Is The Core Purpose of Pharma Business Much Beyond Profit Making?

Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), at a briefing to discuss the Ebola outbreak in West Africa at the UN Foundation in Washington on September 3, 2014 said: “Big Pharma’s greed for profits, not … Continue reading

Drugs From The Same Indian Plant: Safe For Europe, Unsafe For America, Why?

Good number of stories on US-FDA banning several drug manufacturing facilities of major domestic players of India over serious quality related issues, have been doing the rounds since about a year and almost at a regular interval. The quagmire has … Continue reading

Pioglitazone Conundrum: Should The Drug Regulator Step Over The Line?

Recent order of the Indian drug regulator to withdraw all formulations of the well known, yet controversial, anti-diabetic drug – Pioglitazone from the domestic market has created a flutter in the country, ruffling many feathers at the same time. Withdrawal … Continue reading

Pharma Innovation Absolutely Critical: But NOT Shorn from Ethics, Propriety, Compliance and Values

Significant value added innovation is the bedrock of progress of the pharmaceutical industry and is essential for the patients. This is a hard fact. However, this current buzzword – ‘innovation’ can in no way be shorn from soft business necessities … Continue reading

“New drug prices are Astronomical, Unsustainable and Immoral” – Anatomy of Unique Protests

Yes. The quoted sentiment captured in the headline was reportedly voiced recently by many cancer specialists, including researchers and that too in the heartland of pharmaceutical innovation of the world– the United States of America. These specialist doctors argued: “High … Continue reading

A Force Multiplier: An “Armageddon”: A Contender for Supremacy in the Generic Pharma World

It is very important for any country to ensure access to most appropriate medicines for the patients as and when they require. In many disease areas such access can be remarkably improved through affordable generic drugs, which offer significant savings … Continue reading

More Glivec Like Deals in China and Mounting Global Challenges: Innovators poised Joining Biosimilar Bandwagon

Pressure from the emerging markets on pricing of patented products is mounting fast. This time the country involved is China. Recently, the Health Minister of China who stepped down last month after a seven-year stint in the top health job … Continue reading

The R&D Factor: “One of the Great Myths of the Industry”

Yes, that is what the global CEO of one of the Pharmaceutical giants of the world commented in a very recent interview with Reuters. Adding further to this comment he said, “US $1 billion price tag for R&D was an … Continue reading