Pharmaceuticals major Mankind Pharma reported a 21 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in net profit, with revenue rising by 12 per cent Y-o-Y in the second quarter of the financial year 2024 (Q2FY24) in a regulatory filing lrecently.
As the triangular political contest in Telangana intensifies, many believe that for the regional major BRS, it is a battle for survival after being routed in the assembly polls held late last year. What is haunting the party this time is the scams, the 10-year anti-incumbency factor, and family dominance in the party.
rediffGURU Mayank Chandel offers advice to students interested in a careers in science or engineering after class 10 and 12.
The government should take measures to promote innovation and R&D while simplifying regulations for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, as per pharmaceutical industry bodies. Outlining the wish list for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary general Sudarshan Jain said the domestic pharma industry is currently around $50 billion in size and aspires to grow to around $130 billion by 2030 and $450 billion by 2047. "To achieve this vision, the Union Budget 2023-2024 should help fuel innovation and R&D, which will set the pace for propelling the pharmaceutical industry forward," he told PTI.
A notification of the revised Schedule M rules by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has elicited mixed responses from the pharma sector and industry observers. While the industry has welcomed the revision of rules, several analysts said that implementation and compliance can become a challenge for smaller pharmaceutical companies. The Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules specifies the good manufacturing practices (GMPs), which aim to ensure quality of drugs made in the country.
India's exports to Iran have been falling over the last one year, amid decline in rupee reserves of the West Asian economy. Going ahead, the possibility of augmenting exports to Iran may not be easy for India, considering the geopolitical tensions - Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts - and the West Asian country's support for Russia and Hamas, people aware of the matter said. Exports to Iran saw a downward spiral since November last year.
Drug major Sun Pharma is recalling over 34,000 bottles of a generic medication, used to treat high blood pressure, in the US market due to failed dissolution testing. As per the US Food and Drug Administration's Enforcement Report, the US-based arm of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is recalling lots of Diltiazem Hydrochloride extended-release capsules which are used to treat angina, high blood pressure and some types of irregular heartbeats.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
The pharmaceutical and the consumer durables sectors, which depend on China for imports, have not been impacted yet due to unrest in China with people protesting against lockdowns. But the lockdown could have an impact on the supply of components used in consumer durables if it continues for the next fortnight. In the pharmaceutical industry, Indian players import 66-70 per cent of their bulk drug requirements from China.
Actor Poonam Pandey is not being considered as the brand ambassador of the government's national campaign to spread awareness on cervical cancer, Union health ministry officials said on Wednesday.
Serious AESI, which included stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome, were reported in one per cent of individuals, the study, which looked at long-term safety of the BBV152 vaccine in adolescents and adults, claimed.
Of the Rs 1.97 trillion that the government intends to spend on all 14 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, around Rs 41,000 crore remains unutilised as of now, according to a senior government official. This means that 80 per cent of the total allocated amount, or Rs 1.56 trillion, will be used to pay incentives to companies eligible to claim benefits over the next few years. The unutilised amount/savings result from undersubscription, lukewarm responses in the case of schemes such as textile, as well as a reduction in the allocation of schemes.
In a big push to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, the government has nearly doubled (increase of 81 per cent) the allocation in five key industry segments from Rs 8,405 crore in the Revised Estimate of FY24 to Rs 15,198 crore in the Interim Budget for FY25. The segments cover over eight PLI schemes, including mobile phones, IT hardware, pharma (PLIs for medical devices, intermediates and pharmaceuticals), food processing, telecom hardware and, auto and auto components. In FY24, DPIIT officials, however, said that the disbursements would be much higher at around Rs 11,000 crore than what has been budgeted for the year.
Global capability centres (GCCs) are increasingly looking to tap into revenue opportunities from the Indian market, which is already a critical talent hub. While capturing the potential of the Indian market has been in the works over the past few years, it's only of late that companies are gaining momentum. India is home to more than 1,580 GCCs, with a total market size of $46 billion and growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4 per cent, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report.
Drug sale volumes are almost stuck at pre-pandemic levels but price growth has improved value, data from market research agency Pharmarack AWACS showed. The Indian pharmaceutical market's (IPM) volumes in April 2023 grew by 0.21 per cent when compared to April 2019. Key therapy areas like cardiac, anti-diabetic and vitamins recorded negative volume or consumption growth, while respiratory, anti-infectives, and pain and analgesics had positive growth from April 2019 to April this year.
Reinvent and innovate will be the key mantra for the Indian pharma industry in the New Year as the 'pharmacy of the world' looks to move from volume to value leadership, amid emerging challenges of inflation and pricing pressures in the global markets. While R&D investment, market competitiveness, regulatory scrutiny, and domestic price regulations are expected to shape the growth of generics and injectable products, concerns such as price control and customs duties on medical equipment will continue to bother the healthcare industry in 2023. The industry believes that in view of India's G20 Presidency, digital health innovation, achieving universal health coverage, improving healthcare infrastructure and delivery will continue to be the key driving factors in 2023.
It may be Doktor Mom in Russia, or Farex in India.
'Midcap and smallcap indices are trading in the expensive zone.'
The index is currently trading at 149 per cent of its historical P/B valuation, surpassing its previous peak of 125 per cent made in 2020-21.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Pirojsha Godrej, 43, patriarch Adi Godrej's son, is set to take over as chairman of the Godrej Industries Group from 2026 whol Nyrika Holkar, Smita Godrej Crishna's 42-year-old daughter, has emerged as the face of the Godrej Enterprises Group.
'There is not any negative connotation associated with it.'
Corporate India is starting to step up its capital expenditure plans amid government incentives and signs of rising demand, company executives and analysts have indicated. This coincides with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently citing a double-digit growth in private capital expenditure. Healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, along with increasing capacity utilisation and improving business sentiment, are contributing to a favourable environment for sustained growth in private sector investments, the RBI said in its policy last week.
The US health regulator has pulled up drug major Sun Pharma for manufacturing lapses, including failure to follow appropriate written procedures designed to prevent microbiological contamination of drug products, at its Gujarat-based plant. In a warning letter, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) pointed out various lapses at the Halol plant which produces finished pharmaceutical products. "This warning letter summarises significant violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for finished pharmaceuticals... Because your methods, facilities, or controls for manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding do not conform to CGMP, your drug products are adulterated," the USFDA stated.
Hospitals to recover from sluggish Q3; diagnostics' growth rate at pre-Covid levels.
After the first quarter was washed out, exporters are now keeping their fingers crossed over a turnaround in outbound shipments to at least North America from September onwards. This comes even as other key destinations such as Europe may take longer to revive in FY24. Slowdown in key economies, as well as geopolitical tensions resulted in sluggish demand for Indian goods.
In an exclusive interview with PTI video, the minister also said an extensive risk-based analysis is done continuously to ensure the production of quality medicines in the country, and the government and regulators are always alert to ensure that no one dies due to spurious medicines.
In the letter, Somani said the samples of four made-in-India cough syrups linked to the deaths of 66 children in Gambia which were tested in government laboratory here were found to be complying with specifications and not to have been contaminated with DEG or EG according to the test reports.
The government has decided to hold off introducing the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for additional sectors until it verifies the efficacy of existing initiatives. Top government officials have received mixed feedback on the scheme, including insights from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, people aware of the matter said. "There are no new PLI schemes in the offing.
The mutual fund (MF) industry had an action-packed 2023 as it tackled the scrapping of tax benefits for debt fund investors and surging flows into equity funds.
After a sharp fall in the share prices of HDFC Bank and other private sector lenders in the past three days, the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector weighting in the Nifty50 has slipped to a seven-year low of 32.03 per cent, down from nearly 36.6 per cent at the end of March 2023 and 34.5 per cent at the end of December 2023.
Six decades and more later, we are now captives of our identities. Every poll is based on elaborate calculations of electability of candidates on the basis of their castes and other narrow definers. That, along with voter promiscuity, is what defines our political culture, which remains stubbornly resistant to any change, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
US-based retail giant Walmart is looking to source toys, shoes and bicycles from Indian suppliers as the company is targeting to increase its exports from India to USD 10 billion annually by 2027. The company also wants to develop new suppliers in categories such as food, pharmaceuticals, consumables, health and wellness, and apparel and home textiles, a company spokesperson told PTI. Officials from the Bentonville-headquartered firm recently held a virtual meeting with several domestic toy manufacturers in India.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Tuesday said it has acquired the approved generic versions of certain over-the-counter drugs from Wockhardt Ltd in the US. The acquisition by the company's fully-owned subsidiary Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA includes the approved abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) for famotidine tablets, 10 mg and 20 mg used to treat and prevent ulcers in the stomach and intestine, the company said in a statement. The company, however, did not disclose the financial details.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been linked to the recent surge in respiratory ailments among children in China.
The process of discovering and developing a new drug can take decades and costs hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. However, technological advances like artificial intelligence can help speed up and transform the time-consuming and labor-intensive exercise. In India, Peptris Technologies, a Bangalore-based AI drug discovery company, has announced $1 million in pre-seed round investment led by Speciale Invest.
'Whichever company offers better incentives, the chemist would prefer it.'
rediffGURU Mayank Kumar offers guidance about degree courses, campus, job-linked and executive programmes and studying abroad.
