In a victory for Indian drug companies, patent protection has been refused to Tenofovir, an anti-AIDS medicine of the US-based Gilead Sciences. The decision was taken by the patent office in New Delhi.
"They are extending support as they feel that this is the time we must help India. 'India has helped us and we must help India'. So I do not think we are looking at it in policy terms," the foreign secretary said.
The Hyderabad-based firm will first make the drug available in high case load areas of Maharashtra and Delhi under the brand Covifor. A single dose vial is likely to cost Rs 5,000-6000.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been ranked as the world's best performing CEO.
A longer shelf life is critical, given many makers have started manufacturing vaccines and stockpiling them, so as to make them available in the market immediately after approval, reports Sohini Das.
The reason for the windfall: the soaring value of their stock awards.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 13 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, TCS, Kotak Bank and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Nestle India, HUL, Tech Mahindra and Sun Pharma ended in the red. NSE Nifty zoomed 273.95 points, or 3.03 per cent, to finish at 9,266.75.
'Without vaccine, Tokyo Olympics in 2021 is difficult'
Atwood's The Testaments and Evaristo's novel Girl, Woman, Other earned each author an equal share of the 50,000 prize.
The vaccine would be first made available to the vulnerable population and eventually, it would be available in the private market for all.
Not to say that India couldn't have handled the situation better, but on average, it didn't do anywhere near as badly as the naysayers make it out argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
