Think different : Big Pharma and drug pricing in emerging markets

I'd like to introduce a guest column by Salil Kallianpur, a healthcare marketing professional with experience in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. Salil is an avid reader and follower of healthcare current affairs, its politics, and strategies.  He comments on the intersection of healthcare and life on his blog My Pharma Reviews. He is …

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Five questions to ask about India’s proposed free drugs programme

India's ambitious plan to provide free medicines to its people has received worldwide attention. For details see here.  It's no secret that the world's largest democracy also spends an abysmally low percentage of GDP on healthcare. This is a belated attempt to correct that. In theory, this is a welcome move.  In an earlier post, …

Generic or innovator, manufacturing still make-or-break

The pharmaceutical industry puts a heavy premium on innovation - the ability to come up with new drugs. Indeed this separates the boys from the men. Generic pharmaceuticals however are seen as similar to any other commodity manufacturing sector. However, in the last two years  one generic and one innovator have been both done in …

Abbott at number one : concerns about rising drug prices

Abbott's acquisition of Piramal's Indian branded drugs unit has raised the spectre of rising prices in some quarters. The reasons are two-fold : one, Abbott will pay Rs 17,000 crore for a Rs 2000 crore business and the need to earn a decent return on this will make it raise drug prices. And two, Abbott now …

Counterfeit drugs : Europe vs India?

The EU's industry commissioner says trade in counterfeit medicines in the Union has exceeded its worst fears, according to German daily Die Welt. "The number of counterfeit medicines arriving in Europe ... is constantly growing. The European Commission is extremely worried," the commissioner, Gunter Verheugen, said yesterday.  34 million tablets have been seized in 2 months from …

NICE, Nexavar, and why it matters

There has been some strong media and patient outrage in the UK over a decision to not make available Bayer's Nexavar, a drug for terminally-ill liver cancer patients, through the National Health Service.  UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - referred to as the NHS' drug rationing body by the UK media - …