Republic Day in India Many people throughout India celebrate the nation’s Republic Day, which is a gazetted holiday on January 26 each year. It is a day to remember when India’s constitution came into force on January 26, 1950, completing the country’s transition toward becoming an independent republic. Pictured above are Indian Army soldiers on parade during preparations for the ... Read More »

Indian-made vaccine approved to fight meningitis in Africa ACCRA: A vaccine against meningitis prepared by an Indian company has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), paving the way for its use to eradicate the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. The MenAfriVac vaccine was developed by the Indian company, Serum Institute of India Limited (SIIL), under a project of the ... Read More »

Attitude changes everything Poison A long time ago, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law’s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li ... Read More »

Delhi HC bars Cipla from selling copy of Novartis respiratory drug The Delhi High Court has barred generic drugmaker Ciplafrom making or selling a cheaper copy of Novartis AG’s respiratory drug Onbrez domestically, citing infringement of patents held by the Swiss company. Cipla, India’s fourth-largest generic drugmaker by revenue, had launched its copy of Onbrez in New Delhi in October ... Read More »

MedImmune enters licensing agreement with Omnis Pharmaceuticals for oncolytic viruses in immuno-oncology AstraZeneca today announced that MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, has entered into a licensing agreement with Omnis Pharmaceuticals (Omnis), a privately-held biotechnology company focused on the development of oncolytic viruses. This agreement will allow MedImmune to combine key agents from its investigational immunotherapy portfolio with ... Read More »

Drug manufacturing industry cries foul over poor regulation HYDERABAD: India’s drug manufacturing industry is afflicted with poor regulation – a case of authorities not scaling up the supervisory process to match the pace of the sector’s growth. The botched up sterilisation surgeries in Chhattisgarh in November, which left 13 women dead, was a grim reminder about the need to increase ... Read More »

‘Glowing’ new nanotechnology guides cancer surgery, also kills remaining malignant cells’ Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a new way to selectively insert compounds into cancer cells – a system that will help surgeons identify malignant tissues and then, in combination with phototherapy, kill any remaining cancer cells after a tumor is removed. It’s about as simple as, “If ... Read More »

Finance Ministry pitches for easing of FDI norms in pharma sector NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment in pharmaceutical sector is back in the spotlight, with the finance ministrypitching for a review of the policy that was tightened for brownfield investments, or investments in existing Indian companies, following fears of large-scale takeover by multinational companies. “There is a need for revisiting ... Read More »