Drug Industry

Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding an illegal cracker unit in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, 29/05/2025

Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "2 killed in blast at illegal cracker unit in Thanjavur appearing in The Hindu dated 19.05.2025". The application is registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled 2 killed in blast at illegal cracker unit …

Killer on the prowl

Hepatitis B is a communicable disease with a high strike rate the germ: "The Hepatitis B virus kills 20 out of every 100 infected people each day. This works out to 400 times the people who die of AIDS daily,' points out S K Sarin, president, Indian Association for Study …

Drugged

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 …

For children s sake

after months of speculation, the us Food and Drug Administration (fda) has finally decided to retain its rule which makes it mandatory for all drug makers to conduct paediatric trials. The agency came under fire from public health groups and lawmakers recently when it announced plans to suspend the paediatric …

Sans safeguards?

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 …

Biotech blues

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 …

Advantage India

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 …

Jumping the gun

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 …

A fine balance

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 …

Virtual reality

canadian scientists have set up a sophisticated computing lab that will help speed up research into diseases like cancer and diabetes. The lab allows researchers to view three-dimensional models of the smallest parts of the human biological makeup. The results are so realistic that one cannot resist reaching out to …

Manipulating Research

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 …

Unholy nexus

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 …

Punitive dosage

the European Commission (ec) has slapped a record fine of us $755.1 million on eight chemical and pharmaceutical companies. Their offence: hatching a nine-year conspiracy to fix the prices of some of the most popular vitamins. "This is the most damaging series of cartels the ec has ever investigated,' says …

Who to trust?

the integrity of clinical trials

Curbs on drug trials

all institutions in the country have been banned from carrying out clinical trials on a new drug without the permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (dcgi). This directive was issued by the government recently. It will cover both clinical investigations and clinical experiments. Trials, including those of private …

Fat finding mission

today, the quest to eliminate obesity has more than a slim chance of succeeding. Thanks to the discovery of a gene that controls the growth of fat cells. The recent research published in the journal Genes and Development says that the gene, discovered by Harvard University and pharmaceutical company Pfizer …

Tried and lab tested

to clear the prevailing doubts about the efficacy of herbal drugs, a special centre will be set up at Jadhavpur University in West Bengal. This first-of-its-kind section will examine the validity and authenticity of the herbal drugs produced and marketed by different firms. The Union and state governments have not …

Follow Up

The first commercial product from seabuckthorn, (Hippophae sp) has been finally launched in India. The fruit of this plant has high nutritive and medicinal value (A bushful of medicine, Down To Earth, Vol 9, No 21, March 31, 2001) and New Delhi-based Compact International Limited has launched Leh Berry, a …

Injecting a cure

With the help of a chemical, diabetes sufferers with early symptoms could be prevented from developing the disease completely, research has suggested. Trials found that a specific peptide

Public health over profits

However, the Doha declaration does not take a decision on whether countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector will be allowed to import generic drugs to deal with a health crisis. Instead, it calls upon the trips council to

Fair farming

agriculture remains the biggest source of inequity in the world trading system. Unlike telecom, financial, and legal services, farming practices in the North have stoutly resisted the logic of market forces. Farming in the North thrives on prodigious subsidies and price support systems combined with coddling protection through high tariffs …

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