Veeda Oncology announces $10.2 million worth new business

Veeda Oncology, a full service global Oncology CRO with facilities in North America, Europe and India, has been awarded $10.2 million of new clinical research programs last month from five new clients.

The awarded work includes services for site management, project management, data management, pharmacovigilance, medical oversight, biostatistical support and monitoring services. The awarded work will be conducted in North America, Europe and India.

Matt Bowman, president and CEO of Veeda Oncology, said, "This continued growth is a reflection of the need within oncology clinical development for oncology expertise, cost effective programs and access to oncology patients".

Veeda Oncology is a global oncology CRO with operations in India, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the US. The company is a full service oncology CRO for Phase I through Phase IV studies with the unique capability of providing rapid and strong global patient accrual with an effective cost structure.

ICRISAT creates impact in Africa

Farmers in eastern and southern Africa (ESA) were growing pigeonpea that gave low yields, took very long to mature, were susceptible to wilt and often suffered from terminal drought stress. But this situation was reversed when scientists from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) adapted pigeonpea in ESA, screened for resistance to wilt and incorporated bold white grain preferred by farmers and markets in the medium- and long-duration varieties.

After evaluation, a large number of these varieties were released in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. In eastern Kenya, over 10,000 hectares of medium-duration varieties resistant to wilt and cropped two times a year are being grown by farmers. Likewise, in northern Tanzania, two long-duration varieties, which are high yielding, having white bold grain and resistant to wilt are being grown in over 50,000 hectares. In Malawi two long-duration varieties have been released and pigeonpea seed is now included in the country's subsidy program.

Working with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), ICRISAT introduced a range of large-seeded varieties from its germplasm collection and the breeding program at its global headquarters in Patancheru, India. The outcome was that Ethiopia became a chickpea exporting country and its farmers benefited from an improved income. Following the Ethiopian success, the production of chickpea has now spread to Mozambique and Malawi in southern Africa and to Tanzania and Kenya in eastern Africa.

Nandan inks deal with ICRISAT for NUTRIPLUS

Nandan Biomatrix and ICRISAT have signed the agreement for NUTRIPLUS project - a centre for excellence of food process, testing, R&D and production activities for the growth of nutraceuticals industry. The facilities provided under this project are knowledge gateway, discovery gateway, innovative gateway & business gateway.

NutriPlus is seeking to support the nutraceutical industry with its research and interface with core members from various institutions and sectors participating, like, Ministry of Food Processing GOI, Wagenigen university et al. It's a centre for excellence of food process, testing, R&D and production activities for the up-liftment of nutraceutical industry.

Nestle suspends diabetes food deal with Avesthagen

Nestle Nutrition, the health food and nutrition arm of Nestle SA, has returned seven of eight nutritional bioactive molecules developed in a collaborative agreement with Indian biotechnology company Avesthagen Ltd., according to a report in "The Mint", citing a Nestle official.

The move effectively suspends a plan to use these active ingredients for a much talked about diabetes health food that the Swiss company is proposing to launch in the global market, the report said. "Nestle terminated the agreement with Avesthagen earlier this year," the report cited an email from Hilary Green, head of R&D communications, Nestle SA, as saying.

"Nestle has returned some of the compounds to us, and we are free to further develop them on our own or with other partners," the report quoted Avesthagen founder and chairperson Villoo Morawala Patell, as saying.

'Nanobiotechnology- The Big World of Small Things'

In a bid to create awareness about the scope and future of nanobiotechnology, the department of Microbiology, Royal College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Thane, Mumbai is organizing a one day National Level Seminar on 'Nanobiotechnology- The Big World of Small Things', to be held on January 10, 2009.

The seminar is being organized for the benefit of graduate, post-graduate and research students and the teachers in the field of Biological sciences. Experts of this field from IIT (Mumbai and Delhi); NCL, Pune and Monad Nanotech, Mumbai, would be enlightening the participants on different aspects of Nanobiotechnology.

Nanotechnology deals with the production of nanoscale particles/devices, which have tremendous potential in various fields. Knowledge of this subject is the need of the hour.

Ecron AcuNova makes strategic European appointment

Ecron AcuNova, has appointed Dr Antal K Hajos as its executive vice president of strategic operations for the European region.

Speaking on the appointment, Dr Klaus Wiedey, president and CEO, Ecron AcuNova said, "This appointment underlines Ecron AcuNova's commitment to the European and Indian market, where the company is rapidly expanding its client base, operations and expertise."

UK Government, Clinton Foundation to help Indian pharma companies

The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander MP has announced that the UK is working with the Clinton Foundation to help Indian pharmaceutical companies produce cheaper drugs for malaria and AIDS in India and Africa. The proposed program will provide technical support to Indian companies in producing and registering new treatments for AIDS and malaria, and negotiate affordable prices for these drugs. This will help over 11 million people with AIDS gain access to life saving treatment by 2012.

"It's a genuine win-win situation. With Department for International Development (DFID) support to the Clinton Foundation, health services for malaria and AIDS in India and Africa will be able to buy drugs at cheaper prices and put more people on better quality treatment, and pharmaceuticals companies will enjoy a bigger market," pointed out Douglas Alexander.

Jubilant augments Clinsys Clinical Research

Jubilant Organosys has announced that its subsidiary Clinsys Clinical Research, Inc., a global contract research organization (CRO), has acquired TrialStat ClinicalAnalytics (TrialStat CA), a web-based electronic data capture (EDC) solution currently used by a wide range of pharmaceutical and CRO customers worldwide.

TrialStat CA is the industry's first EDC platform to allow all aspects of a study to be configured, deployed and managed through a browser interface, enabling customers to start their studies quickly and cost-effectively. The extensive global resources of Clinsys will enable TrialStat to continue its proven record of growth, customer service and product innovation.

This agreement will give TrialStat's existing CRO and biopharmaceutical customer base a broader scope of services.

Novo Nordisk to spread awareness on diabetes in children

Diabetes is a silent killer with India being the 'Diabetic Capital' of the World. Globally, every 10 seconds, a person dies of a diabetes-related illness and it is the fourth leading cause of death by disease. Every 10 seconds, a child suffering from diabetes also suffers the fate of this silent killer. People in India take the cause of diabetes lightly especially in contrast with children, despite statistics showing that six out of 10 children with diabetes do not manage their diabetes successfully in school (according to their physicians). Nine out of 10 cannot rely on a school nurse to assist them with their diabetes during school.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) had declared 2007 the 'Year of the Child with Diabetes' and the United Nations has declared 2008 as the 'Year of diabetes among children and adolescents'. Diabetes is growing in prevalence and there is an urgent need to address this issue and the widespread lack of control of the disease in patients that have been diagnosed. As a result, Novo Nordisk initiated the DAWN Youth programme to explore the attitudes, wishes and needs of young people with or at risk of diabetes and their families.

Novo Nordisk has taken this step to spread awareness among parents and school management to let them know how they can be of help to their children without destroying their life at such an early stage. Through DAWN Youth, Novo Nordisk tries to share the appropriate measures that can be taken in schools by making basic things available like school nurses or school staff to answer to the needs of children with diabetes in a school environment.

Sysmex & Transasia launch Sysmex Network Communication System

Sysmex, the world leader in haematology, in partnership with Transasia Bio-Medicals launched the Sysmex Network Communication System (SNCS), the next Generation Support Service for its diagnostic instruments.

SNCS, an Internet based online customer service monitors the instruments 24X7. It provides online QC in order to continuously monitor the instruments condition on wide parameter range. The web information provides scientific and technical support information to users enabling them to maintain total quality on Sysmex haematology analyzers.

SNCS, is an ideal & necessary tool for customers who are already accredited, or going in for accreditation, clinical research organizations and customers with high workload of more than 70 to 100 samples / day and above all for all those customers who seek nothing but the best and are highly Quality Conscious.