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| Wockhardt, Sheffield Bio-Science form alliance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy :BioSpectrum Feb 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singapore, Feb 23, 2011: Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt has entered into a strategic global alliance with Sheffield Bio-Science, a Kerry Group Business from the USA. Under this partnership, Sheffield Bio-Sciences will have exclusive sales and distribution rights to supply recombinant insulin to the Cell Culture Markets worldwide. According to estimates, the potential in cell culture markets is around USD 50 million. Speaking about this landmark alliance, Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt Group stated, “This partnership is a reaffirmation of Wockhardt’s biotechnology research prowess and a confluence of innovative novel technology now being offered to global cell culture markets”. Sheffield’s Director of Global Business Development, Hans Huttinga stated, “We are looking forward to developing a strong and lasting partnership between our organisations.” As a part of the alliance over a period of time, Wockhardt shall develop and supply Animal Component Free (ACF) recombinant insulin for the distribution in the cell culture markets. Wockhardt was the first in Asia and only the fourth company in the world to have developed, manufactured and marketed Wosulin, recombinant insulin injectables. Wockhardt’s state-of-the-art Biotech Park in Aurangabad has six dedicated manufacturing facilities and was inaugurated by the then President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. “This strategic alliance marks another step in our continued investment to strengthen our cell culture media supplement portfolio”, said Edmond Scanlon, President of Sheffield Bio-Science. |
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| Indian healthcare market to grow 14% during 2010-13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy :BioSpectrum Feb 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singapore, Feb 28, 2011: According to a new report ''Indian Healthcare - New Avenues for Growth'' by industry analyst RNCOS, the healthcare industry in India has been witnessing a robust double-digit growth rate for the past few years. Factors, such as growing population, significant private sector investments, and government support in the form of significant spending have boosted the Indian healthcare market to reach $ 69 billion in 2010. It is estimated that the industry will witness a good growth rate pattern in near future mainly due to the fact that, health insurance penetration is increasing and people are more aware about their health needs. The market is likely to grow at the CAGR of 14 percent during 2010-2013 to reach $ 103 billion. The report has found that the pharmaceutical outsourcing, health insurance, and medical tourism are the sectors that will drive Indian healthcare market in future. Due to the availability of world-class healthcare infrastructure and skilled professionals, the number of patients visiting India has been increasing for the past few years. It is expected that by 2013, around 1,299,000 medical tourists will visit India, bringing in revenue worth nearly $ 3024 million. Other industry segments, such as medical equipments, e-health, and healthcare services among others are also showing good performance. Though the market for e-health in India is small, there is a large untapped potential. Market players have recognized the opportunity and therefore, they are braining innovative technologies to strengthen medical infrastructure and service. Hospital services also constitute an important part of the overall industry and a significant rise in household spending on healthcare is likely to boost this segment. |
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Pfizer teams up with brewmaster Kiran for $14-bn insulin market |
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| Courtesy: Financial Express, Feb 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw learned the intricacies of enzymes while studying how to make beer. Now Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, is tapping that knowledge to revive its insulin business. Biocon, the biotechnology company that Mazumdar-Shaw started in her garage in 1978 for about $1,200, is Asia’s biggest insulin maker, with a market value of about $1.43 billion. The Bangalore-based group signed a deal in October to supply Pfizer with four generic insulin products in emerging markets, including India and Brazil, and then the US and other developed nations. Biocon received $200 million upfront from New York-based Pfizer, which is re-entering the $14 billion global insulin market almost four years after it scrapped its Exubera inhaler. India’s biggest drug-supply deal will help meet global demand forecast by market researcher RNCOS to expand 20% a year through 2015 as the number of diabetics tops 285 million. “This is a perfect match,” said Ranjit Kapadia, vice-president of institutional research at HDFC Securities in Mumbai. “This deal will open up many more avenues for Biocon. Pfizer gets a low-cost manufacturing base, and they just have to market the products.” Pfizer is set to start selling Biocon’s insulin under its own brand in the second half of this year, according to the US company. Biocon, India’s biggest biotechnology firm, posted a 25% gain in third-quarter profit to $22 million as sales for the period ending December 31 rose 15%. The company’s stock soared about 52% last year, beating the 34% increase in the Bombay Stock Exchange’s 18-member Healthcare index. Biocon shares are down 23% this year as the benchmark Sensex has lost 11% on concerns government measures to quell inflation will hamper economic growth. Some of Biocon’s domestic products are subject to state price controls. It had 4% of India’s $168 million insulin market last year, according to IMS Health Information and Consulting Services India in Mumbai. The Pfizer deal may boost that to 10% by value by 2015, said Priti Arora, a pharmaceutical analyst at Kotak Securities in Mumbai. Biocon’s best-selling drugs are statins to reduce cholesterol. It also makes drugs for heart disease and cancer, with most of its revenue coming from generics. “Insulin will become their biggest revenue generator after this deal,” said Siddhant Khandekar, a pharmaceutical analyst at ICICIdirect in Mumbai. Biocon, which employs more than 5,300 people, makes insulin in its factory, Asia’s largest, in Bangalore. Mazumdar-Shaw and family members control 61% of the company, according to stock exchange filings, and she is India’s fourth-richest woman with a net worth of $900 million, Forbes magazine reported in September. Mazumdar-Shaw, 57, found her inspiration for starting Biocon in beer. Her father was a brewmaster at India’s United Breweries and crafted Kingfisher, the nation’s No. 1 beer. After graduating from Bangalore University with a zoology degree, Mazumdar-Shaw told her father she wanted to pursue a career in applied sciences. He suggested making beer. “I said, my God, why would I want to do brewing?” she said. “He said, ‘Don’t look down on brewing. Look at it as a science.’” She moved to Australia in 1974 and enrolled in what is now the University of Ballarat, outside Melbourne, to study malting and brewing. She was a trainee brewer at Carlton & United Beverages, which eventually became part of Foster’s Group. Mazumdar-Shaw didn’t drink alcohol before going to Australia, and she was the only woman in the class. She graduated in 1975 as the top student and became India’s first female brewmaster. “Going to Australia was quite a transformational phase of my life,” she said. “I’d led a very protected and charmed life in India, and suddenly I had to fend for myself.” When she returned home, breweries wouldn’t hire her because they feared she couldn’t handle the odd shifts and male- dominated workers’ unions, she said. Mazumdar-Shaw then met Les Auchincloss of enzyme-maker Biocon Biochemicals of Ireland, and he asked her to help him start an India subsidiary supplying brewers, packaged-food companies and fruit-juice makers. She incorporated Biocon India on Nov. 29, 1978, in her garage in Bangalore and used a rented, 3,000-square-foot shed nearby as her factory. Her first employee was a car mechanic. “It was like a kitchen-sink operation,” she said. “I had a real problem getting people to work for me because I was a woman.” The next year, Biocon started exporting enzymes to the US and Europe, according to its website. Mazumdar-Shaw then realized that the same processes that make enzymes for beer could be applied to making medicines. Insulin, a hormone, can be made synthetically in a similar process. |
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| Blockbusters set to witness new order | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy: Times of India : November 26, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The global pecking order of blockbusters may soon be heading for a major upheaval with biotech drugs toppling the present market leaders, Pfizer's lipitor and Sanofi's Plavix-—both chemical entities. With the emerging trend of biotech drugs cornering the top slots as against chemical entities, domestic pharma companies are now trying to cash in on the $60-billion-plus opportunity. While some companies such as Dr Reddy's, and Biocon have fast-tracked their research in biosimilars (off-patent biotech drugs), others like Cipla have tied up with Chinese companies to make a foray in the highly complex but fast-growing segment. |
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| Govt plans 50 centres of excellence for science & tech | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy: The Economic Times: January 17, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Delhi: The government plans to establish 50 centres of excellence in frontier areas of science and technology in the next six years. "These emerging areas are taught in very few institutions. This is the most comprehensive attempt at creating centres of high learning in science and technology," an official of the human resource ministry said. These centres will work in biotechnology , bio-informatics, nano-materials and nano-technologies, mechatronics and high performance computing, among others. An expert committee headed by scientist C N R Rao has shortlisted 35 proposals from 30 institutions and 15 will be added later. They will be located in campuses of existing institutions, both government and private, and will have complete autonomy. The centres will conduct courses at post-graduate/PhD/post-doctoral levels. They will also run short-term training programmes including summer and winter schools. There will be separate courses to enhance the competence level of teachers and post-graduate students. The panel applied rigorous tools and global parameters to identify research potential and past performance of institutions that submitted proposals. The selected proposals are in two categories — A+ and A — based on technical merit. It graded 15 proposals as A+ and 20 as A. Institutions were selected on the basis of number of PhDs and post-graduate students in the last five years, number of publications in the last five years and profile of the leader of the group that submitted the proposal. A provision of Rs 150 crore has been made in the 11th Five-Year Plan, which runs till March 31, 2012. Scientists and teachers will be asked to join these centres on contract basis at higher salaries. Other frontier areas identified include engineering/industrial design, chaos, complexity and self-organising systems, professional/business/technical/engineering ethics, consciousness studies, communication, creativity and innovation. |
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| Sun Pharma gets FDA approval for generic Alzheimer drug | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy :BioSpectrum Feb 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singapore, Feb 4, 2011: Indian drug major Sun Pharmaceutical announced that USFDA has granted its subsidiary an approval for an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market a generic version of Razadyne ER, galantamine hydrobromide extended-release capsules. These generic galantamine hydrobromide extended-release capsules, 8 mg (base), 16 mg (base) and 24 mg (base) are indicated in the treatment of mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Razadyne ER has annual sale of approximately $ 50 million in the US. |
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| QPS acquires majority stake in Indian CRO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy :BioSpectrum Feb 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singapore, Feb 3, 2011: US-based contract research organization QPS has acquired a majority stake in Bioserve Clinical Research. Bioserve, a full service phase 1 CRO headquartered in Hyderabad, India, will be known as QPS-Bioserve India. QPS is a global CRO supporting drug discovery and development since 1995. Its five areas of expertise include: Preclinical DMPK/Tox, Bioanalytical, Translational Medicine, Early Stage Clinical and Late Stage Clinical Research. Bioserve is an ISO 9001:2008 certified organization providing world-class clinical research services to sponsors across the globe. Its infrastructure includes a 92-bed clinical unit for conducting phase I studies and a bioanalytical lab equipped with multiple LC/MS/MS systems for small molecule bioanalysis. Over the past 6 years, it has conducted over 500 studies, with numerous product approvals, and has been inspected by the USFDA, UK MHRA, WHO and Indian DCGI. "This new partnership further expands QPS' global range of linearly integrated services," said Dr Ben Chien, PhD, chairman, president and CEO of QPS. "With access to Bioserve's additional resources, our customers will have the heightened benefits of a third more phase I beds, bringing our total to 400; greater bioanalytical capacity; and access to another facility, located in India, with a reputation for outstanding performance and a record of timely approvals. Furthermore, current customers will be reassured to learn that Mr. Suneil Reddy will remain as managing director." The company has been growing at a rate of over 50 percent per year, with a current team of over 100 employees. Clients include large Indian as well as Multinational pharmaceutical firms. Bioserve's promoters - the founders of Vijaya Diagnostic Centre, one of the largest diagnostic health care companies in India - bring a wealth of 30 years experience in the healthcare and clinical domain, combined with a passion for quality. |
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| Gates Foundation to fund two cos for vaccine research | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Courtesy : Economics Times, 25th March 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will fund two Indian firms- Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech- to develop and sell vaccines for pneumonia and diarrhea that kills thousands of children every year, at less than half the current market price. "The foundation will fund part of the cost for the clinical trials," Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman and MD of Serum Institute of India told ET. He did not say how much money the foundation will contribute but it costs about $10-20 million and $20-30 million to conduct clinical studies for pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccine, respectively. Both Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech are privately held local firms and will separately develop their vaccines. Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and co-founder of IT giant Microsoft, said on Thursday in a media briefing, "We are giving grants to Bharat Biotech for a new rotavirus vaccine." According to estimates, nearly six lakh children die of rotavirus that causes diarrhea among infants each year globally. The philanthropic organisation will fund as much as $30 million in the phase III trials for rotavirus vaccine that will allow firms like Serum to offer the vaccine 'at the best possible price'. Gates did not say how much of this money will be separately granted to the two Indian vaccine makers. Krishna Ella, managing director of Bharat Biotech, said it has already started phase III trials of the rotavirus vaccine being developed from an indigenously discovered human strain. He declined to share details. While both the local firms will work on developing cost rotavirus vaccines , Serum will also be involved in the vaccine for pneumonia. Under the agreement with Serum, the country's largest vaccine maker will set up the manufacturing plant on its own and supply the two vaccines globally at an affordable price. The company plans to launch the drug in three years at less than half the prices of exiting brands marketed by American drugmaker Merck & Co and UK-based GlaxoSmithKline sell rotavirus vaccines. Some reports say existing drugs cost about $200-250 per dosage in North America. "We will have a capacity of 80-100 million dosage for each vaccine," said Serum Institute's Poonawalla. The Pune-based firm has been supplying other vaccines for diseases such as menangitis besides pentavalent vaccines at just about one-fourth the price of its competitors, he said. The vaccines will be supplied to international procuring and supply agencies such as the UNICEF. These sourcing agencies can buy a larger number of such low cost vaccines with the same money and thus supply more dosages for underpriviledged children in other needy countries. Bill Gates said India will be a source of lot of important innovations because it has great scientists and universities with understanding of the local needs. The Foundation plans to work with partners in India at basic research level, drug and vaccine development, manufacture of drugs and vaccines to leverage its low-cost capabilities. |
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