BMS and FICCI organised round table conference to tackle chronic diseases

Bristol-Myers Squibb India (BMSI), in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), organised a roundtable conference on ‘Developing Capacities to Tackle Chronic Diseases’ in New Delhi on November 14, on the occasion of World Diabetes Day. The conference was supported by India Health Progress (IHP), an initiative aligned at ensuring healthcare access to all. The event was aimed at creating awareness about the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases, and the dire and immediate need to spread prevention awareness about these diseases.

BMSI is a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb— a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York city. Adhering to its mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases, the company addresses unmet medical need in various chronic diseases areas such as diabetes, cancer and hepatitis.

Attended by key stakeholders from the health ministry, as well as experts from the healthcare and insurance industries, the conference offered a unique opportunity for discussions on improving healthcare access across the country through formulation of relevant policies by government. The conference deliberated on exploring options to formulate special insurance policies for chronic diseases such as diabetes and ways to highlight the magnitude of diabetes as a chronic disease in India. In addition, the discussions clearly brought out the important role that will have to be essayed by insurance providers in terms of making drugs more affordable and accessible for patients. Other key aspects discussed included improving affordability of medicines through policies that help in cost reduction for management of chronic diseases, linking health insurance for promoting prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, etc., and proposing a course for taking this initiative forward by formation of a forum or advisory group for recommending strategies for tackling chronic diseases.

Some of the key speakers included Dr Nandakumar Jairam, co-chairman, FICCI Health Services Committee; Pheroze Khan, managing director, BMSI; Aman Gupta, principal advisor, IHP; Keshav Desiraju, additional secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Arvind Kumar, joint secretary, Department of Banking and Insurance, Ministry of Finance; Dr Ashok Kumar Walia, Minister, Health & Revenue, Government of NCT of Delhi; Krishnan Ramachandran chief operating officer, Apollo Munich Health Insurance ; Dr Somil Nagpal, health specialist, World Bank; and, Dr Anoop Mishra, director and head, Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Group of Hospitals.

Welcoming attendees and speakers, Khan, set the tone of the conference with his opening remarks: “The rise in chronic diseases in the country poses a threat to both public health and the economy. Not only do chronic diseases pose an economic burden on society but also contribute to an ever-increasing number of deaths. Therefore, it is imperative that we review and implement the health actions we know will reduce death from chronic diseases.”

FICCI organised first road show of PHARMAceutical EXPO 2011 in Bangalore

Karnataka’s pharma sector, already one of the fastest growing sectors of the state, is set to get a major boost thanks to Bengaluru being the host city for this year’s PHARMAceutical EXPO. Held concurrently with the 63rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC), the Expo is scheduled for December 16- 18 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Tumkur Road, Bangalore. The Expo is set to showcase the strengths of the sector and the potential of the industry. The PHARMAceutical EXPO 2011 has received tremendous response, with around 122 companies already confirming participation at the show, revealed FICCI, the organisers of the Expo, at a recently organised road show in Bengaluru. The road show was well attended by representatives from pharma companies as well as allied industries.

The Expo organisers also announced that they are in the process of signing an agreement with Pharmexcil in order to arrange buyer seller meets at the Expo. This will be the first time in the history of IPC that exhibitors will get an open platform to take enquiries to the next logical level. The organisers have also fixed student visiting hours from 1-3 pm each day.

PHARMAceutical EXPO 2011 will provide excellent business opportunities to all participating organisations to enable them explore new business avenues and opportunities. The event is supported by the Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association (KDPMA), the nodal association of pharma drugs manufacturers in Karnataka. While all major pharma machinery companies are participating in this show, Cadmach Machinery is the co-sponsor with IKA and Fluid Pack as associate sponsors. Express Pharma remains the official media partner for the event this year as well.

The Expo to be held concurrent with the 63rd IPC will discuss the challenges and opportunities in managing growth. It will also showcase new products and solutions for the sector. The Expo will have a range of products from lab equipment, pharma ingredients, machinery, packaging materials, water treatment and waste management, pharma software etc. The show is expected to attract representatives from the pharma industry, regulatory authorities, hospitals and other allied industries, besides the medical education field.

IPC Pharma Expo 2010 kicks off at Manipal with plant machinery, lab equipment displays

The 'Pharmaceutical Expo-2010' organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FICCI) in association with the 62nd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) was inaugurated by Dr BR Shetty, managing director, Neopharma, Abu Dhabi. Leading pharma plant machinery and lab equipment manufacturers like Shimadzu, Waters and Millipore have made their presence by displaying their latest equipments at the Pharmaceutical Expo..The exhibition with 150 stalls, spanned over an area of 6,000square metres, is expected to have 8,000 visitors. The mega event has visitors trickling in. However, the participants are of the view that it would be more of students. Going by the increasing number of pharmacy colleges and fewer job openings, pharmacy students are looking to be present in such events to chalk their future job prospects, according to a section of the industry.

There are also companies from the contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS). These include Biocon's subsidiary Syngene and Anglo French among others. Ronald Mascarenhas, head, human resources, Syngene International said, “ the main intention for our participation is to help create a pool of fresh Pharmacy graduates and post graduates. Going by the challenge of accessing the right personnel, expos such as IPC which lure a large student population is a platform for planning our campus recruitment”, he added.

According to FICCI's Kamal Bharadwaj, assistant director, Trade Fairs, FICCI, the expo is expected to see a huge interest going by the displays of plant machinery and lab equipment. He said,”Going by the educational environment of the town Manipal which boasts of its centres of learning, we have received a good response and we hope to have around 5,000 business and general visitors. The Expo which was a hub for foreign participation has so far seen only representation from Korea and US”.There are a couple of interesting exhibits for liquid dispensing. In the lab equipment front, Millipore is exhibiting the MilliQ, Snap IDand Sceptor. The novel Sceptor is a hand held cell counter is a product of the future. Waters' display includes Zevo TQS, besides balances and cartridges.

The pharmaceutical industry in India has been growing at the rate of 12-13 per cent and has garnered revenues to the tune of Rs. 68,000 crore. To sustain this growths in the face of competition both domestic and international, it is required for the industry to keep update technology, source raw material at competitive rates and improve over all productivity. To this end, they do need to visit the exhibition and source their requirements appropriately, stated Bharadwaj.Some of the big participating companies are Shimadzu, Millipore, CVC Technologies,Associated Capsules Group, Cadmach, Bectochem, Precision Gears, Pharmalab, Fabtech, Ambica Machine tools, Flow Control Industries.