Pharma & Health News Top Stories Today – HealthCBI files charge sheet against RML Hospital cardiologist, surgical equipment suppliers for bribery 10/07/2024In its charge sheet filed before a special CBI court here within 60 days of busting the alleged bribery ring at the RML Hospital, the agency invoked Indian Penal Code section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act pertaining to bribery, they said.Most patients stop using Wegovy, Ozempic for weight loss within two years, analysis finds 10/07/2024Prime Therapeutics and Magellan Rx Management, a pharmacy benefits manager, reviewed pharmacy and medical claims data for 3,364 people with commercial health plans that cover GLP-1 drugs. They had all received new prescriptions between January and December 2021, and had a diagnosis of obesity or a body mass index of 30 or higher.From FLiRT to FLuQE: what to know about the latest COVID variants on the rise 10/07/2024The FLiRT mutations seem to reduce the ability of neutralising antibodies to bind to the spike protein, potentially enabling the virus to better evade our immunity. But at the same time, it appears the immune pressure which has selected for these mutations may have affected the ability of the virus to bind to our cells.Expert Highlights Key Areas for Scaling Companion Diagnostics in India 10/07/2024At the third edition of the India Diagnostics Summit organized by ETHealthworld, experts discussed the current status of the companion diagnostics industry and identified key areas for expansion. They also addressed major challenges and proposed strategies to overcome them.Diagnostics sector to see increased demand in preventive screening: NITI Aayog Director 10/07/2024In her valedictory address at the third edition of ETHealthworld India Diagnostics Summit, Urvashi Prasad, Director at NITI Aayog, Government of India, stated that “Smart wearables and sensors are set to revolutionize the mental health sector, making it more accessible and affordable for a larger segment of the population.” She also highlighted that the diagnostic […]Nearly 50% of government doctor prescriptions deviate from guidelines, finds study 10/07/2024The IJMR study said unnecessary prescription of antibiotics in such a case increases the risk of antibiotic resistance, adverse drug reactions and the cost of treatment; thus, putting the prescription in the category of unacceptable deviation. An acceptable deviation would include incomplete prescriptions with respect to formulation, dose, duration and frequency.AI-Driven innovations will dominate diagnostic future landscape: Experts 09/07/2024ETHealthworld convened a panel discussion on ‘Advances in the Indian Diagnostics Sector: Opportunities and Challenges’ at the third edition of the India Diagnostics Summit. Covering varied areas such as radiology, genomics, pathology, etc, the experts shared their experiences with the challenges they encountered and delved into the trajectory of the diagnostics industry by explaining the […]"Has request for dropping misleading ads on social media been acceded": SC to Patanjali 09/07/2024Meanwhile, the top court also appointed Shadan Farasat as amicus in the matter. In the meantime, the Indian Medical Association informed the Supreme Court that an apology for his controversial remarks regarding the Patanjali hearing has been published in various media platforms and its website too.NEET Exam: Top 11,000 ranks evenly spread across 800 centres, says NTA 09/07/2024The National Testing Agency (NTA) has reported that only 175 candidates from 12 centres in Patna and eight from two centres in Godhra scored 640 or higher in the NEET-UG exam. None of the candidates from the Godhra centres achieved a score of 680 or above, and only 35 candidates from the Patna centres reached […]NEET-UG 2024: SC understands question paper leak took place via social media, says re-test needed 09/07/2024The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties. Pharma & Health NewsZydus Lifesciences gets USFDA nod to market chronic heart failure treatment drug 10/07/2024The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is to market Sacubitril and Valsartan tablets of strengths 24 mg/26 mg, 49 mg/51 mg, and 97 mg/103 mg, Zydus Lifesciences said in a regulatory filing.Glenmark Pharma to sell 7.84% stake in Glenmark Life via OFS 10/07/2024Glenmark Pharma shares have given multibagger returns of 108 per cent over the past 12 months, outperforming Nifty by nearly four times. The broader index has returned 25 per cent in the said period.Novo Nordisk, Indonesia's Bio Farma set to make insulin 10/07/2024Novo's CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said, in November that given that many people with type 2 diabetes suffer from weight issues, the company was prioritising the treatment of obesity as a precursor to that type of diabetes, acknowledging a shift in its focus from insulin to its new blockbuster, Wegovy.Purdue Pharma secures litigation ceasefire after US Supreme Court ruling 10/07/2024Lawsuits against Purdue and Sackler family members by state and local governments, as well as by individual plaintiffs, have accused them of fueling the opioid crisis through deceptive marketing of its pain medication. The company pleaded guilty to misbranding and fraud charges related to its marketing of OxyContin in 2007 and 2020.Sellers of fake Ozempic to face charges in Austrian court 10/07/2024The defendants had acted as traders and sold 225 bogus injection pens falsely labelled as Ozempic for 205 euros ($222) apiece to a plastic surgeon in the city of Salzburg, the prosecutors' office in the city of Steyr told Reuters, declining to name the defendants.Pfizer's chief scientist Mikael Dolsten to step down 10/07/2024During his tenure, Comirnaty - jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech - became the first COVID vaccine to get an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021, just 13 months after its trial began, in a record time to approval for any shot or therapeutic.South Africa drops probe of J&J after it agrees to lower price of TB drug and withdraws patent 10/07/2024The South African Competition Commission in a statement on July 5 said it decided not to prosecute a complaint against J&J regarding "allegations of abuse of dominance," which was prompted after J&J and its subsidiary filed a secondary patent for bedaquiline last year, used to treat drug-resistant TB.Drug regulator to crack down on pharma companies not using barcodes 10/07/2024In a recent meeting the drug regulator has asked states for "strict implementation" of barcodes. In a bid to weed out spurious drugs, the regulator had made it mandatory for the companies to have a barcode on its label so that information such as manufacturing licence and batch number can be accessed upon scanning.GSK gets restraining order against Elder Laboratories 10/07/2024GSK approached the high court against Elder Laboratories early this year for alleged infringement of trademark, including usage of identical product names, trademarks and packaging. GSK issued several notices to Elder before approaching the court seeking a restraining order.Roche to use AI to help diabetics sleep peacefully 09/07/2024More than 422 million people suffer from diabetes across the world in 2014, according to the World Health Organization, with rising levels of obesity driving rising numbers of type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin.Alembic Pharmaceuticals receives final US FDA approval for Bromfenac Ophthalmic Solution, 0.07 per cent 09/07/2024Bromfenac Ophthalmic Solution 0.07 per cent is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) indicated for the treatment of postoperative inflammation and reduction of ocular pain in patients who have undergone cataract surgery.Novo Nordisk shares down after analysis finds Lilly drug leads to better weight loss 09/07/2024The analysis was published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, a medical journal. It examined health records and other data to assess the pace and percentage of weight loss for overweight and obese people taking tirzepatide - the active ingredient in Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound - and semaglutide - the main ingredient in Wegovy and […]Emergent, J&J settle COVID vaccine supply deal dispute 09/07/2024Under the five-year agreement, signed in 2020, Emergent would provide contract manufacturing services to produce the COVID-19 vaccine drug substance for commercial manufacturing. It was valued at about $480 million for the first two years.HilleVax to discontinue development of norovirus vaccine for infants; shares plummet 09/07/2024Norovirus is one of the leading causes of vomiting, diarrhea and other foodborne illnesses. It is estimated to cause about 685 million cases and roughly 200,000 deaths globally each year, according to the World Health Organization. Low-income countries are the worst hit.Grifols says founding family, Brookfield looking to delist drugmaker 09/07/2024Grifols said its board held an extraordinary meeting over the weekend to study a preliminary offer presented by Brookfield and the Grifols founding family, which holds a stake of around 30%, according to the latest data by Spanish securities regulator CNMV.Eli Lilly weight loss drug beats Ozempic in head-to-head study 09/07/2024Researchers analyzed the electronic health records of more than 18,000 US patients between May 2022 and September 2023 to compare outcomes among those receiving the two injected medicines, and published the results in JAMA Internal Medicine.Eli Lilly weight loss drug beats Ozempic in head-to-head study 09/07/2024Researchers analyzed the electronic health records of more than 18,000 US patients between May 2022 and September 2023 to compare outcomes among those receiving the two injected medicines, and published the results in JAMA Internal Medicine.Study finds Pfizer's RSV vaccine not tied to higher risk of pre-term births 09/07/2024Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York conducted the retrospective study in women who were 24 to 36 weeks into pregnancy, and found no significant statistical difference between the vaccinated women's pre-term birth rate of 5.9% compared with unvaccinated women's 6.7%.Eli Lilly to buy bowel disease drug developer Morphic for $3.2 bln 08/07/2024Shares of drug developer Morphic surged 76 per cent to $56.15 premarket on Lilly's offer of $57 per share, which represents a 79 per cent premium to stock's last closing price.Budget 2024: Pharma sector seeks tax sops, effective intellectual property rights regime 08/07/2024Outlining the sector's wish list for the upcoming Union Budget, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) Director General Anil Matai urged the government to explore methods to incentivise R&D investments, such as deductions on R&D expenses, research-linked incentives for MNCs, and corporate tax concessions. WHO newsMeDevIS platform announced to boost access to medical technologies and devices 08/07/2024World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced an online platform called MeDevIS (Medical Devices Information System), the first global open access clearing house for information on medical devices. It is designed to support governments, regulators and users in their decision-making on selection, procurement and use of medical devices for diagnostics, testing and treatment of diseases and […]WHO updates laboratory biosecurity guidance 04/07/2024WHO recently issued updated guidance for national authorities and biomedical laboratories to manage biological risks.Laboratories are essential components of health systems, critical for patient diagnosis and rapid clinical care, disease surveillance, pathogen characterization, and research and development for treatments and vaccines. Appropriately designed and equipped facilities, trained staff, evidence-based risk mitigating measures, transparent reporting and […]WHO releases first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults 01/07/2024The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a comprehensive set of tobacco cessation interventions, including behavioural support delivered by health-care providers, digital cessation interventions and pharmacological treatments in a first guideline on tobacco cessation.The guideline focuses on helping the more than 750 million tobacco users who want to quit all forms of tobacco. The recommendations are […]Nearly 1.8 billion adults at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity 25/06/2024New data show that nearly one third (31%) of adults worldwide, approximately 1.8 billion people, did not meet the recommended levels of physical activity in 2022. The findings point to a worrying trend of physical inactivity among adults, which has increased by about 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2022. If the trend continues, levels of […]Over 3 million annual deaths due to alcohol and drug use, majority among men 25/06/2024A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths in that year, and 0.6 million deaths –to psychoactive drug use. Notably, 2 million of alcohol- and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men.WHO issues warning on falsified medicines used for diabetes treatment and weight loss 20/06/2024The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a medical product alert on falsified semaglutides, the type of medicines that are used for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity in some countries.Chad eliminates human African trypanosomiasis as a public health problem 19/06/2024The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Chad for having eliminated the gambiense form of human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, as a public health problem. It marks the first neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in the country.WHO concerned about escalating health crisis in West Bank 14/06/2024WHO remains concerned about the escalating health crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, where attacks on health infrastructure and increased restrictions on movement are obstructing access to health care. A spike in violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the war in Gaza started has resulted in the deaths […]WHO releases report on state of development of antibacterials 14/06/2024The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its latest report on antibacterial agents, including antibiotics, in clinical and preclinical development worldwide. Although the number of antibacterial agents in the clinical pipeline increased from 80 in 2021 to 97 in 2023, there is a pressing need for new, innovative agents for serious infections and to replace […]Detention of United Nations and nongovernmental organization personnel in Yemen 13/06/2024We, the Principals of the affected United Nations (UN) entities and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), call for the immediate and unconditional release of all personnel held in Yemen by the Houthi de facto authorities. We are extremely concerned about the Houthi de facto authorities’ recent detention of 17 members of our organizations [UN entities and […]