“R&D outsourcing has become a ‘must have' than ‘good-to have' strategy”

Aragen Life Sciences (formerly GVK BIO), a leading contract research and development organisation headquartered in Hyderabad, is marking its transition to a new brand identity in its 20th year. Established in 2001, the company is poised for growth in the outsourced discovery, development, and manufacturing services sector across both large and small molecule platforms with new investments and collaborations. In conversation with BioSpectrum, Manni Kantipudi, Chief Executive Officer, Aragen Life Sciences, Hyderabad reveals more about the company’s recent rebranding and growth plans. Edited excerpts;

Premas Biotech to commercialise VLP vaccine tech against Delta variant

Gurugram-based Premas Biotech has signed a licensing deal with Oravax Medical for the development and commercialisation of its virus-like-particle COVID-19 vaccine technology.

SARS-CoV-2: A Biochemical Treatise on its Past, Present & Future

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is unprecedented but equally unprecedented is the contribution of scientists who have helped us in understanding the mechanisms by which it infects human beings and also, developing a variety of vaccines to protect the masses, in a year’s time, which can be called truly groundbreaking. This article gives an overview of the progress made by scientists around the world working round the clock in developing an understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 evolution and COVID-19 disease pathogenesis, and also makes an attempt to suggest the possible ways of coping with this pandemic if we have to co-exist with it forever!

Merck launches Pergoveris Pen for fertility treatment in India

Merck Specialties, the healthcare business of Merck in India, has launched Pergoveris Pen for advanced infertility treatment in India.

GUNG-HO PHARMA R&D INVESTMENTS SURPASS $3B

While the pharmaceutical industry helped combat COVID-19, from R&D actions on potential treatment strategies to balancing the medicines supply chain in the time of crisis, it struggled to maintain the natural market flow. As a result, many pharma companies had to abort some of their ongoing R&D investment plans. However for FY20-21, the average R&D expenses constituted 7.2 per cent of the total revenues of the pharma companies, with Lupin, Alembic Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s spending more than others. The cumulative R&D expenditure of the leading 10 pharma companies has been around Rs 10,627 crore ($1.43 billion) in the previous fiscal. This figure eventually reaches an approximate amount of Rs 22,500 crore ($3.03 billion) after considering the cumulative expenditure by other small and medium players of the India pharma industry.

Glenmark ties up with SaNOtize to commercialise COVID-19 nasal spray

Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Canadian biotech firm SaNOtize Research & Development Corporation

CEPI prioritises Rift Valley fever vax

Sep 01, Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has signed an implementing partner agreement with Integrum Scientific (US) as part of its ongoing efforts to combat Rift Valley fever (RVF)—one of its priority diseases with epidemic potential.

3D printing moulds healthcare innovations

Pharmaceuticals, bio-medicine, aviation, and automobiles industries have rapidly adopted 3D printing over the years, worldwide, to develop new solutions and prototypes. It is also helping many industries, healthcare, in particular, increase productivity. Despite all its advantages, 3D printing technology is currently posing a number of challenges in the market such as initial costs, limitation to the metals and plastics used for 3D printing, lack of policy standardisation, etc.

Mynvax Offers ‘Warm Vaccine' For COVID-19

Biotech startup Mynvax, incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, has developed heat-tolerant COVID-19 vaccine formulations.

How Tech Innovations Impact Cardiac Care

Cardiac care has seen a transformation over the years with technology playing an important role. Armed with Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), cardiac care providers, with the right technology, have received the right impetus to revolutionise treatment mechanisms. Let us delve into the new technologies which the industry is offering to mankind and decipher the way forward.

“Our allergic rhinitis drug is technologically superior, masks bitterness and 52% cheaper”

Alok Malik, Group Vice President & Head, India Formulations, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Mumbai

Techade REDEFINING FUTURE OF life sciences industry

Digital transformation is the topmost priority for global corporations and in a highly connected world that will remain largely contactless for an extended period, there are shifts in business models, customer experience, operations, and employee experience. With technology adoption accelerating across sectors, 2021 is likely to put the spotlight on the emergence of growth verticals in the life sciences sector namely healthcare, pharma, medical devices, diagnostics etc. India is now standing at the cusp of a re-imagined decade of technology, commonly being referred to as ‘Techade’. While we anticipate a significantly better global economic growth this year as compared to 2020, we are also very much looking forward to the enhancement being brought to the Indian life sciences industry as it continues its transformation journey in this redefined techade.

Multifarious Cataract cures emerge

Being documented as India’s most significant cause of bilateral blindness that is for both eyes, cataract has become an economic and social burden that is increasing with the ageing population.

WHO Updates Guidelines For TB Detection

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an update to its consolidated guidelines on the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB.

Is The 5G Health Scare Unfounded?

The introduction of the 5G network has been mired in numerous controversies. Governments across the globe, activists and telecom operators are embroiled in a bitter fight, filing lawsuits and protesting in large numbers. Although most of the available research on electromagnetic fields (EMF) reveals that there are no harmful effects from mobile radiation, some studies do reveal that it has the potential to damage the very structure of the DNA. Cancer, impaired reproductive health and numerous other disorders, including psychiatric, have been attributed to 5G. Will the implementation of the 5G network have serious health implications, or are these fears unfounded? We try to weigh-in the opposing sides.

Is Antibody Cocktail Offering The Right Mix?

Although the clinical outcomes, as well as clinical trials, have been very promising for patients treated with the antibody cocktail so far, the Delta plus variant is considered to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody (mAb) cocktail treatment.

Stride Ventures leads Rs 25 Cr debt round in MediBuddy

Stride Ventures, one of India’s leading venture debt funds, has led a debt round of Rs 25 crore in Bengaluru-based startup MediBuddy that helps its users consult specialist doctors, order medicines and book lab tests from the comfort of their homes.

‘‘We see growing interest of healthcare testing labs, Pharmaceutical QC and R&D labs in implementing next-gen lab automation solutions''

US-based Abbott Informatics, formerly known as STARLIMS, is one of the companies with a long and established presence in the space of lab automation. Taking pride in offering the world class technological solutions, the company has recently announced the launch of STARLIMS Quality Manufacturing Solution QM12.2 which is built on the latest STARLIMS Technology V12 platform, along with STARLIMS SDMS (Scientific Data Management System) V12.2. To find out more about the company’s automated offerings in India, BioSpectrum spoke to Pradeep Nagisetty, Regional Sales Manager - India & Sub Continent, Abbott Informatics - STARLIMS, Hyderabad.

‘Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis' remains a puzzle

LET'S TALK HEALTH & SCIENCE

India proposes BRICS Consortium to tackle NCDs as flagship programme

Experts deliberated on emerging issues in the various fields of Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the fourth BRICS Working Group meeting on the subject area.

LAB AUTOMATION - TRAVAILS IN INDIA

Whether it is the industry or academia, life sciences workers are gradually accepting the fact that lab data digitisation improves processes, simplifies workflows and makes research and development (R&D) more efficient. With increasing advances in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), digitisation in the research environment is set to become an integral part of every laboratory worldwide. But in emerging markets such as India, there are a large number of factors responsible for its slow adoption such as lack of skilled workforce, high maintenance and service costs, limited expertise, data security etc.

Govt pays Biological E Rs 1500 Cr for 30 Cr vaccines

Union Ministry of Health has finalised arrangements with Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Biological E to reserve 30 crores of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Biological E, Canadian firm to jointly manufacture mRNA vaccines in India

Canadian firm Providence Therapeutics Holdings Inc. and Hyderabad-based Biological E have announced the execution of a term sheet that sets forth the material terms for a definitive licensing and collaboration agreement.

BDR Pharma launches affordable drug to treat ovarian, prostate cancers

Mumbai-based BDR Pharmaceutical has launched BDPARIB (RUCAPARIB) to treat advanced ovarian and prostate cancers

Zydus Introduces New Feature In Drug Packaging To Avoid Counterfeiting

Zydus Cadila has introduced a new feature called Zydus Verify in the packaging of its critical drugs to help patients ensure that the product is not fake or counterfeited.

Pandemic Sets New Benchmarks For Early-Stage Healthcare Startups

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an enabler of this change as care-delivery models had to be quickly revamped to address two concerns – the diseases and the impacts of the virus on the treatment of other diseases. We aim to assess the qualitative and quantitative impact of COVID-19 and other macroeconomic events on the startup ecosystem over the last few years and try to understand the implications for the future.

Rare diseases policy outlines challenges sans solutions

There is no substantial data on the number of people suffering from rare diseases in India and the data that is available is from tertiary care hospitals. The lack of epidemiological data on rare diseases makes it a herculean task to determine the prevalence and burden of rare diseases, hence hampering the definition of rare diseases in the Indian context.

PSA launches community mental-health digital platform

The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India Prof. K VijayRaghavan has virtually launched ‘MANAS’ App to promote wellbeing across age groups.

“India should have a vibrant clinical research community who can advise drug developers”

The Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR), an association of clinical research professionals, has announced the appointment of Dr Sanish Davis as its President for the term 202123.

Govt fast-tracks emergency approvals for foreign-made COVID-19 vaccines

The matter of augmenting the basket of vaccines available for fighting the pandemic as well as accelerating the pace and coverage of domestic vaccination programmes was discussed recently at the 23rd meeting of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC).