Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc is the owner of the Eszopiclone drug.
'Gift-giving' - from free dinners and drug samples to promotional merchandise - seems to be driving drugmakers' marketing - a marketing prescription deeply entrenched in the industry. This is a well-oiled racket that sees pharmaceutical (pharma) companies 'gifting' doctors to push their respective drugs under the guise of marketing. But is there a cure in sight to end this unhealthy alliance? The recent controversy following the income-tax raids on Bengaluru-based drugmaker Micro Labs, makers of popular paracetamol brand Dolo-650, has brought this to the fore, again.
The finance ministry on Tuesday issued a clarification on the issue of excise on drugs and medicines based on the retail price.
Indian medicine accounted for over 50 per cent of all drug seizures in Europe for intellectual property rights violation last year. Industry experts said this indicates the seriousness of the problem. This data was revealed in the recently-released 2009 report of the European Union on the customs enforcement activities of its member states.
With a view to preventing more of Rofecoxib-like episodes, experts have suggested that drug companies should disclose all the data on the adverse side effects before the drug is licensed.
Eight commonly prescribed anti-cancer drugs will soon enter India's National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
Drug firm Strides Acrolab on Tuesday said it is in a position to supply Oseltamivir Capsules, the only available medicine against Influenza A HINI virus (Swine Flu), to meet the demand both from domestic and overseas market.
Ranbaxy Laboratories is recalling 29,790 blister packs of anti-allergy drug in the US, manufactured by its arm Ohms Laboratories, due to defective packaging.
If there is one lesson we get from Depp vs Heard, it is that the American legal system is deeply flawed and the court of public opinion and social media make it harder for victims to get justice, observes Aseem Chhabra.
Court rejects bid to introduce a linkage between regulatory approval of a medicine and its patent status.
With 62 filings, domestic pharma companies have filed the maximum number of drug master filings with the US Food and Drug Administration in the July-September 2006 quarter.
For the poorest 20 per cent of Indians, the expenditure on medicines alone is 85 per cent of what they spend on their health, according to the National Sample Survey.
If it gets the USFDA nod, the sales would help to pull the company out of the red.
Leading drug firms Aurobindo Pharma, Sun Pharma and Jubilant are recalling different products in the US market for various reasons, as per the latest enforcement report by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). While Aurobindo Pharma is recalling Cyanocobalamin Injection, which is used to treat and prevent lack of vitamin B12, Mumbai-based Sun Pharma is recalling a drug used to increase the production of natural tears in eyes. Similarly, Jubilant Cadista is recalling a drug which is used to treat different inflammatory conditions.
A day after getting a show-cause notice from the Indian regulator, senior executives from Ranbaxy Laboratories approached the drug controller's office on Tuesday afternoon, it was learnt.
Leading Indian drug majors, such as Ranbaxy Laboratories, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Piramal Healthcare and Wockhardt, are in-licensing popular products from overseas drug makers to boost their domestic sales.
"We have launched Oseltamivir brand, called Antiflu, which is the only flu medicine from India to be prequalified by World Health Organisation," Cipla's Chairman and Managing Director, Y K Hamied said.
Prices of various leading drug brands will come down by up to 80 per cent thanks to the newly-approved National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy but at the same time it will hurt investment sentiments in the country's pharmaceutical sector, according to industry bodies.
To be called Central Drug Administration or National Drug Authority, it will have 10 sub-authorities to deal with areas like cosmetics, blood safety, medical equipment, etc.
An Indian Biotech Company that is testing a novel anti-cancer drug on patients in Bangalore says it is not alarmed by the London trial where the use of a similar class of drug led to disastrous results.
The move comes in the backdrop of the failure of the health ministry's World Bank-sponsored National Pharmacovigilance Programme to generate sufficient ADRs from select medical colleges. The central government also intends to provide financial support to institutions to run such monitoring centres. The health ministry has asked the finance ministry to introduce a budgetary head specifically for ADR monitoring, to ensure sustained government funds for the project.
Exports contracted by 2.6 per cent to $34.47 billion in September even as the country's merchandise trade deficit narrows to $19.37 billion during the month under review, according to the government data released on Friday. Easing commodity prices helped in cutting down the country's import bill by 15 per cent to $53.84 billion in September, the 10th consecutive month of decline. During April-September this fiscal, exports contracted by 8.77 per cent to $211.4 billion.
These brands belong to about 320 drugs of leading Indian pharmaceutical companies. The Drug Controller General of India's (DCGI's) office feels that these have been launched without its approval.
Novartis's famed cancer drug, Glivec, will not get patent protection in India. The apex body on patent and trademark disputes, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), has ruled that the drug "lacks innovation" and the high price tag of Rs 120,000 per month per patient would be too high for the common man.
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Global pharmaceutical firms have had a series of patent disputes with Indian makers of generic drugs and several recent Indian rulings have gone against the international giants.
A segment of drug companies such as tablet and capsule makers may benefit from the government's move to review polluting status of these companies, which may help them save costs on pollution control equipment.
After establishing its dominance in the export of bulk drugs (raw materials for medicine production) to India, the Chinese drug industry is exploring ways to enter the final frontier in drug production - the finished goods or formulation business - in the country.
Ranbaxy Laboratories has received US Food and Drug Authority approval for Benazepril Hydrochloride, a high blood pressure drug.
The US subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceuticals, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, has received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration.
The company has received final approval for its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Antara (Fenofibrate) capsules in 30 mg and 90 mg strengths from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Lupin Ltd said in a statement.
Cadila Healthcare Ltd said on Thursday, said German Remedies, a part of the Zydus Group, has launched Fludara Oral (Fludarabine) in the Indian market for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
The Union Budget has proposed to extend concessional basic customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from excise/countervailing duty to six specified life-saving drugs and vaccines, even as the stress has been laid on vaccine security.
