In an effort to provide a further boost to the pharmaceutical sector, a prominent healthcare equipments manufacturer is going ahead with its plans to establish base at Indore. A big buyers-sellers meet of pharma sector is already scheduled to take place in Indore in December. The region which already has a well established pharma cluster in Pithampur is likely to be boosted further, as Syncom Healthcare Limited has chalked out a plan to establish a plant in Indore with the initial investment of Rs 25 crore. The company initially had planned to establish a base at Pithampur SEZ but the restraints like 100% import and other reasons forced the company to alter plans. The company is looking for a 6 acre land piece for the project. Significantly, the high growth prospect is on the cards for pharma sector of the region, as the city is all set to hold a mega buyers-sellers convention in December. The Trade and Investment Facilitation Corporation (TRIFAC) and Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam Indore are slated to hold this event jointly. The expected participation of more than two dozen overseas pharma sector players are likely to boost the future growth of this sector in the region.

The Pharmacy Council of India has cracked the whip on seven pharmacy colleges in the state for admitting more students than permitted. With this, the one-upmanship between the All India Council for Technical Education and PCI over control of pharmacy colleges has taken a new turn.

The PCI has barred admissions to these colleges from the ensuing academic year 2012-13. The PCI has informed the state government that these colleges have violated the Education Regulation Act, 1999, by admitting more students than they were permitted and has asked the government to initiate action against them. It also asked the government not to include these colleges in Eamcet counselling next year.

The managements of these colleges claim that their intake is as approved by AICTE and that PCI’s diktat is unilateral and unjustified. They have urged the PCI to sort out the problem with AICTE. While PCI gives approval for 60 seats in a pharmacy college, AICTE has approved an intake of up to 200 seats. PCI’s contention is that AICTE has given indiscriminate approval to the increase in student intake without conducting proper inspections to see whether the infrastructure and faculty in the colleges is adequate. Pharmacy Council of India has made it clear that it will not recognise the degrees awarded to students by colleges that gave admissions in excess of the number approved by PCI.

Pfizer has offered to deliver Lipitor at a cut-price of $4 directly to patients in its fight to retain market share of the world's largest selling drug just days before the US patent for the medicine is due to expire.

The move is expected to hit Ranbaxy Pharma, which has the exclusive rights to sell the generic version for three months beginning November 30.

However, the Indian company has remained silent on the US FDA clearance for its banned plants and it is not clear if it would launch its generic version as scheduled. Ranbaxy did not respond to ET's email queries. Lipitor is the brand name for atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug with annual sales of over $10 bullion.

Pfizer said the patented version would be sold through Diplomat Pharmacy at $4 per month, which will deliver it to the patent's home and the bill will be sent directly to the insurance company.

Pfizer has been aggressively pushing the patented version of Lipitor at a much lower price through various chemists and benefit managers. It recently launched the 'Lipitor for You' programme where the patients have been offered a 30-day dose of Lipitor for a mere $4 per month.

Analysts have now halved their estimate of Ranbaxy's profit-after-tax accruing from the launch of the planned Lipitor generic to $100 million. If Ranbaxy fails to launch the drug on November 30, Watson Pharma, which has bought the rights to sell generic Lipitor, will launch its version in the market.

Since 1997, Lipitor has contributed close to $131 billion dollar to Pfizer revenues. Analysts say even after it loses the patent, Pfizer will hold on to 40% market share, which could dent Ranbaxy's margins.

Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories has requested the government to denotify its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Medak in Andhra Pradesh, said a top company official.

The formulations unit, which was to come up at Medak, will now be moved to Visakhapatnam where the company has another SEZ for manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). It is expected to come up for consideration at the Board of Approvals meeting scheduled on November 28.

DRL is setting up the formulations SEZ in Vizag for better synergies of management and material flows.

DRL had acquired around 103 hectares at Melasangam and Lingampally villages in Medak to set up a tablets and capsules manufacturing unit for exports. In Vizag, it had acquired around 260 acres for the bulk drugs SEZ, which will now house the formulation SEZ as well.

The company is expected invest around USD 200 million in both the SEZs, a company official had said earlier.

Aggressive marketing initiatives by Pfizer Inc may reduce Ranbaxy Laboratories' earnings from the scheduled launch of its lowcost version of Lipitor, the world's largest selling drug, in the US by the month end.

The world's largest drugmaker earns around $6 billion from Lipitor sales in the US and it has over the last 12 months taken measures to prevent its market share from falling dramatically after Ranbaxy and its own authorised generic partner, Watson Pharmaceuticals, begin selling their versions of the blockbuster cholesterol lowering drug.

Late last year, Pfizer started offering 'co-pay' programmes which lowered out of pocket payment by insured patients to $4 a month for a Lipitor prescription.

In September, it started a 'Lipitor for You' programme, which gives co-pay card users and all other customers the facility to receive free home delivery of the drug along with periodic emails with health information.

Pfizer has also agreed to give 'large discounts' for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), third-party administrators of prescription drugs, to block pharmacies from selling generic versions of Lipitor for the next six months starting December 1. PBMs are the middlemen between drugmakers and insurers, who also negotiate contracts with pharmacies, and discounts and rebates with drug manufacturers.

Pfizer is also in talks with the US drug regulator to sell Lipitor as an over-the-counter brand, which allow consumers to buy the medicine without a doctor's prescription.

As a result of these initiatives, analysts and rival expect Pfizer to retain a 40% market share for atorvastatin (the drug sold under the Lipitor brand name), as opposed to the normal trend of the innovator company's market share falling to less than 20% after the patent expiry.

AstraZeneca has tapped outsourcing firm Cognizant to take on a range of duties for the London-based drug giant, which aims to "streamline" its clinical development work, a company official stated.

As the drugmaker seeks ways to be efficient in developing medicines, the multi-year pact calls for Cognizant to provide statistical programming, statistical analysis and several related services, according to a press release. To enable teams to all over the world to share data on clinical studies, Cognizant said, the firm plans to support AstraZeneca with its proprietary web-based platform. Cognizant says it's been providing business and tech support to AZ since 2004. AstraZeneca has tapped outsourcing firm Cognizant to take on a range of duties for the London-based drug giant, which aims to "streamline" its clinical development work, a company official stated. As the drugmaker seeks ways to be efficient in developing medicines, the multi-year pact calls for Cognizant to provide statistical programming, statistical analysis and several related services, according to a press release. To enable teams to all over the world to share data on clinical studies, Cognizant said, the firm plans to support AstraZeneca with its proprietary web-based platform. Cognizant says it's been providing business and tech support to AZ since 2004. AstraZeneca has tapped outsourcing firm Cognizant to take on a range of duties for the London-based drug giant, which aims to "streamline" its clinical development work, a company official stated. As the drugmaker seeks ways to be efficient in developing medicines, the multi-year pact calls for Cognizant to provide statistical programming, statistical analysis and several related services, according to a press release. To enable teams to all over the world to share data on clinical studies, Cognizant said, the firm plans to support AstraZeneca with its proprietary web-based platform. Cognizant says it's been providing business and tech support to AZ since 2004. AstraZeneca has some good reasons to want to bring new drugs to market quickly. Its blockbuster antipsychotic Seroquel is due to lose patent exclusivity next year, opening the door to competition. The drugmaker has also made a number of cutbacks in recent years in response to drug pricing pressures and generic drug competition, resulting in the layoffs of thousands of workers. AstraZeneca has some good reasons to want to bring new drugs to market quickly. Its blockbuster antipsychotic Seroquel is due to lose patent exclusivity next year, opening the door to competition. The drugmaker has also made a number of cutbacks in recent years in response to drug pricing pressures and generic drug competition, resulting in the layoffs of thousands of workers. AstraZeneca has some good reasons to want to bring new drugs to market quickly. Its blockbuster antipsychotic Seroquel is due to lose patent exclusivity next year, opening the door to competition. The drugmaker has also made a number of cutbacks in recent years in response to drug pricing pressures and generic drug competition, resulting in the layoffs of thousands of workers.