Here are 4 brief news from the pharma/healthcare sphere for your update:
• Pirates Ahoy…. Not at high seas, but in European Parliament !
• Traces of cocaine 'found in Red Bull' in Hong Kong
• US Bill Would Prohibit Generics Delay
• First India-developed Drugs to Arrive in 2-4 years
• Pirates Ahoy…. Not at high seas, but in European Parliament !
In the recently concluded European Parliamentary election on 7-June, The Swedish Pirate Party harvested 7.1% of the Swedish vote in preliminary results, thereby secured at least one of the 18 seats that Sweden holds in the European Parliament. The Party aims to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system and ensure citizens’ right to privacy. According to the Parliament’s provisional seat repartition, the Pirate Party’s score in the elections should yield them one seat to march to the European Parliament in Brussels. Some sources say the party might end up with a second seat, but this is not confirmed. When the Swedish Pirate Party (http://www.piratpartiet.se/international/english) was founded in 2006, most were skeptical of their future with some simply laughing it away. But they were wrong to dismiss this political movement out of hand. Today, the Pirate Party accomplished what some believed to be the impossible, by securing a seat in the European Parliament. Pirate Party International, the international association of Pirate Parties aiming at spreading the aims of the Pirate movement, is also celebrating election success in Germany, with 0.9% of the vote, allowing for increased funding of the party. The Swedish Pirate Party also is advocating for a new alternative system to pharmaceutical patents.
• Traces of cocaine 'found in Red Bull' in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s officials at the Centre for Food Safety said a laboratory analysis has found traces of cocaine between 0.1 and 0.3 µg per litre in cans of "Red Bull Cola," "Red Bull Sugar-free" and "Red Bull Energy Drink"; a few days after Taiwanese authorities confiscated close to 18,000 cases of the popular energy drink. The drink has now been taken off the shelves of major supermarkets, the spokesman said in a statement issued late Monday. He added that the amount of the illicit drug – cocaine - found in the drinks posed little health danger. Red Bull moved quickly to deny the findings with its Asia Pacific marketing director, Daniel Beatty, said the firm strongly disputed the findings. Taiwanese authorities ordered the drinks to be removed from shelves pending further investigation.
Adapted from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/hongkongaustriacrimedrugsdrinkredbull
• US Bill Would Prohibit Generics Delay
The practice of brand name companies paying generic manufacturers to delay the entry of lower-priced generics into the market could become illegal, if a bill before the US House of Representatives passes. The bill (available here [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111?cong?bills...) is “to prohibit brand name drug companies from compensating generic drug companies to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and for other purposes.” It went before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Wednesday for markup. Three amendments were proposed, one of which appeared to pass, according to the committee’s website. The amendment would require a series of studies to measure the bill’s effect on patent fringement claims involving generic drugs.
• First India-developed Drugs to Arrive in 2-4 years
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is likely to develop its first NCEs in the coming years and the total investments in R&D are expected to touch over USD 1billion by 2015, consultancy firm Ernst & Young has said. A number of India drug companies have around 66 NCEs in the development programmes with nearly 40 are in the preclinical stage while the rest are in various stages of clinical development. drugs in phase-III clinical trials and launches in the next 2-4 years can be expected based on Ernst & Young’s prediction. According to industry experts, the total investment in R&D in India was USD 495 million in 2006 and has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 38 per cent per annum between 2001 and 2006.
Adapted from: http://www.zeenews.com/news537445.html
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