Articles

EGG-FREEZING TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING HEADLINES

The recent news about former beauty queen Diana Hayden’s baby being born out of her eggs frozen almost eight years ago has thrust egg-freezing technology into the limelight. Relatively lesser-known in India when compared to other reproductive technologies like surrogacy and sperm donation, egg-freezing is now being hailed as a type of ‘insurance’ for women who want to start their families later in life.
We spoke to Dr Nandita Palshetkar, an IVF specialist at Lilavati Hospital, to learn more about the egg freezing technology, the safety of it, and the future of the technology.

The Biotechnician-Do you see the egg freezing medical technology taking off across India since women are working longer than before?

Dr Nandita Palshetkar-Yes, the egg freezing technology is surely being chosen by the women across India to preserve their fertility and delay childbearing due to medical or social reasons. The crucial aspect would be to increase the awareness on this subject so that more and more women become aware of the advantages of this technology. With celebrities like Diana Hayden coming forward to represent this, it would definitely support the awareness swiftly.

BREAST CANCER MARKET IN APAC REGION HIT $1.9 BILLION IN 2014 AND WILL REACH $3.4 BILLION BY 2021

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) breast cancer market will experience considerable expansion from $1.9 billion in 2014 to $3.4 billion by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.5% according to a new report by GBI research.

SHIRE PARTNER, SHIONOGI, SUBMITS NEW DRUG APPLICATION IN JAPAN FOR ADHD TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN

Shire and Shionogi & Co. recently announced that Shionogi submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) for the manufacturing and marketing in Japan of S-877503 (guanfacine hydrochloride prolonged release tablets),* for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. The Japanese clinical studies were conducted in children 6 to 12 years old with this disorder.

MISS WORLD DIANA HAYDEN DELIVERS GIRL FROM EGG FROZEN 8-YEARS AGO AT BLOOM FERTILITY CENTRE

Bloom IVF Group, one of India’s leading chains of IVF centres, and their recent medical marvel was at work when Diana Hayden successfully delivered a baby girl eight years after freezing her eggs due to lifestyle reasons between October 2007 and March 2008.

Diana Hayden had consulted Dr. Palshetkar, at 32, when she read about egg freezing for the first time in 2005 and subsequently she froze 16 eggs with Bloom Fertility Centre. She chose to freeze her eggs for two reasons: She was busy with her career at that time and, more importantly, she was very clear that she was going to wait to fall in love and marry before having a baby.

SINOVAC BIOTECH ANNOUNCES ISSUANCE OF GMP CERTIFICATE FOR EV71 VACCINE

Sinovac Biotech (SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the China Food and Drug Administration (“CFDA”) has issued the Good Manufacturing Practices (“GMP”) certificate to Sinovac for the Company’s Enterovirus 71 (“EV71”) vaccine.

This marks the completion of the final step of approval prior to commercial production. The company has begun commercial production of the EV71 vaccine and expects to deliver the vaccine to the market prior to the end of the second quarter of 2016 after the lot release testing is completed. The designed annual production capacity is 20 million doses.

US BASED CATALENT PHARMA OPENS CLINICAL SUPPLY FACILITY IN JAPAN

New Jersey-headquartered Catalent Pharma Solutions, the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics, consumer health products and global clinical supply services, has introduced clinical supply services at its 200,000-sq ft cGMP facility in Kakegawa, Japan. The site, which has been providing oral drug development and manufacturing solutions for more than 40 years, will offer clinical supply solutions to meet the needs of both domestic and global clinical trial sponsors.

AMGEN SUES SAMSUNG BIOEPIS FOR PATENTS

Samsung’s biosimilar copies of Remicade and Lantus, both among the world’s top-selling biologic drugs, are close to gaining final sales approval in the U.S. and Europe, Roh said, adding these two drugs are not subject to patent issues.

At the same time, delays in commercializing its Enbrel biosimilar overseas, which comprises a major portion of Samsung Bioepis’ immediate sales outlook, could potentially drive down the firm’s market value and initial public offering price, according to the SK analyst.

CENTRE TO SET UP 6 PHARMA AND 2 MEDICAL DEVICES PARKS

New parks entails investment of about Rs 30,000 crores, says Ananth Kumar while releasing the report of task force set up for the development of pharmaceutical industry.

In line with Katoch Committee recommendations to augment manufacturing capabilities of pharmaceutical industry, the centre is planning to set up six pharma parks and two clusters for manufacturing medical devices in the country. Government is going to set up six pharma parks and two medical devices parks very soon which will involve an investment of about Rs 30,000 crores, said Ananth Kumar, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers while releasing the report of the task force on development of manufacturing capabilities in pharmaceutical industry, on January 13, 2016 in New Delhi. The minister also assured that recommendations by Katoch Committee on bulk drugs will be implemented soon.

 

ROYAL PHILIPS AND EDBI TO INVEST IN DIGITAL HEALTH

Royal Philips and EDBI, the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly invest in select, high-potential digital health companies, especially in the area of Population Health Management (PHM), from around the world seeking to break into the Asian market through Singapore. Under the MoU, EDBI and Philips will focus on mid-to-late stage digital health companies, allowing them to set up base in Singapore with the goal to serve the Asian market for Population Health Management.

The agreement will also create business opportunities, advance the local healthcare ecosystem and strengthen Singapore’s position as one of the leading digital health hubs in Asia.

PROF XIANMIN ZENG BECOMES AXOL BIOSCIENCE’S CEO

xol Bioscience, a biotechnology company, specialising in the use of stem cell technology to manufacture disease relevant cell based assay systems to the drug discovery industry, has appointed Prof Xianmin Zeng as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

Prof Zeng is a biologist with over 15 years of academic expertise in the development of stem cell technologies and its applications. A biotech entrepreneur with an extensive list of peer-reviewed publications, she is a well-established and internationally-recognised leader in the creation of disease models for drug discovery.