Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country's leading oil and gas exploration and production company, is entering the alternative energy segment with a Rs 1,200 crore-plus (Rs 12 billion) investment to generate 200 mw of wind power for captive use, within two years.
With 40 million diabetic patients and an equal number of people estimated to be diabetic prone, India is emerging as a major market for blood glucose monitoring solutions.
In another setback to Big Pharma, US drug major Eli Lilly's blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug Cialis (generic name:Tadalafil) has failed to qualify for a product patent in India after the basic constituent of the medicine was found to be a known substance, developed and patented by Indian scientists 32 years ago.
With 1,610 cases of detention of food and medicine consignments at various US ports of entry during the last 11 months, the products of Indian origin received the second largest number of import refusal reports (IRRs).
Interestingly, the European Patent Office is yet to grant a patent for Maraviroc, citing insufficient data, sources said. These were the main reasons cited by the Indian Patent Office for rejecting the patent for the cancer drug Gleevec, which snowballed into a global patent battle between the Swiss drug major Novartis and the Indian government.
Pharma makers 'making a mockery' of price control, they say.
Suzlon Energy, one of the top five wind energy manufacturers in the world, plans to raise $500 million (Rs 2,000 crore) through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) route to fund its expansion plans.
The drug regulatory agencies of India and Canada are planning to collaborate on improving the quality of drugs traded between the two countries, besides helping the industry in both the countries to tap the opportunities in the field of generic medicines and drug development.
The Indian pharmaceutical companies are involved in patent litigations of a mere 40 drugs, out of the 135 known patent litigation drugs in the US. This is despite the claims by major Indian players such as Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's at having secured over 20 first to file status abbreviated new drug applications with the US Food and Drug Administration.
The company is demerging its new chemical entity research unit into a separate company to meet the demands of increased spend on research and development, and to insulate investors from the risks involved. According to the deal signed with Merck, NPIL will discover and develop new drugs for two selected targets provided by Merck in the area of cancer.
Generic drug sales in the US, that power the business of such leading Indian drug manufacturers as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Lupin and Zydus Cadila, will face competition soon, as big US wholesalers decide to outsource their requirements from upcoming Indian manufacturers.
Continuous investment in capacity expansion, slow pick-up of medical tourism, increasing competition among corporate healthcare entities and lack of health insurance are thus driving away small players and attracting deep-pocketed corporate entities that can afford to sustain on a long-term basis.
NPIL had announced that it would team up with the French company to develop a drug for the epidemic about six months ago, following the spread of the disease, mainly in southern India and Maharashtra in the last two years. Currently, drugs are not available to effectively treat the disease and doctors in the country administer viral disease drugs such as paracetamol and other anti-biotics to check the infection.
Andhra Pradesh is to house the country's first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The first phase of the project, meant to house about 60 SME pharmaceutical manufacturing units in 200 acres of land is to be ready by mid-2008.
India's largest biotechnology company Biocon is planning to tap the potential of biosimilars (generics or copycat versions of biotech drugs going off patent) in the regulated markets of the US and Europe, besides taking Insugen, its own version of insulin, to the global markets in a big way.
Sixty firms' business worth Rs 1,000 crore at stake.
The company recorded a net profit of Rs 426.9 crore (Rs 4.26 billion) in the first nine months against Rs 366.5 crore (Rs 3.66 billion) for the same period in 2006. With another quarter to go, the company expects profits close to Rs 739.3 crore (Rs 7.39 billion).
Of the top-10 global biotech companies, the biggest two -- Amgen and Biogen -- have already set up wholly owned subsidiaries in the country.
India is the fourth largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical products in the world and the 12th largest in value terms. India could emerge as the second largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), next to China, within two to five years, overtaking Italy, according to various estimates.
The medicines whose prices have been reduced belong to therapeutic categories, like dexametozone, betamethazone, ampicillin and ranitidine. The prices of some multi-vitamins and antibiotics would rise a bit.
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