Rathod, an IP professional attached to a global generic pharmaceutical company, draws hundreds of readers from across the IP space to his genericpharmaceuticals.blogspot.com.
Even as a lack of clarity in regulations is preventing Indian medical device manufacturers from making their presence felt in the $2 billion domestic medical equipment market, foreign players, mostly from the United States, are increasingly finding the country a preferred destination.
Days after medical representatives said their employers were flouting the government's drug-pricing norms, the pharmaceutical industry has decided to clip their wings. These companies want them to be no longer recognised as "workmen," a classification that gives them the right to form trade unions.
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.
The central government is likely to extend the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme beyond 2009 only to Indian information technology-enabled services/business process outsourcing (ITeS/BPO) firms. A proposal to this effect has been included in the 11th Five-Year Plan document, which will be put up for the approval of the National Development Council, headed by the prime minister, on December 19.
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).
After passing of the Competition Act, 2007, in September, Minister of Corporate Affairs Prem Chand Gupta had announced that the CCI would be fully functional by the middle of next year.
Pharma makers 'making a mockery' of price control, they say.
Prices of cotton have already gone up by 10-20 per cent per candy (356 kg) this year to Rs 16,000-Rs 23,000 depending on the variety. There has been a softening in the past few weeks but the prices are expected to firm up again as demand grows.
The industry is seriously concerned that the new Competition Act, passed by Parliament in September but not yet fully notified, could impact local and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and curtail business activities by placing substantial discretionary powers in the hands of the thinly-staffed Competition Commission of India (CCI).
This will be a measure to provide start-up entrepreneurs and professionals the much-needed flexibility in setting up a business in India.
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.
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.
With the export market losing its sheen, a growing number of apparel exporters are drawing up strategies to sell their wares in the domestic market. Analysts said that the higher local demand for branded apparel was because of rising purchasing power of consumers who were now spending 6-7 per cent of their disposable income on ready-made garments. The surge in consumer spending has resulted in a 20 per cent growth in demand for international apparel.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns the Amul brand, is all set to introduce sugar-free chocolates across the country, targeted at diabetics. This comes soon after the company had launched sugar-free ice-cream. India has become the diabetes capital of the world with almost 35 million people suffering from the disorder. And their population will continue to grow at a fast pace, say experts, because of Indian dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle.
Companies based at Gurgaon are sending workers on 45 days' leave without pay before the festival, while those in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, have not renewed the contracts of over 8,000 workers. All expansion plans have been put on hold and orders for new machinery are being revoked.
The government is planning to codify class action as law. A clause to this effect has been included in the new Company Law Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the coming winter session of Parliament.
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.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances