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 …

Key takeaways from Cipla’s first biosimilar launch

On April 17, Cipla launched its first biosimilar drug in India. The product is Etacept, a branded biosimilar of Pfizer's Enbrel (etanercept). The drug treats rheumatoid arthritis (RA) an autoimmune disease that leads to painful and debilitating inflammation, predominantly of the joints, and is estimated to impact 0.7 per cent of the Indian population above …

No Indian data on vaccines market?

At a recent press conference to announce the launch of its vaccine Prevenar 13, Pfizer MD Kewal Handa declined to share revenue numbers of the vaccine's predecessor Prevenar in India. That's not surprising - companies rarely reveal internal numbers for specific products. But what was surprising is that it did not provide ORG-IMS  numbers either. The …

Pfizer’s Nigerian nightmare. Or is it the other way around?

Children who participated in an allegedly botched Pfizer drug trial in Nigeria in 1996 may still have their day in an American court. The US Supreme Court has refused to block a suit brought against Pfizer by their families. The plaintiffs contend that Pfizer tested its experimental antibiotic Trovan during a meningitis epidemic in Nigeria without following due process …