Here are some brief pharma news for your speedy update:
•    India's Fortis Battles Khazanah for Control of Parkway
•    HSA Signed MOU with Korea FDA
•    US FDA Disapproved Libido Drug for Women
•    HSA Hosted Pharmacovigilance Training

•    India's Fortis Battles Malaysia's Khazanah for Control of Parkway
The tussle to control the Parkway group has entered a new twist. In Edition 58 of the eBulletin, we reported India's Fortis Healthcare has gained marginal control of the group but this was fiercely contested by the other major shareholder - Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional. The latest offer by the Fortis group was a US$3.1 billion (S$4.3 billion) offer by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh’s Fortis, topping a rival offer by Khazanah. Fortis currently controls just over 25 %of Parkway, had intended to build a controlling stake in the firm before Khazanah made a surprise US$835 million partial offer in May to lift its stake to 51.5%. Both Fortis and Khazanah want to use Parkway, which runs hospitals in Singapore, Malaysia, India and China, to spearhead their regional expansion in the booming healthcare market.

•    HSA Signed MOU with Korea FDA
On 6-Jun-2010, HSA & KFDA signed an MOU at the Istana in Singapore. HSA was represented by Dr John Lim, CEO of HSA & KFDA was represented by Mr Noh Yun-hong, Commissioner of KFDA in the presence of the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, & the President South Korea, Mr Lee Myung-bak.
Both HSA & the KFDA are legislated by the respective government to protect the public health & enforce the quality, safety & efficacy of health products on the market & traded across the respective jurisdiction. This MOU formalises the bilateral exchanges & deepens the engagement through the exchange of information on regulatory information such as product approvals & recalls, provides collaborative opportunities in joint training, & on-site inspections of manufacturing facilities in relation to any safety issues. Singapore's biomedical industry is a strategic economic segment; & likewise, South Korea’s strength in biomedical research & manufacturing will ensure that both agencies continue to collaborate closely to strengthen the cross-border cooperation in today’s globalised word.
For more info, please click here .



•    US FDA Disapproved Libido Drug for Women
A sex-enhancement drug called Flibanserin , aka “the female Viagra”,  was rejected by the FDA’s Drugs Advisory Committee on 18-Jun-2010. The Committee voted 10 to 1 as they found that flibanserin, 100 mg (GirosaTM; Boehringer Ingelheim), was not significantly better than placebo for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD); they also voted unanimously that the benefits did not compensate for its adverse effects e their sex drive.
According to the pharmaceutical companies, 10 to 30 % of women are believed to suffer from HSDD.  Pharmacologically, flibanserin is an anti-depressant which affects the “pleasure centre of the brain”, while Viagra improves blood flow to the male genitals. This new drug’s side effects include insomnia, nausea and dizziness, which is something to keep in mind before you run out and buy it.

•    HSA Hosted Pharmacovigilance Training for ASEAN Regulators
The HSA recently hosted an inaugural WHO-UMC-HSA Basic Pharmacovigilance Training between 31 May to 4 June 2010. This event marks the first tailored training on pharmacovigilance developed for ASEAN health products regulators, and HSA is proud to partner the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) to jointly organise this regional event. This training was aimed at building the capabilities and knowledge on pharmacovigilance, learning from the insights and experiences of internationally-renowned experts, local clinical experts and HSA’s pharmacovigilance trainers. Most ASEAN regulatory agencies are smaller & less well-resourced compared to European & US counterparts; thus greater priority was channelled to other activities such as drug registration and quality audits instead of pharmacovigilance. Through this training, it was hoped that the regional capabilities in pharmacovigilance activities such as adverse drug reaction monitoring, could be strengthened & hopefully a network for ASEAN regulators can be set up to share their experiences or problems encountered in the area of drug safety monitoring.