Page 152 - CW E-Magazine (14-5-2024)

Pharmaceuticals

CONSOLIDATION
Bayer acquires remaining 25% stake in jv with Zydus

Lifesciences

Bayer Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. has ac- increasing its ownership interest to 75%. combined Zydus’ strong Indian marketing,
quired the 25% stake it didn’t already own It has now taken full ownership as per and wide distribution reach, with Bayer’s
in its joint venture with Ahmedabad-based pre-agreed JV terms, the companies said. global expertise in commercializing novel
Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. (formerly Cadila products and bringing in innovation
Healthcare) for Rs. 282.2-crore ($33.8-mn), Headquartered in Mumbai, the joint to India.
the two companies informed. venture operated across segments such as
women’s healthcare, metabolic disorders, “As we assume full ownership of BZPPL,
The 50:50 joint venture – Bayer Zydus diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular disea- Bayer remains committed to ensuring
Pharma Pvt. Ltd. – was established in ses, anti-diabetic treatments, and oncology. its steadfast presence in India,” said Ms.
January 2011, for the sales and marketing Bayer said the joint venture leveraged Shweta Rai, Managing Director for India
of pharmaceutical products in India. Bayer the strengths of both companies to better and country division head for South Asia
bought a 25% stake in the jv in April 2018, serve the fast-growing Indian market. It at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals division.
SIDE EFFECT PROBLEMS
Bharat Biotech reaffi rms ‘excellent safety records’

of Covaxin

Days after AstraZeneca admitted was evaluated in more than 27,000 sub- continued throughout the product life
in a UK court that its COVID vaccine jects as part of its licensure process,” the cycle of Covaxin,” it said. According to
can cause a rare but serious side effect, company said in a statement. The vac- Bharat Biotech, as product developers,
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech said cine was licensed under restricted use in its team was well aware that, “while the
its Covaxin has demonstrated “excellent clinical trial mode. effi cacy of COVID-19 vaccines may be
safety records without vaccine-associated short-lived, the impact on patient safety
incidents such as blood clots, thrombo- “Safety of Covaxin was also evalua- could last a lifetime. Hence safety is the
cytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis and ted by the health ministry. Ongoing safety primary focus for all our vaccines,” it
myocarditis”. monitoring (pharmacovigilance) was said.

Covaxin was the second most used India raises issue of pharma pricing
COVID vaccine in India, after Astra-
Zeneca’s vaccine that was produced control in Australia
locally by Serum Institute of India
under the Covishield brand. Covaxin India has raised the issue of pharma- in 2023-24 as against $26-bn in 2022-23.
was developed with a single-minded ceutical pricing control in Australia, These issues among others were
focus on “safety fi rst”, followed by particularly on generic medicines, during discussed during the fi rst Joint
effi cacy, Bharat Biotech said, while a recent bilateral meeting between the Committee Meeting (JCM) in Can-
admitting that the effi cacy of COVID-19 offi cials of the two countries. The two berra under India-Australia Economic
vaccines may be “short-lived”. sides have decided to work closely Co-operation and Trade Agreement
on timely resolution of market access (Ind-Aus ECTA). The meeting serves
Studies and safety follow-up acti- issues, deepen people-to-people contacts, as a platform to further strengthen trade
vities “have demonstrated an excellent and create an institutional mechanism ties and explore new opportunities
safety record” for Covaxin, the company for sharing of preferential import data, for bilateral economic cooperation in
said. Covaxin was the only COVID-19 the commerce ministry said. areas such as trade facilitation, invest-
vaccine in the government’s immunisa- ment promotion, as well as cooperation
tion programme to have conducted effi - The bilateral trade between the in other areas including support for
cacy trials in India, it claimed. “Covaxin countries declined 7.7 percent to $24-bn technology.

152 Chemical Weekly May 14, 2024

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