Here are some brief pharma news for your quick update:

 •    India's Fortis Healthcare is now Parkway Holdings Biggest Shareholder
 •    Ecuador Invokes 1st Compulsory Licence  for HIV/AIDS Drug
 •    The World Expected to Spend US$1.1trillion on Drugs by 2014

 •    India's Fortis Healthcare is now Parkway Holdings Biggest Shareholder
India's Fortis Healthcare has made the largest overseas deal by acquiring 23.32% "strategic" stake in Singapore-based  Parkway Holdings from TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group) for an estimated US$685.3 million.

With this stake, Fortis Healthcare chairman Malvinder M Singh (the ex-boss of the Indian generic giant which was sold to Daichi in 2008) will be the chairman of the Pakrway Holdings, and will appoint four directors on the board; realizing full management control of this major private healthcare provider in Singapore, Malaysia & the Asian region.  

Parkway, one of Asia's premium healthcare provider (with brands like Mt. Elizabeth, Gleneagles etc) is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, and has a market capitalisation of US$2.4 billion. It has a network of 16 hospitals having 3,400 beds spread over six countries, including India. The company has earned a profit of $82 million on a turnover of $700 million in 2009. Fortis will be the largest shareholder in Parkway, with a stake slightly higher than the 23.32% held by Malaysian state fund, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, according to Parkway's website. For Fortis Healthcare, this comes close on the heels of Rs 900-crore acquisition of Wockhardt hospital. The deal will enable Fortis to establish a pan-Asian presence increasing its network to 62 hospitals with combined bed strength of over 10,000 beds. This will also impart it with a strategically meaningful position in Singapore, Malaysia and India.






 •    Ecuador Invokes 1st Compulsory Licence  for HIV/AIDS Drug
In April, Ecuador granted its first compulsory licence for a patented pharmaceutical since declaring last year that it would utilise this provision undrer TRIPS.
According to the Ecuadorean intellectual property office (IEPI), the compulsory licence was granted to antiretrovius drug – ritonavir -  from an Indian generic maker Cipla on 14 April. The patent owner of the innovator ritonavir is Abbott Laboratories, a US pharmaceutical manufacturer. The local distributor for the generic drug will pay royalties to Abbott for using the licence under the term of the compulsory licence. This is in accordance with the TRIPS agreement, Article 31(h). , Eskegroup will pay royalties to Abbott Laboratories, according to the compulsory licence document.
 





•    The World Expected to Spend US$1.1trillion on Drugs by 2014
In the latest report by IMS Health, the global pharma market will continue with grow about 5-8% annually to 2014, when it will be worth $1.1 trillion.
With more and more patented drugs retiring their patent protection (it's estimated in the coming 5 years, more than US$142 billion worth of patented drugs sales are expected to face generic competition), the double-digit growth which were common sights in the 1980s has faded into distant memories. IMS Health said the size of the global pharma market f is expected to expand in the region of 5-8% for the next 5 years or about US$300 billion in value terms, driven mostly by the rapid expansions due to improved accessibility of drugs in the "pharmerging countries" like the BRIC (Brazil, Russion, India & China) countries.

**********