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Drug Information Bulletin

Drug Information Centre (DIC) Indian Pharmaceutical Association


Bengal Branch Tele fax: 033 24612776, E-mail: ipabengal.dic@gmail.com Web Site: http://www.ipabengal.org Contact: 09830136291

th

Year

Volume: 05

Number: 49

18th March 2012

Content Indias health allocation hiked by 14% to Rs. 30,702 crore for 2012-13 Program to reduce unnecessary Antibiotic use may save hospitals millions Boston Scientific to pay J&J $1.73 Billion in Stent settlement Azithromycin may Clear E. Coli Infection Biocon and Pfizer end Biosimilar Insulin marketing agreement Statin adherence more likely if begun before antidiabetic drugs MSF asks Indian generic cos to obtain more CLs to make drugs affordable & accessible Forthcoming Events Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and launching the National Urban Health Mission. The government hiked by nearly 15 per cent the budget for NRHM with an outlay of Rs 20,822 crore for 2012-2013, which was Rs 18,115 crore in 2011-12. This flagship programme was launched in 2005 and aims to provide quality healthcare to villagers in 18 states, which have weak public health infrastructure. It is being implemented by a network of nearly 800,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). The scope of ASHAs activities is being enlarged to include prevention of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, ensure 100 per cent immunisation and better spacing of children, he said. At the community level, a more active role is envisaged for ASHA as the convenor of the village health and sanitation committee, as also to support the initiative

Indias health allocation hiked by 14% to Rs. 30,702 crore for 2012-13 Indias health allocation has been hiked by 14 per cent in the budget for 2012-13 to Rs 30,702 crore for the sector with special focus on cheaper life saving drugs and better health facilities for the rural and urban poor. Last years allocation to the sector was Rs 26,897 crore. There is a proposal to extend concessional basic customs duty of five per cent with full exemption from excise duty and antisubsidy duty to six specified life saving drugs and vaccines used for the treatment or prevention of ailments such as HIV/AIDS and renal cancer in the budget proposal. The budget for 2012-13 also focused on providing better healthcare services to the poor in rural areas as well as in urban slums, increasing the outlay of the National

2 on malnutrition. Since ASHAs receive activity-wise, performance-based payments, this will also enhance their remuneration, he added. To target the urban poor, the government also launched the National Urban Health Mission, which aims to provide basic primary health needs of the people who live in shanties in cities. Aiming to reach out to people living in the remotest part of the country, the government has already started upgrading the existing hospitals and establishing new hospitals. This has been done under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). Under this scheme, the government had aimed at setting up eight All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institutions and upgradation of existing government medical colleges. It was also mentioned that no new case of polio was reported in the last one year. By modernising existing units and setting up a new integrated vaccine unit near Chennai, the government will achieve vaccine security and keep the pressure on disease eradication and prevention, Finance Minister added. Aiming to fill the human resource gap, the highest allocation of Rs 4,182.38 crore has been given to medical education, training and research. According to the Planning Commission, India faces a shortage of about 600,000 doctors, one million nurses, 200,000 dental surgeons and a large number of paramedical staff. Expenditure on public health saw an increase with the government allocating Rs 2,876 crore to tackle vector control diseases, mental health, TB, blindness and leprosy. In the previous budget, it was Rs 2,160.42 crore.
[Source: IANS]

HealthDay reports, "Reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics could save hospitals millions of dollars a year," according to a study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Investigators looked at data from "a sevenyear antibiotic stewardship program at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and found that it led to a $3 million reduction in the hospital's annual budget for antibiotics by its third year." The researchers found that the program had drastically reduced antibiotic spending during the first seven years after implementation, but "after the program was canceled in 2008 in favor of providing more infectious disease consultations, antibiotic costs increased 32 percent (almost $2 million) within two years." Boston Scientific to pay J&J $1.73 Billion in Stent settlement Johnson & Johnson said today Boston Scientific will pay the company $1.73 billion to settle two suits related to stent patents. Boston Scientific will pay Johnson & Johnsons Cordis unit $1 billion today and $725 million next January. The suits involved several drug-coated stents, including Cordiss Cypher stent and Boston Scientifics Liberte, Taxus Liberte and Taxus Express stents. Azithromycin Infection may Clear E. Coli

Program to reduce unnecessary Antibiotic use may save hospitals millions

HealthDay reported, "Patients suffering from a strain of E. coli that produces Shiga toxin, which can be deadly, appear to respond to the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax)," according to a study published in the March 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Starting in May 2011, an outbreak of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli infected nearly 4,000 people in Germany, more than 800 of whom had confirmed cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome

(HUS), which causes red blood cells to break apart, resulting in kidney failure." But "current treatment discourages using antibiotics for Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli because it could increase the risk for HUS, the researchers note." MedPage Today reported, "Patients in last spring's outbreak of severe Escherichia coli infection who were treated with azithromycin were more likely to clear the organism compared with patients who did not receive antibacterial therapy," researchers reported. Researchers "followed a cohort of 65 patients with confirmed E. coli infection for a mean of 43.5 days," and found that the 22 patients who "received azithromycin, and compared with untreated patients...had a significantly lower probability of being Shiga toxinproducing E. coli carriers (HR 0.095, 95% CI 0.041 to 0.218, P<0.001)." "The investigators also report that '[t]here were no signs of HUS induction due to azithromycin therapy as determined by unchanged serum creatinine and lactate dehydrogenase levels as well as unchanged platelet counts,'" Medscape explained. In a telephone interview with Medscape Medical News, Phillip Tarr, MD, professor of pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, said, "This was an extraordinarily well-done study," but added that "it addresses a very narrow set of subjects. We cannot extrapolate to the much more common E coli O15787 strain, which remains the predominant cause of HUS worldwide." Biocon and Pfizer end Biosimilar Insulin marketing agreement Biocon and Pfizer announced today the conclusion of their alliance to market Biocon's biosimilar versions of insulin and insulin analog products. The companies have agreed that because of the individual priorities for their biosimilar businesses

3 that it is within their best interests to move forward independently. As of yesterday, all rights licensed to Pfizer will return to Biocon. All insulin distributed under the brand names Univia and Glarvia will be only commercially available from Biocon. Statin adherence more likely if begun before antidiabetic drugs Medscape reports, "Patients with diabetes who begin taking statins after they have started oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) are more likely to discontinue statin treatment than patients who start receiving statins before initiating OADs," according to a study published in the March issue of Diabetes and Metabolism Research and Reviews. "Among 2,072 patients who both initiated statins and were taking OADs between 1999 and 2007," researchers "found that discontinuation rates for statins were higher compared with those for OADs (52.1% vs 15.0%) overall. In addition, patients who started taking statins after they had started OADs were more likely to discontinue statin use (62.8%) than those patients who initiated statins before OADs (48.2%)." MSF asks Indian generic cos to obtain more CLs to make drugs affordable & accessible Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) has urged other Indian generic companies to come forward to apply for compulsory licenses (CLs), including on HIV medicines, if they cant get appropriate voluntary licenses from the patent holders, to make these life-saving patented drugs available to the common people of this country. The MSF's clarion call in this regard comes in the wake of the Indian Patent Office's landmark decision on March 12 in which the Indian controller general of patents P H Kurian granted for the first ever compulsory license to Natco Pharma to

4 manufacture an affordable generic version of German pharma major Bayer's patented kidney and liver cancer drug Nexavar. More generic companies should now come forward to apply for compulsory licenses, including on HIV medicines, if they cant get appropriate voluntary licenses, said Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the MSF's Access Campaign. This decision marks a precedent that offers hope: it shows that new drugs under patent can also be produced by generic makers at a fraction of the price, while royalties are paid to the patent holder. This compensates patent holders while at the same time ensuring that competition can bring down prices, he added. This decision serves as a warning that when drug companies are price gouging and limiting availability, there is a consequence: the Patent Office can and will end monopoly powers to ensure access to important medicines, said Michelle Childs, director of Policy/Advocacy at the MSF Access Campaign. If this precedent is applied to other drugs and expanded to include exports, it would have a direct impact on affordability of medicines used by MSF and give a real boost to accessing the drugs that are critically needed in countries where we work. Behind this action is the idea that the public has a right to access innovative health products and they should not be blocked from benefiting from new products by excessive prices, said Michelle Childs. If more compulsory licenses are granted in this vein, the answer to the question of how to ensure affordable access to new medicines could radically shift. In July 2011, Natco applied for a CL in the Mumbai patent office to manufacture an affordable generic version of sorafenib tosylate - the anti-cancer drug for which Bayer has obtained a patent IN215758 in India in 2008. The patent expires in 2020. In its CL application Natco had proposed to market the same drug at Rs.8,800 per patient per month if the patent office grants it a compulsory license. Bayer currently markets the drug at a high price of approximately Rs.2,80,000 per patient per month.
Source: Pharmabiz.com

Forthcoming Evevnts: One Day Workshop on Career Counseling for Pharmacy Students Organized Jointly by IPA, Bengal Branch & Carrreograph Date: 31.03.2012 Venue: K.P.Basu Auditorium, Jadavpur University, Kolkata Contact: Mr. A.K.Maity, Hony. Secretary9433579919 Dr. Nityananda Mondal, Joint Secretary-9331021579

World Health Day Celebration


By Indian Pharmaceutical Association Bengal Branch Date: th 7 April 2012 Time: 5.30 pm Venue: IPA Auditorium, 22 B Panchanantola Road, Kolkata700029, India

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