money on public-private partnerships or privately produced vaccines in the name of protection from diseases, whose incidence figures and public health statistics are dubious and industry manufactured,’’ they alleged.

Still, criticisms aside, experts feel the vaccine industry is set to grow faster than the conventional pharmaceutical sector in the coming years. That’s good news for consumers looking for inexpensive ways to protect themselves from potentially life-crippling diseases.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 28 Mar 2012 17:01

^^Good news indeed.Hopeful for a future when critical medicines are available to all the needy people.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 29 Mar 2012 09:21

^^Indians need cheaper drugs which can be afforded by poor people. IMO, this won't be possible by western pharma's unless compulsory licenses are issued. At the same time India needs to be careful with compulsory licsences as pharma's will feel their intellectual properties are not protected well enough. We need more research towards affordable healthcare and more health insurance cover to be able to reach the poorerst. In order to get here, India needs to keep growing at 8-10% in many years to come.

Scotland woos Indian pharma, IT companies

Indian pharmaceutical and IT majors, including Biocon, Bharat Biotech and Dr Reddy’s, are likely to invest and do research and development (R&D) activities in Scotland in the coming years, according to a top official from Scotland.

“We are now under discussion with almost all pharma companies, besides stem cell research companies including Reliance Life Science and Stempeutic, to set up their research centres, and for collaborative research activities with Scotland,” Mark Dolan, country manager, Scottish Development International (SDI), told Business Standard.

Scotland, with key strengths in knowledge, quality manpower, innovative technology, has recently doubled its presence in India. It is also scouting for a new office location in Hyderabad or Bangalore.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 17 Apr 2012 02:31

http://pharmagossip.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... ntial.html
India's Piramal buys Bayer's potential Alzheimer drug

ndian drugmaker Piramal Healthcare has agreed to buy a research and development portfolio from Bayer AG, the company said, in a deal that gives Piramal rights to florbetaben, a possible Alzheimer treatment.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 24 Apr 2012 01:34

Govt plans bonds to stop doctors' brain drain

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 843215.cms

India has finally decided to cut down on brain drain that is crippling its medical sector.Now, US-bound doctors for higher medical studies will have to sign a bond with the ministry and honour the document by returning home after finishing their courses.

Union health Ghulam Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the US is insisting on a government No Objection Certificate (NOC) for every student enrolling with an American institute from this academic session.

In the last three years, 3,000 doctors went abroad for studies, and did not return."If a student does not come back from the US, he won't be allowed to practice there," Azad said.

Take the example of the premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). A first-of-its-kind study by AIIMS' department of hospital administration found that it takes Rs 1.7 crore to produce a single MBBS doctor at AIIMS.

The figure includes both the direct (services of the faculty and stipend) and indirect (services of non-teaching personnel and furniture) costs incurred by the hospital over the course's five-and-a-half-year period.

According to the study, AIIMS spends at least Rs 31.31 lakh on every undergraduate student per year per course as against an annual fee of an MBBS student of Rs 850 per year that includes room and board and tuition fee.

Over 53% of AIIMS students leave India to work abroad. According to the Medical Council of India (MCI), till July 27, 2011, 767 doctors may have left for foreign shores.

These doctors had asked the MCI to issue them Good Standing Certificates (GSC) - a mandatory requirement for doctors seeking work in hospitals abroad. The MCI issued 1,264 GSCs in 2010, 1,386 GSCs in 2009 and 1,002 in 2008.

India has only one doctor for every 1,700 people. In comparison, the doctor-population ratio globally is 1.5:1,000. Somalia has one doctor for 10,000 population. China's doctor population ratio stands at 1:1063, Korea 1:951, Brazil 1:844, Japan 1:606, Thailand 1:500, the UK 1:469, the US 1:350 and Germany 1:296.

A recent Planning Commission report said India is short of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses and two lakh dental surgeons. Indian doctors, however, form 5% of the medical workforce in developed countries. Almost 60,000 Indian physicians are working in countries like the US, the UK, Canada and Australia alone.

Azad said, "No other country except the US is asking for this NoC. Those who apply to go to the US for studies from 2012 will have to give us a bond saying they would come back after finishing the studies. If they don't fulfill the bond obligation, we can write to the US to deny the student permission to practice."

A recent paper in the Lancet said India had eight healthcare workers, 3.8 allopathic doctors and 2.4 nurses per 10,000 population. When compared to other countries, this is about half the WHO benchmark of 25.4 workers per 10,000 people.

According to MCI's Indian Medical Register that was last updated in April, 2011, the nation supposedly boasts of 840,678 registered medical practitioners. However, the data includes names of doctors who were registered way back in 1933. Chances of these doctors being alive is dim, admits MCI.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 24 Apr 2012 21:36

Extracts From The Neem Tree May Stop HIV From Multiplying
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/244439.php

Now an assistant professor at Kean University in New Jersey, Arora is delving into understanding the curative properties of the neem tree in fighting the virus that causes AIDS. She presented her data at a poster sessio at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego. Her preliminary results seem to indicate that there are compounds in neem extracts that target a protein essential for HIV to replicate. If further studies support her findings, Arora's work may give clinicians and drug developers a new HIV-AIDS therapy to pursue.
Extracts from neem leaves, bark and flowers are used throughout the Indian subcontinent to fight against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. "The farther you go into the villages of India, the more uses of neem you see," says Arora. Tree branches are used instead of toothpaste and toothbrushes to keep teeth and gums healthy, and neem extracts are used to control the spread of malaria. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine, a form of traditional Indian alternative medicine, even prescribe neem extracts, in combination with other herbs, to treat cardiovascular diseases and control diabetes. The neem tree, whose species name is Azadirachta indica and which belongs to the mahogany family, also grows in east Africa,Arora dived into the scientific literature to see what was known about neem extracts. During the course of her reading, Arora stumbled across two reports that showed that when HIV-AIDS patients in Nigeria and India were given neem extracts, the amount of HIV particles in their blood dropped. Intrigued, Arora decided to see if she could figure out what was in the neem extract that seemed to fight off the virus.
She turned to bioinformatics and structural biology to see what insights could be gleaned from making computer models of HIV proteins with compounds known to be in neem extracts. From the literature, she and her students found 20 compounds present in various types of neem extracts. When they modeled these compounds against the proteins critical for the HIV life-cycle, Arora and her team discovered that most of the neem compounds attacked the HIV protease, a protein essential for making new copies of the virus. Arora dived into the scientific literature to see what was known about neem extracts. During the course of her reading, Arora stumbled across two reports that showed that when HIV-AIDS patients in Nigeria and India were given neem extracts, the amount of HIV particles in their blood dropped. Intrigued, Arora decided to see if she could figure out what was in the neem extract that seemed to fight off the virus.
She turned to bioinformatics and structural biology to see what insights could be gleaned from making computer models of HIV proteins with compounds known to be in neem extracts. From the literature, she and her students found 20 compounds present in various types of neem extracts. When they modeled these compounds against the proteins critical for the HIV life-cycle, Arora and her team discovered that most of the neem compounds attacked the HIV protease, a protein essential for making new copies of the virus.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 01 May 2012 17:41

Ranbaxy launches malaria drug Synriam

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/04/2 ... 8520120425
Ranbaxy Laboratories, India's top drugmaker by sales, said it launched a new malaria treatment drug Synriam in the country and was working to introduce it in other Asian countries, Africa and South America.

Ranbaxy, majority owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co, received Indian drug regulator's approval for the product in 2011.

The drug is used to treat plasmodium falciparum malaria. Rival Cipla is expected to launch Mefliam Plus, also in the same category.

"The drug fills a vital therapy gap not only in India but also worldwide," said Ranbaxy Chairman Tsutomu Une in a statement. "We will make all possible efforts to make Synriam accessible to the world."

Malaria is a major public health problem in more than 90 countries that host about 40 percent of the global population.

The deadly disease is estimated to cause up to 250 million new infections worldwide every year.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 03 May 2012 09:56

Cipla slashes prices on 3 cancer drugs

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/com ... epage=true

Kidney cancer

In a move that will stir up the pot, the company has significantly dropped its prices on generic Sorafenib, used in advanced kidney cancer, from Rs 27,950 to Rs 6,840.

Sorafenib is the drug on which the Patent Office recently issued a compulsory licence allowing Natco to make a generic copy of this drug, on the payment of a royalty to the innovator company, Bayer. Natco had pegged its price at about Rs 8,900, while Bayer’s price on its branded Sorafenib (Nexavar) is Rs 2.8 lakh.

Cipla is bringing down the prices by taking advantage of the economies of scale it has managed to get on the product, a company official told Business Line, adding that oncology is getting a major thrust from the company.

Lung cancer

Cipla has also dropped its prices on lung cancer drug Gestinib by 60 per cent. Retail prices have come down from Rs 10,200 to Rs 4,250. The original drug is made by Astra Zeneca under the name Iressa.

Brain tumour

The third drug that Cipla is dropping the prices is on brain tumour drug Temozolamide in three strengths. Schering makes the original drug.

On the 20-mg pack of five, Cipla has been brought down the prices from Rs 1,875 to Rs 480; on the 100-mg strength prices are down from Rs 8,900 to Rs 2,400 and on the 250 mg it is down from Rs 20,250 to Rs 5,000.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 03 May 2012 21:10

Narayana Hrudayalaya plans to set up 100 low-cost hospitals.

The Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals (NH), which currently has 14 hospitals with 6,000 beds in seven States, is planning to invest nearly Rs 5,000 crore on setting up a

chain of 100 low-cost speciality hospitals and at least three more health cities in the country.

The low-cost hospitals will add 30,000 beds in five years. The company will invest Rs 25-30 crore on each of these hospitals, using prefabricated construction materials. “The first such hospital is being built by L&T in Mysore. We want to prove that a state-of-the-art, 300-bed multi-speciality hospital can be built for $6 million to $7 million (Rs 35 crore) as against estimates of $25 million,” Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, said here on Thursday.

These hospitals will be opened in cities with a population of between five and 10 lakhs. Nine such projects will be operational in the next 18 months.

After Bangalore, the company’s second super-speciality Health City complex, offering all healthcare facilities at one place, is coming up on a 37-acre plot in Ahmedabad. With a total investment of Rs 600 crore planned in five years, it will have 5,000 beds in three-four phases, besides a medical college that will admit 200 students from poor families, nursing and paramedical institutions.

In the first phase, inaugurated on Thursday by the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, NH has provided 300 beds at a cost of Rs 110 crore. “Economy of scale, sharing infrastructure and expertise reduces our cost of operation and other expenses,” said Dr Shetty.

About half-a-dozen more hospitals will be established in the same campus, Dr A. Raghuvanshi, Managing Director, told Business Line. “We are also planning to set up two more health cities, in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, with similar investments.”

Dr Shetty said India needs to perform 25 lakh heart operations annually but is able to operate only about 90,000 patients. “We want to make India the first nation to dissociate healthcare from prosperity by providing ultramodern treatment at the lowest cost.”

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 17 May 2012 04:05

http://news.yahoo.com/indias-piramal-he ... nance.html
India's Piramal Healthcare to buy U.S. firm to boost R&D

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Piramal Healthcare has agreed to buy a U.S.-based healthcare data provider for $635 million to boost research and development, the company said on Wednesday, a month after it acquired the new molecules division of Germany's Bayer's.Mumbai-based Piramal has been looking to expand its R&D portfolio after it sold its formulations business to U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories for $3.72 billion in 2010.The company aims to close the acquisition of Decision Resources Group (DRG), based in Burlington, Massachusetts, by the end of June 30. The unit, with a team of about 300 analysts, is expected to bring in revenues of $160 million in 2012.Piramal is trying to focus on grass-root research and high-value patents and shift away from making copycat drugs, said Siddhant Khandekar, analyst at ICICI Direct."The deal suggests Piramal does not want to exit the pharmaceuticals sector.""Although the healthcare information industry size looks promising, I am not sure how Piramal can actually utilize this opportunity," he said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 17 May 2012 15:12

X-post from TSP thread

shiv wrote: I suppose these Paki instruments will be bought by all those Chennai hospitals who cater to the Ummah with everything pointed at Makkah? Or maybe the usual bunch of unscrupulous profit making healthcare people. Next you can expect to see rich Pakis making hefty donations for private medical seats in Karnataka and elsewhere.

I had to attend to an ailing relative in a leading Chennai hospital recently. There is 'halal' food in the menu, Makkah pointers in rooms, Arabic channels in TVs, a number of Arab-speaking patients with their English-language interpreters etc. I read in papers a few days back that doctors are being sensitized to Arab culture.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 18 May 2012 16:06

Apollo Hospital, Chennai, Punished

The State Health Department, through a Government Order G.O. (D) 408, dated 17.05.2012, has punished Apollo Hospitals for violation of rules laid down under the Cadaver Transplant Programme.

The hospital will not be provided a liver under “share one liver” programme, on rotation basis, as it had violated guidelines and norms of the programme as specified by the government through its earlier G.O.s.

Violation of G.O.

The convener of the Cadaver Transplant Programme has been directed to “withhold share one liver” on rotation basis as a “punishment” for the violation. The hospital has also been “severely reprimanded” for “violation of the Government Order” and guidelines established by it for the cadaver transplant programme. The hospital has been permitted to continue routine transplant programme.

The G.O. issued on Thursday has, however, acknowledged that the hospital had tendered an apology for violation of guidelines.

The violation pertains to transplant of a part of the liver received by Apollo Hospitals through the State Cadaver Registry for a patient from Mauritius while there was an Indian who had been waitlisted to receive the organ. As a result the Indian, who was on the priority list, died.

Following a complaint, the Health Department instituted an enquiry headed by V. Seetharaman, Head, Hepatibiliary Diseases, Christian Medical College, Vellore, and Additional Secretary of Health, Satyabrata Sahoo, in February.

The punishment was meted out because the hospital had not informed the office of the Cadaver Transplant Programme about the recipient of the organ.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 18 May 2012 17:41

Jhujar wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/indias-piramal-he ... nance.html
India's Piramal Healthcare to buy U.S. firm to boost R&D

This is the way forward if you want to become a multi-billion dollar innovative pharma MNC. The downside is that it is a risky proposition. AFAIK no Indian pharma firm has been able to launch a brand new drug so far. Ranbaxy promoters gave up after more than a decade of trying. It is not that easy.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 May 2012 08:37

Clean Hands, Stay Healthy

India is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. Along with four other countries India in 2010 accounted for half the estimated number of global deaths from eight main causes in children younger than five years. A recent study in The Lancet has revealed that half the number of global deaths caused by infections again took place in these five countries. In all, there were nearly 1.7 million estimated deaths in India that year. With nearly 400,000 deaths, pneumonia turned out to be the top killer disease, followed by diarrhoea causing more than 210,000 deaths. In fact, India is one of the five countries where most have died from two preventable infectious diseases — pneumonia and diarrhoea. Apparently, in India, pneumonia felled the most in both age groups — about 143,000 deaths in neonates (less than 28 days old) and nearly 254,000 in those aged 1-59 months. The corresponding mortality figures for diarrhoea were nearly 19,000 in neonates and 193,000 children aged 1-59 months. That no significant improvements took place during the period 2005-2010 became clear in a November 2010 Lancet study that looked at the estimated deaths in 2005 at ages 1-59 months. Half the 1.5 million deaths in 2005 were from pneumonia and diarrhoea.

These findings should come as no surprise as the main causative factors have yet to be addressed. A majority of people, especially in rural areas, do not have access to safe drinking water, and sanitation and hygiene levels are terrible. A recent UNICEF report says 638 million people, or nearly 54 per cent of the population, defecate in the open. The corresponding figure in Bangladesh and Brazil is just seven per cent. The report adds that only six per cent of rural children below five years used toilets. While Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, is determined to rid the country of open defecation by 2017, what needs to be undertaken immediately is to spread a simple yet cost-effective public health message — the importance of handwashing with soap after defecation. Unfortunately, only about half of all Indians regularly wash their hands with soap after contact with excreta. Washing hands can cut diarrhoea by over 40 per cent, and about 30 per cent of respiratory infections, including pneumonia, can be avoided. The gain is more if this practice is adopted before eating. Global Handwashing Day, endorsed by many countries, including India, was initiated in 2008 to drive home this important message. But awareness building should be a continuous process and cannot be restricted to just one day.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 May 2012 14:07

Artificial Heart Pump Helps Save Lives of Heart Attack Patients

Chennai: An artificial heart pump driven by cutting edge technology is proving handy in saving the lives of patients in near-death situations following a massive heart attack.

The Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) equipment can put a patient on artificial support for as long as a month by sustaining oxygen supply and blood circulation to the heart and other vital organs such as brain, kidney and liver even when the patient's normal heart is not beating. It gives much needed time for the vital organs to recover and function normally before a primary angioplasty can be done on patients who have had a debilitating heart attack.

The heart failure team at Fortis Malar Hospital told a press conference on Tuesday that they had used ECMO to save several lives of heart attack victims who had suffered extensive heart muscle damage and arterial blocks in the past few months. The ECMO machine prevented death and provided more time to evaluate options such as angioplasty, heart transplant or implantable artificial heart.

Doctors cited a recent case in which a 56-year-old patient was brought in a state of circulatory collapse after a massive heart attack. Until recently, doctors wouldn't have given much of a chance for the patient who had suffered extensive heart muscle damage, had low blood pressure and diabetes-triggered elevated blood glucose levels. However, the ECMO unit was mobilised within half an hour and the patient's blood circulation to the vital organs restored even though the normal heart was not beating. Subsequently, cardiologists Ravi Kumar and Madan Mohan performed an angioplasty in the Cathlab to further improve blood circulation.

Dr. K. R. Balakrishnan, chief cardiac surgeon, said massive heart attack usually had a high mortality risk even if a patient reaches a tertiary care centre alive. Besides, cardiogenic shock can occur any time after a heart attack and carries a mortality rate of 90 per cent. Even emergency angioplasty may not work in cardiogenic shock as in most cases the heart muscle does not recover fast enough to pump oxygen and blood to the vital organs.

Dr. K.G. Suresh Rao, chief of critical care, said the ECMO technology could also be used in patients with badly damaged lungs as in acute H1N1 (swine flu) infections.

Though an ECMO intervention could cost about Rs.1.50 lakh, doctors believe that its life-saving benefit far outweighs the cost.

The next step could be equipping select ambulances with the ECMO machine so that more lives would not be lost to the delays in reaching a heart attack patient to hospital, doctors said.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 28 May 2012 16:43

Americans flocking to India for stem cell therapy

http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/he ... 17168.html

A growing number of Americans are travelling to India to seek treatment for rare diseases through India`s experimental embryonic stem cell therapy, according to an investigative report.

Among them Cash Burnaman, a 6-year-old South Carolina boy, who travelled with his parents to India seeking treatment for a rare genetic condition that has left him developmentally disabled, CNN reported.

"Cash is mute. He walks with the aid of braces. To battle his incurable condition, which is so rare it doesn`t have a name, Cash has had to take an artificial growth hormone for most of his life," it said.

His divorced parents, Josh Burnaman and Stephanie Krolick, have paid tens of thousands of dollars to have Cash undergo experimental injections of human embryonic stem cells at New Delhi`s NuTech Mediworld run by Dr. Geeta Shroff, a retired obstetrician and self-taught embryonic stem cell practitioner.

Shroff first treated Cash -- who presents symptoms similar to Down Syndrome -- in 2010. "I am helping improve their quality of life," she told CNN.

After five weeks of treatment, Cash and his parents returned home to the US. That`s when Cash began walking with the aid of braces for the first time.

For four or five weeks of treatment, Shroff says she has charged her 87 American patients an average of $25,000.

But doctors cited by CNN said all that work and hope and money Cash`s supporters have funnelled into his experimental therapy likely will have no medical benefits.

"There is zero evidence for what she (Shroff ) is doing being effective," Rutgers University`s Dr. Wise Young, a leading US neuroscientist, was quoted as saying.

"It`s concerning no matter how you look at it," said CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. "Frankly it`s the complete wrong way of going about this sort of science."

A leading Indian neurosurgeon, Dr. P.N. Tandon, cited by CNN agreed there was zero medical evidence of the effectiveness of embryonic stem cell therapy like that provided at NuTech Mediworld

But inside her clinic, surrounded by patients, Shroff disagreed. "Success," she told CNN, "is defined differently by various groups of people within that therapy mode. So as of right now, almost everyone -- greater than 90 percent -- have had success."

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 01 Jun 2012 15:14

Zardari's sister in India for tips to fight polio