Drug firm Elder Pharmaceuticals has announced plans to foray deeply into the growing personal and lifestyle healthcare sector by focusing on creating products for hypertension, diabetes, cardiac care, pain management, nicotine replacement therapy and other pharmaceuticals.With its recently added manufacturing plant in Navi Mumbai, the company has acquired a strong presence in women's healthcare, nutraceuticals, anti-infectives, lifestyle diseases and pain management. The company derives 95 per cent of its revenue from the domestic market and is presently ranked 27th by IMS ORG.The firm's main strength lies in marketing the women's healthcare product, Shelcal, a calcium supplement to prevent osteoporosis, and its extensions. In fact a major part of their products are oriented towards taking care of women's healthcare needs, including infections and the requirements of post-menopausal women. "Elder's focus is on creating a product in a therapeutic category and establishing brand leadership in that segment, apart from developing our own portfolio," says Alok Saxena, Director, International, Elder Pharmaceuticals, who informs that the company has the highest number of in-licence agreements in the domestic market. "Products are chosen based on research and licensed from companies that discovered the original molecules. We stay away from patent infringement, hence the need to acquire so many licences from companies abroad," Saxena clarifies. Elder also has an in-licence with Diawa of Japan for Imbran, an immunomodulator that enhances the body's immune response and is particularly valuable for patients with cancer, AIDS and swine flu. Carnisure, a cardiovascular product, is on a high growth trajectory and will be a major brand in its category. Other key brands include Somazina (for brain stroke), Hibor (low molecular weight heparin) and the recently launched own brand nicotine replacement therapy. Saxena explains that "we are now enhancing our presence in the field of pain management, where we have identified chronic diseases such as arthritis and cartilage disease and have a specific arrangement with two foreign companies to market the products." The company plans to stay in the chronic diseases segment, which requires knowledge and understanding; the products have to be extensively explained to the medical profession for their application. Two drugs, Sampure and Artodar, are specific to this disease. "We have extended our portfolio beyond oral medication to market rubefacients." says Saxena.Nutraceuticals is another area where the company is expanding its operations, catering to cardiac, diabetic and kidney disease patients. Phytomega, which was introduced in arrangement with Enzymotec of Israel, reduces the dose of statins over a period of time and is extremely effective in bringing down levels of triglycerides, the cause of various coronary blockages. It has been clinically proved to be effective and can be deemed as an essential product with statin intake. Ecozyme is a recent introduction. CoQ10 is a vital product for promoting cardiovascular health. The company has created six manufacturing facilities in Uttaranchal, Himachal and Maharashtra for different products. It also has a 61 per cent stake in Biomeda of Bulgaria, which has a manufacturing facility for tablets and is backed by a strong distribution network in that country. This move will fuel the company's growth in the European Union and CIS markets.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Delhi's private hospitals, built on subsidised government land, to provide free treatment to the poor, saying they cannot "wriggle out" of their responsibility.A bench of justices R V Raveendrana and A K Patnaik asked the city hospitals to reserve 25 per cent of their out-patient department capacity and 10 per cent of beds at the indoor level for free treatment of the poor.The hospitals cannot "wriggle out" of their responsibility to treat the poor free of cost, the court said."The bottom line is that the poor patients are not to be charged," said the bench, dismissing the plea of some private hospitals against providing free treatment to the poor.The court passed the order on a batch of petitions filed by ten private hospitals challenging a Delhi High Court order to provide free treatment to the poor patients as per the land lease agreements between the government and them.There are 37 hospitals which were granted land by the government at concessional rates out of which 27 have been providing free treatment to poor patients."Why did you (hospitals) take the land? You hand over the land to the government and purchase it somewhere else," the bench remarked when the counsel appearing for the hospitals pleaded that it was not practical to provide free treatment to the poor in all the cases."You want to wriggle out after signing the contract with the government while taking the land (at concessional rate)," the bench said.The hospitals contended that the treatment of diseases like cancer, neuro surgery and plastic surgery are costly and cannot be provided free of cost.The bench upheld the Delhi High Court's order, which, in 2007, had ruled that all private hospitals which were given public land at highly subsidised costs would provide free treatment to the poor, earmarking 25 per cent of their out-patient department (OPD) capacity and 10 per cent of their in-patient department capacity for them."They (poor patients) will be provided free admission, bed, medication, treatment, surgery facility, nursing facility and consumables and non-consumables. The hospitals charging any money from such patients shall be liable to be proceeded against in accordance with the law. Besides that, this would be treated as violation of the orders of the court," the high court had said.The high court had pronounced the judgement on a PIL seeking implementation of the land lease agreement between the government and the hospitals for providing, among other things, free treatment to certain percentage of the poor patients out of their total treatment capacities.(PTI)
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