Sri Lanka
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FDA Investigating Disposable Gloves From Hundreds Of Foreign Companies Because Of Reprocessing Fears
The US FDA says it’s “investigating certain imported medical gloves that appear to have been reprocessed, cleaned, or recycled and sold as new.” The 270 firms in question are listed on an import alert that says their gloves are subject to Detention without Physical Examination.
Here’s the complete list of foreign firms that were included on an import alert because gloves they made or sold may have been “reprocessed, cleaned, or recycled and sold as new,” the US FDA says.
Looking to rationalize its Sri Lankan operations, Cipla buys 40% stake held by joint venture partner Citihealth Imports in Cipla Pharma Lanka. Wholly-owned subsidiary Breathe Free Sri Lanka will be its vehicle for growth in the country.
Rational valuations and the potential divestment of older portfolios by foreign firms were some of the key mergers and acquisitions (M&A) trends highlighted by industry experts at a recent congress in India.
US biotech, Visterra, has joined hands with vaccine giant, Serum Institute of India, to take its early stage monoclonal antibody product candidate (VIS513) for dengue forward.
Sri Lanka has implemented plans to encourage local production, with the government undertaking to "buy back" supplies for a number of specified pharmaceutical products.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories has snapped up a select portfolio of UCB's established products business in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives for INR8bn ($128m), bolstering its presence in the high growth dermatology, respiratory and paediatric segments.
Sri Lanka's new National Medicines Regulatory Authority Bill has set out a clutch of rules pertaining to the prescription, pricing and registration of medicines - a move some experts say could bring about significant price cuts and pare the number of brands on the market there.
Niche verticals continue to draw private equity interest with Sequoia Capital said to be on course to investing around INR1bn ($16.2m) in the Indian specialty dermatology firm, Curatio Healthcare.
Things may be on the mend in India's clinical research sector, if the measured but hopeful views of Jacob Parambi, vice-president and head of Quintiles India, are anything to go by.
Meet Satish Khanna - Indian pharma industry veteran, serial investor, author, student and someone who sees a significant uptick in the momentum for Indo-Japan alliances in the pharma space despite the generally "grim" recent experiences on both sides.
Sri Lanka's COSTI (Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation) has identified priority industry sectors such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, electronics, robotics and space technology to foster innovation in the island country.
India has launched its first fully indigenous Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, developed under a three-way public-private partnership and which is expected to pare the country's current dependence on supplies from China.
Any outside observer scanning the pharma news flow from Asia over the past few weeks would be justified in concluding the sector to be characterized solely by broad corporate malfeasance or at least alleged wrongdoing in one form or another.
The Indian biopharmaceutical firm Biological E. (BioE) expects to commercialize its Japanese encephalitis vaccine - the first ever JE vaccine to be prequalified by the World Health Organization recently - in a clutch of endemic countries in the Asian region including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
In many ways, Mebiopharm's investment experience is illustrative of the challenges facing the bioventure sector as a whole in Japan, or indeed anywhere else. The need to secure sufficient funding and maintain momentum for lead pipeline projects will no doubt sound familiar to the management of any startup looking to commercialize new technology.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has set a six month deadline for manufacturers of the controversial fixed dose combination (FDC) of flupenthixol and melitracen (Lundbeck’s Deanxit) to establish the safety and efficacy of their products in India, with the threat of prohibition if they fail.
Ranbaxy is beefing up its manufacturing presence in Malaysia and plans a second facility, trebling capacity there.
Foreign exchanges losses dented the boost the US launch of atorvastatin has proved Ranbaxy Laboratories.
Cipla has named industry veteran and ex-Teva senior executive Frank Pieters to lead its European region and global respiratory business, marking one of the first instances that the Indian generics firm has dipped into the global talent pool to fill senior management positions.
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