Start-up interest gives boost to development of #point-of-care solutions #medtech

The pandemic has underscored the need for rapid, accurate and affordable screening and diagnostic tools that are as close to the patient as possible. In the latest issue of Shaastra, I have profiled a clutch of companies that are using a wide range of technologies to come up with solutions. You can read the story …

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Indian drug discovery : an ecosystem. And green shoots.

It's been a while since I put those long-form writing skills to work, and whatever you may think about the result, I really enjoyed myself. A few weeks ago, Shaastra, a new science and technology magazine by IIT Madras published my piece on emerging new drug discovery start-ups in India in the May-June issue, their …

#FDC ban fiasco: Regulatory weakness and business opportunism brew dangerous cocktail

The government appears to have prevailed in its bid to ban over 300 Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs). But in the most inefficient way possible. It has let the problem get out of hand, then fought the industry in more than one court, constituted two different committees to weigh in on the issue and culminated with a …

Stent price control: 5 reasons why ‘high-end stent’ companies might still hope

As the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) gets down to revisiting the prices of stents and discussing their makers' grievances in February, here are five reasons why multinational stent companies selling relatively high-end products can still hope. 'All stents made equal' argument reopened to debate? According to a Mint newspaper report, the NPPA  requested a …

Is self-regulation in #medtech doomed to fail?

The offer by needle and syringe manufacturers to voluntarily cap trade margins at 75 per cent after meeting with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority apparently validates the view that without the actionable threat of price control, the healthcare sector cannot be trusted to self-regulate. “The NPPA advised manufacturers to consider regulating price themselves; otherwise, the …

Is India Pharma turning to exports because of price control?

The Financial Express published an infographic today that showed that the Indian pharma industry's turnover from exports was up to 65.8 per cent in FY16 from 57.1 per cent in FY11. The newspaper was quick to lay this at the door of enhanced government price controls though the graphic itself proved no such thing. The …

#FDCban : No consolation prizes being awarded here

The Dehi High Court has quashed the ban of over 300 fixed dose combinations (FDCs) announced by the Indian government in March this year. This has left health activists and other drug safety proponents sorely disappointed. The Union Ministry of Health's decision to ban what it termed "irrational" drug combinations - drugs that either need …

“Come into my parlour..” India’s strange #medtech pricing decisions

Correct me if I am wrong but I do believe that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare just acknowledged that when prices of a product are fixed, manufacturers are discouraged from entering the market. And that competition brings down prices. Yes, you read that right, competition, and not price control. In a revealing …

The ban on fixed dose combinations : Quick take #FDCban

I've been quite vocal in my views about the ban on fixed dose combinations on Twitter. So here's a selection of my key tweets (and some retweets) on the subject. Good way to get a quick summary of the subject while I hem and haw over a longer article (if it ever gets written).  Latest …

Why the government wants to cap trade margins on drugs and why it shouldn’t

The abnormally high margin that trade channels are believed to earn on a relatively small portion of the Indian pharmaceutical market has become the latest painpoint for the central government. The  margins in question even cross 1000 per cent in some cases, according to a new report by a committee set up by the Department …