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.
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.
Cover for seeing a general physician or getting routine tests done will help reduce insurers’ claims ratio, patients’ out-of-pocket expenses, and hospitals’ burden.
City hospitals are up in arms against the government’s proposal to drop medical-procedure costs. But the real devil lies in fixing India's rickety primary-care infrastructure, which is expected to shoulder the burden of the world’s largest universal healthcare scheme.
They make for good headlines, but far from helping patients, price caps can have disastrous outcomes for supply to needy patients, even as the well-heeled find ways to bypass the system altogether.
The Motherhood chain of specialty hospitals has adopted a unique approach to identify locations for expansion: tracking the migrant population across the country and offering services spanning age groups.
After a treacherous few months, which included two early losses to rival bidders, IHH Healthcare Berhad of Malaysia is set to take Fortis home. Who are the architects of what has been possibly the most nerve-racking deal in Indian healthcare history?
Although the country has tried keeping Indian pharma companies at bay, their life-saving products continue to be highly sought after.
Analysts in 2010 expected the industry’s size to reach USD55 billion by 2020. But price caps, the note ban, and GST have thrown all calculations out of the window.
How can patent laws for agriculture be accurately interpreted? Why should there be separate agencies for registering various patents in agriculture? Why have courts delivered conflicting judgements on patents?
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is a threat that is growing in severity. The country needs to develop better tests for early diagnosis, educate patients and doctors to not overuse antibiotics, and invest in new-generation antibiotics. At the moment, it is doing too little in all three areas.
Measures ranging from delegation and automation to induction of fresh talent and better processes have helped the country's drug makers achieve world-class quality control and get the USFDA's nod. The stories of how three companies are getting it right.
No legal support. No clear vision for the future. The once fearsome regulator seems to be waiting for decommissioning. ET Prime brings you the inside story.
A four-year-long study suggests that overuse of stents increases mortality risk. Cardiologists disagree, challenging, among other things, the methodology of the research.
Few recent biotech developments have created greater buzz than the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology. Among other things, it was projected as the great hope against cancer — until recent research appeared to suggest it could actually increase cancer risk. Is the dream souring, or are we seeing irrational panic?
A reshaping of the US healthcare landscape has left generics makers worse off. A PwC Health Research Institute study finds that efforts to drop prices and tougher generic competition may not result in lower prices of drugs.
Amid the endless scandals and doomsday rumours, this is the story that has never been told: of how a bunch of professionals is keeping India’s most troubled hospital chain alive.
Tired of all the seedy hospital stories? Here’s one with a difference: Led by regional moneybags, India’s organised healthcare providers are attracting funds in record quantities.
Unless it dramatically improves the resources for the fight and lets go of the polio model.
Should stem-cell treatment be described as a drug or a therapy? The question, following a health ministry draft note, has perplexed stakeholders of all hues — from the regulatory agency and research body to practising doctors — who are all pulling in different directions.
The company is at the crossroads. If its bet on the biosimilar of the blockbuster drug etanercept pays off, it will not only give Lupin a distinct edge over its rivals but also boost its sagging balance sheet.
As the sponsor and the site of the botched-up trials in Jaipur, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Malpani Hospitals, respectively, are in the dock. But such episodes will keep taking place unless the regulator too answers tough questions.
The industry has an embarrassing problem: It keeps making amateurish screw-ups that don't behove a USD35 billion juggernaut. And it's pissing off the world's most powerful pharma regulator.
Can the regulated also be the regulator? That’s only one of the posers the new chief of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has to answer.
Research shows the error rate in grant of pharma patents is as high as 72%. In many cases, patent claims are made even without clinical-trial data.
A majority of the bidders for Fortis will hold off on putting the full money down till they complete deeper due diligence. A close look at the company’s auditor’s notes and case files might explain why.
The signals from the eroding US generics market are ominous for India's pharma majors. Is there an apocalypse lurking that no one's talking about?
Last year Sun Pharma signed another deal with South Korea's Samsung Biologics to get the drug manufactured on approval.
