Lupin has taken a big leap into the world of discovery research with the AbbVie deal. Its cancer-drug candidate faces a long journey ridden with hurdles. But in the world of cancer research, hope is the only motivation to find a cure.
Lupin has taken a big leap into the world of discovery research with the AbbVie deal. Its cancer-drug candidate faces a long journey ridden with hurdles. But in the world of cancer research, hope is the only motivation to find a cure.
States that are staying away from the universal health scheme can’t fund their own. People will be deprived of better facilities and healthcare portability and the states will lose out on valuable investment and infrastructure.
The company has had a rough ride. Apprehension is still in the air, but with valuations sinking to multi-year lows, it’s on the radar of fund managers and institutional investors.
The powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) have been severely eroded as the Modi government strives to project India as an investor-friendly destination. This could make life-saving drugs unaffordable. The US experience is worth keeping in mind.
The framework is there. What’s needed is to identify standard procedures and remove regulatory hurdles. An untapped market, growing 20%-30% every year, is waiting.
The hospital business in India is witnessing unprecedented consolidation. But with increased regulation and an ambitious public health-insurance scheme ramping up, making the economics work will be a challenge.
A decade-old decision of a risky product launch has come back to haunt the company.
Even as the industry cheers on, a new-year notification is stoking fears that India might have compromised the affordability of life-saving drugs.
The Bengaluru-based startup has built a device that plugs into smartphones, reads blood-sugar levels, and recommends a care regimen.
Launched in 2007, the Swiss drug maker’s for-profit Arogya Parivar programme is bringing health awareness and affordable medicines to neglected populations. But thorny questions around returns on investment remain.
In its January 8 judgment, the Supreme Court made no comment on the technical validity of patents or the science therein. Treating the matter as a plain commercial dispute, it examined the Delhi High Court division bench’s order and concluded that it had made errors.
A fledgling pharma company wants to rewrite the rules for cancer research and drugs.
Using better diagnostic aids, real-time data transfer, and digital tools, health and wellness centres and primary health centres can become the key links in India’s healthcare chain.
Controlling diabetes is now a much bigger battle than preventing glucose or insulin levels from going awry. Big Pharma has taken note.
A gush of new competitors has eroded Indian drug makers’ share in the US generics goldmine. They haven’t made much headway in specialty formulations either.
Several Himalayan states are moving aggressively on allowing marijuana cultivation for medicinal purposes. But stubborn taboos and regulatory hurdles will have to be weeded out before the super plant can be put to work.
The Chinese scientist is said to have gone rogue. His methods should be questioned, but science pushes the envelope of progress — even if it conflicts with prevailing ethical limits.
Caring for life is at the core of Cipla's legacy, but in the unromantic world of business, it has lost a lot of ground to younger, aggressive competitors. While its relatively new CEO enjoys the promoters’ backing and has the mandate to engineer a reincarnation, changing a company's DNA is easier said than done.
An interview with Umang Vohra, CEO, Cipla
Indians dislike unbranded pills, even if they’re way cheaper and just as good. Meanwhile, medicine bills push millions into poverty. StayHappi is trying to reengineer the pharma supply chain and public opinion to change that.
Online pharmacies are embracing brick-and-mortar stores, while the latter are exploring online channels. The right dosage: strong presence in both.
Despite its massive potential, investors have been wary of putting their money in the notoriously inefficient fertility business. Three healthcare entrepreneurs want to change that by building a complete ecosystem of care around this most sensitive of ailments.
The newbies turned home healthcare into an organised industry. Waking up to the opportunity, big hospital chains have now entered the fray. With their back-end strength and recruitment edge, will they take over the market despite their delayed entry?
Food allergies and intolerances silently stalk millions of Indians. Rampant ignorance, lack of mature diagnostics, and a severely restricted food shelf are just some of the battles.
You should be worried about that harmless fever medicine you just popped. Yes, even the ever-trusted paracetamol.
Patients suffering from decomposition of the hip joint have had little recourse save hip implants when the disease reaches an advanced stage. Then there’s the risk of painful revision surgeries. A Mumbai-based company’s innovation holds out new hope.
Bio-Med supplied 150,000 doses of a polio vaccine tainted with a deadly strain of virus that was eradicated in 2016 after decades of effort. The result: a silent contagion that could play out over the years. There has been no public advisory from the government, as if to say: Keep calm and carry on.
Free healthcare doesn’t necessarily mean quality healthcare — and Indians are ruthless with their expectations of quality.
Drug companies are embracing digital techniques and non-conventional touchpoints to engage with doctors. The top 20 global pharma companies have earmarked around 18% of their marketing spend on digital, which is expected to double in the next five years.
From startups like Tattvan and Practo to established names such as Max Healthcare, many players are trying to disrupt traditional healthcare models. But how the businesses shapes up will depend on the regulatory framework, which is missing at present.
If you are a victim of medical negligence and planning to fight for compensation, think again. For, our laws are silent on that.
While the government and the industry fight a pitched battle on price caps, a holistic approach to get a fix on the entire value chain may yield better results.
The biggest outbound transaction in the Indian pharma industry will help the low-profile Hyderabad company leapfrog to the No. 2 spot in the US generics market. But then, why did Sandoz sell if all was well?
Rules and orders continued to be violated at various levels over the years.
The new rules ignore several critical areas.
Even as patients wait for reasonable compensation, serious questions are being raised about the pharma major’s intent to help patients. Meanwhile, India’s weak device-regulation regime means such episodes could haunt the country again.
Chinese researchers who worked in top pharma companies in the US and Europe are returning home to turn entrepreneur, cherry-pick research leads, and strike mega deals with global heavies.
The Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, a private hospital chain in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, has been lauded for its performance under the state health-insurance scheme. But miffed with excessive workload and improper pricing, it isn't keen to participate in Ayushman Bharat.
Govt & insurers have figured out a way to fix Ayushman Bharat that doesn’t damage insurers’ financial health.
Unhelpful banks, long delays in getting GST refunds from the government, and measures designed to suit bigger players are sucking the air out of the sector.
Tomorrow the prime minister will launch the world's largest public-healthcare programme. Meanwhile, no one knows if all the medicines in our drugstores are the real deal.
Daiichi-Sankyo wants Delhi High Court to block Fortis’s sale to IHH pending the recovery of its dues from the Singh brothers. Fortis chairman Ravi Rajagopal says Daiichi’s action is unexpected, but hopes it will have no bearing on the deal. Is there a final twist left in this unending tale?
When Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Berhad won the bid for Fortis, the hospital chain expected an end to months of turmoil. Its relief was short-lived. Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese firm that is fighting an arbitration battle related to Ranbaxy against Shivinder and Malvinder Singh — former promoters of both Ranbaxy and Fortis — wants the Delhi High Court to block Fortis’s sale. In his first interview after being appointed chairman, Ravi Rajagopal opens up about this unexpected hurdle and what it means for Fortis’s future.
Soon after a pioneering dissolvable coronary stent from global giant Abbott was recalled following adverse reports, homegrown Meril Life Sciences came up with its own version. But price caps, limited clinical trials, and global competition could choke its path.
As the country prepares to roll out the world’s largest universal healthcare scheme, ET prime takes a look at how similar schemes in Mexico, Ghana, and Sri Lanka have fared, and what India needs to watch out for.
From Biocon to Dr Reddy’s, early earnings trends show Indian drug makers’ increased focus on new product lines. From here on, their investments in research will take them to the next level.
The life-saving hormone, used to control excessive bleeding after childbirth, is set to be in short supply after a curb on private manufacturing. The only government-run producer isn’t even close to meeting demand.
The jury is still out on the “magical” remedial properties of Ayurvedic drugs, but the Ministry of Ayush is busy pushing them.
Forty years ago, the world had its first test-tube baby. In India, with more and urban women choosing to put life goals ahead of reproductive goals, their age at first childbirth is creeping upwards. The upshot: a thriving assisted-pregnancy business, and a bunch of thorny ethical and regulatory questions.
The government wants domestically sourced components to account for 25%-50% of the cost of medical devices it procures. Such a move could disrupt supplies and access to life-saving devices. Manufacturers are already seeing red.
