Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 24/02/2025. The Supreme Court (SC), February 24, 2025 has directed all states to file their affidavits addressing concerns raised about antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs …
Two years ago, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine created a flutter in medical circles. It said that at least 54 deaths and about 1,000 reports of complications have been linked to ephedra, a plant product that is a source of ephedrine alkaloids. An amphetamine-like compound, ephedra …
it no longer makes news that infectious diseases in poor countries kill over 12 million people each year and play a significant role in keeping countries destitute. Yet, what continues to shock is that the illnesses that make up 90 per cent of the global disease burden get only 10 …
amid uproar, parliament recently passed the controversial Patents (Second Amendment) bill. Even though Union commerce minister Murasoli Maran gave an assurance that all safeguards to ensure easy availability of drugs at affordable prices were incorporated in the bill, there were voices of dissent. It was argued that the government had …
It is a bad time for biotechnology firms. Since the start of 2002, biotech stocks have gone down and as a consequence, biotech funds have dipped too. The American Stock Exchange Biotechnology Index is being recorded at 415.90 points. It was at a high of 657.67 points last June. The …
scientists have accomplished a feat that could one day lead to better treatments for cancer. They have sequenced the genome of the bacterium, Streptomyces coelicolor. This feat is expected to aid the development of several new antibiotics as the bacterium S coelicolor and its relatives are sources of nearly two-thirds …
The passing of the Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002, by both Houses of Parliament is one more step towards complete compliance with the trips Agreement (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). However, further amendments would have to be incorporated to completely comply with trips provisions, since the …
With the adoption of the Patents (Second Amendment) Bill by Parliament on May 14, a trips (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) compliant patents law is now only a matter of the President of India's formal assent. The amended legislation provides for changes in the scope of …
India can really get going when it needs to, even in the midst of troubled times both inside and outside. This was proved last week by the smooth passage of the Patents (Second Amendment) Bill through both houses of Parliament. Some amendments were accepted, others were discussed and clarified in …
waterways across the us are contaminated by a number of antibiotics, caffeine, painkillers and other drugs, finds a recent study conducted by the us Geological Survey (usgs). The study targeted 95 organic wastewater contaminants and sampled 139 stream sites in 30 us states during 1999-2000. The 95 pollutants were picked …
it is a proud moment for India. In a landmark decision by World Health Organisation (who), an Indian company, Cipla, has been added to the list of multinational companies as an approved supplier of aids drugs. Reacting to the decision, Y K Mamied of Cipla said, "This is the first …
The Nepal government is set to launch a new drug policy. This was revealed by minister of health Sarad Singh Bhandari. The policy would make the use of indigenous pharmaceutical products compulsory in the country. Bhandari said that the community drug scheme (CDS) would be started to promote the use …
Already hailed as a wonder drug, the humble aspirin can also combat common viruses, reveals research carried out by Thomas Shenk and his team at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA. The researchers have found that close relatives of aspirin can block common viruses known as the human cytomegaloviruses (CMV), …
a generic drug used for preventing the transmission of the aids virus from an expectant mother to her child may cause genetic mutation in the offspring. These are the findings of researchers from the New York state department of health
A new class of anti-malarial drug that stops the parasite from replicating in infected blood cells has succeeded in curing the disease in monkeys. Henry Vial and colleagues from the France-based Montpellier University II have developed the drug known as G25. The drug prevents choline, a chemical raw material of …
A reliable and sensitive procedure is presented for the analysis of erythromycin (ERY) and oleandomycin (OLE) in food of animal origin, such as meat, liver, kidney, raw milk and egg. The method is based on a solid-phase extraction clean-up with a cation exchange cartridge, a 9-fluoromethylchloroformate (FMOC) precolumn derivatization and …
obesity and diabetes are related at the molecular level, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (bidmc), usa have found out. They have identified a mechanism that helps explain how the hormone leptin acts to metabolize fatty acids in muscle, establishing for the first time a novel molecular link between …
PUSHPA M BHARGAVA Former director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology Manipulating research is not a new phenomenon. Earlier, the reason for manoeuvring the results of scientific research was professional rivalry. But for the last four decades, it has been economic gain and power, which could be personal, corporate or …
Enron is once more in news. As more and more skeletons are shaken out of its cupboards, a merry dance has begun. But the big issue here is the conflict of interests of bigwig Arthur Anderson. The firm was on one hand the consulting agency and on the other the …
Clinical trials on a herb-based contraceptive cream developed recently by the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow have been completed and the results have been submitted to the Drug Controller General of India for approval. Fruits of Sapindus mukorossi (soapnut) are rich in saponins which have been shown to have …
a plant derivative might be the promising cancer cure that oncologists have been seeking. Researchers from the University of Washington, usa, claim that a derivative of Artemesia annua (wormwood) could help cure cancer. The derivative called artemisinin is used extensively as a remedy in malaria prone regions of Asia and …
