Author: Biotech Express

At a virtual event, the Minister launched CTRI portal pertinent to Ayurveda Dataset along with AMAR, RMIS, SAHI and e-Medha portals. He also released four publications related to the Traditional Indian Medicine System of India and lauded the collaborative efforts of ICMR and Archaeological Survey of India for these initiatives. At a virtual event, the Minister launched CTRI portal pertinent to Ayurveda Dataset along with AMAR, RMIS, SAHI and e-Medha portals. Ayurveda Dataset on Clinical Trial Registry of India- CTRI is a primary Register of Clinical Trials under the world health Organization’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. Creation of Ayurveda…

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company is acquiring Pasadena, Calif.-based Protomer Technologies in a deal that may exceed $1 billion. No specific financial details were disclosed other than to say the $1 billion figure was linked to various development and commercial milestones. Protomer has a drug technology platform made up of proteins that can sense concentrations of specific molecules and adjust to create variable doses. This pipeline includes an insulin product that adjusts to different glucose levels in diabetic patients. The company was founded in 2014 by Caltech researchers led by Alborz Mahdavi. In November 2020, Lilly led an investment round…

Zydus Cadila today announced that the company has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the office of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D – its Plasmid DNA vaccine against COVID-19. Zydus Cadila said the world’s first Plasmid DNA vaccine for COVID-19 demonstrated safety and efficacy in the interim data of the largest vaccine trial so far in India for COVID-19. “The primary efficacy of the three doses vaccine was at 66.6 percent for symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases in the interim analysis,” the company said. “Whereas no moderate case of COVID-19 disease was observed in the vaccine arm post…

Covishield is now eligible for travel to Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland and Spain. Iceland and Switzerland too have made the jab eligible for travel to the countries, sources said. The exclusion of Covishield, which is produced by India’s Serum Institute using methods analogous to the EU-approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Vaxzevria but does not have EU market authorisation, stoked anger and the threat of retaliatory measures by India against travellers from Europe. The pass will help do away with the need for quarantines or further testing for travellers between the EU’s 27 countries and four associated European nations – Iceland, Norway,…

Clarivate, the company behind the Impact Factor, a closely watched — and controversial — metric, is calling out more than 20 journals for unusual citation patterns. The 21 journals — 10 of which were suppressed, meaning they will not receive an Impact Factor in 2020, and 11 of which received an expression of concern — are fewer than half of the nearly 50 that the company suppressed or subjected to an expression of concern last year from its Journal Citation Report (JCR). The suppressions, the company notes, represent .05% of the journals listed — a total that increased dramatically this…

From acupuncture to herbal tea, Chinese medicine has long been an integral part of Hong Kong society. The city’s background of East meets West gives it a unique edge in raising the discipline to a higher level, as shown in the use of traditional treatment methods for Covid-19 patients. The industry and the wider community stand to benefit from efforts to further institutionalise the practice. The government’s launch of the first Chinese medicine hospital project is an important milestone. With a capacity of 400 beds and an annual 310,000 outpatient services, the HK$8.62 billion (US$1.1 billion) facility being built in…

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), on Tuesday, granted permission to Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm Cipla to import Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Details of a rollout plan are not out yet. It is not clear how many doses will be available in India and when. Sources say for now, Cipla is only looking at receiving donated vaccines; commercial agreements are still being processed. “Cipla Limited is supporting Moderna Inc with the regulatory approval and importation of vaccines to be donated to India. At this stage, there is no definitive agreement on commercial supplies,” Cipla said in a statement. Both Pfizer and…

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced ₹23,220 crore for public health sector for setting up paediatric beds and facilities in hospitals. She announced this for the public health sector, earmarked for this financial year, which will focus on emergency preparedness with a special emphasis on children and paediatric care. It will also focus on funding of medical HR augmentation through nurses and staff and doctors, equipment and ambulances, oxygen plants. Nirmala Sitharaman announced a credit guarantee scheme of Rs 1.1 lakh crore for the COVID-affected sectors, which includes Rs 50,000 crore for scaling up medical infrastructure in non-metro cities…

Five major pharmaceutical companies–Cipla Limited, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited on Tuesday announced collaboration for the clinical trial of the investigational oral anti-viral drug Molnupiravir for the treatment of mild covid-19 in an outpatient setting in India. Between March and April this year, these five pharma companies had individually entered into a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Merck Sharpe Dohme (MSD) to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir to India and over 100 low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Molnupiravir is an oral anti-viral that inhibits the replication of multiple RNA viruses including…

Drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has announced the commercial launch of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), an oral drug, found to help speed up recovery and reduce oxygen dependence. The oral drug has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad. The drug comes in a powder form in a sachet and is taken orally by dissolving it in water. The drug accumulates in the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. The drug will stop the virus…