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India currently stands 3^rd as far as HIV population go. The number is roughly 2.4 million at the moment and it can only mount if proper care is not taken. The factors, which influence the Indian scenario, are the size, behavior & disease burden of high risk groups, their interaction with bridge population, sexual network & migration and mobility of a large section of population. Beside these factors the geographical diversity and high rate of illiteracy also enhanced the growth of HIV here.

In the year 1987 a National AIDS Control Program was started to co-ordinate national responses regarding Aids. Its activities covered surveillance, blood screening and health education. During the earlier part of the 90’s, the infection started rising at an alarming rate and as a result Government set up NACO (National Aids Control Organization) to supervise the formulation of policies, prevention work and control, programs related to HIV & AIDS. This plan established the technical basis for program management and also set up State Aids bodies in India. In 2001 national Aids Prevention & Control policies were adopted and the then Indian Prime Minister Mr. Vajpayee also addressed the parliament by referring about HIV/Aids as one of the biggest danger in the country.

But inspite of all these steps, India is still a hugely HIV prone country, as 2006 UNAIDS estimated that there were 5.6 million people living with HIV in India. Moreover majority of state shows a poor picture regarding HIV, which is not a positive sign. So immediately a huge consciousness is required among the people of India to protect them from this grave danger of HIV/Aids.

HIV has long been a dreaded infection that has plagued people all over the world. Until recently, the virus could only be put on hold with medication, but researchers have now found a way to keep a step ahead. Scientists have found 295 cellular proteins that help the HIV virus to establish the infection. Knowing this, they may now be able to develop a therapy to prevent the virus from infecting new cells, enabling patients to keep a step ahead of the dreaded virus. (more…)

India has always been renown as a destination for the best in medicine at a competitive price when compared to other places. Not so anymore, as more and more foreign firms like Itero, enter into partnership with Indian companies with an eye on contracts and future profits. The Indian doctors are one of the best the world over and their reputation is well deserved. It is not just the doctors but the medical research firms that are equally excellent, it is no wonder that many foreign firms, especially in the field of biotechnology are making a beeline to this country.

Itero is currently located in California and has just entered into a partnership with the Indian firm Biological E. Their partnership is more or less based on providing the equitable financial assistance to joint research projects and to commercialize it in India as well as the world over. Naturally under this agreement, Itero retains the right to market such products in the United States, Japan and Europe while Biological E retains the right to do the same in the other countries, read Australiasia.В  Itero will provide the required funding for the development cycle where as Biological E will do so for the manufacturing part.

According to Dr. Bryan Lawli, the chief executive officer of Itero, they had settled upon Biological E after a very exhaustive search. It was their expertise in biologics manufacturing and commercialization that settled the deal for them. Taking into account the operational experience that Biological E has both in India as well as the United States, Bryan Lawlis feels that the company as a whole would stand to benefit from such a partnership and that one can hope for great things to happen, here and overseas as a result of this.

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The next time you need a tablet to relieve your hypertension problems, you may want to try out the new Ramipril tablets instead of the Altace tablets. Lupin limited, a well known pharmaceuticals based in Bombay has managed to get the final go ahead to introduce their version of the Altace tablets to the American markets. Lupin decided to come out with their own generic version of the age old Altace and in spite of legal hurdles initiated by King pharmaceuticals they have managed to prevail.

The new version of the Altace tablets offers the American consumers a much better alternative when it comes alleviating their hypertension problems. For one, it is alleged to be quicker than the old version and is priced competitively. The US Food and Drug administration has granted its approval of the Ramipril capsules in the 1.25 mg, 2.5mg, 5mg and the 10 mg varieties.

Lupin has become the very first company to successfully challenge the hold that Altace tablets have had on the American consumer market and win it. The new and the generic form of the old meds forbears interesting times ahead with more generic forms of old formulas due to hit the markets in the near future. The patients as well as the American markets are set to benefit as a result of new entrants like Ramipril on account of their effectiveness as well as the range of prices they offer. With effective medicine being made available, one can hope that the burden on the American healthcare would decrease with time.

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Biotechnology is a foreign world to many, so much so that all that most of us can relate to this particular field is the range of controversies than the actual subject matter itself. Biotechnology seeks to harness modern technology in the quest of a ‘better life’ for all of us from the genome alteration to cloning.

It is no wonder that most of the religious institutions today are firmly set against this field in particular, because they see it as an example of man trying to build ‘Babel’ all over again. But to some, their fixed positions has more to do with the fact that religious institutions are fast losing their hold on mankind as a whole as technological advances are made in all the fields including that of Biotech.

One can say that Biotechnology got a new life with the creation of ‘Dolly’ the first cloned sheep. That particular experiment took place in Edinburgh, Scotland on the 22nd of February 1997. It was a total success and dolly lived on for about 6 years after that.

That experiment alone sent shock waves through all the religious institutions with each of them claiming that Man has crossed a boundary he was never meant to cross. But religious statements aside, that experiment in particular proved to the world the efficacy of Biotechnology and today it continues to play a very important role in all of our lives. From developing the latest strain of disease resistant rice to utilizing stem cells to further medical research, Biotechnology has come a long way, from the dark corridors and dingy rooms. It has evolved to become a very lucrative field for many a scientist and one that the rest of the world is counting on to come to its aid. The modern era has more to do with Biotechnology than it has to do with any other field of science, with the sole exception being that of information technology.