Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

President Barack Obama officially has launched the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, which will seek to address unnecessary regulatory barriers to developing new cancer treatments. Members of the task force — which will be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden — include the heads of the FDA, HHS, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.  The task force, funded by NIH, will present a report to the president before Dec. 31. Peter Pitts, president and founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former FDA associate commissioner, said the president should ask HHS to appoint an innovation czar to make the most of resources. Read the White House memorandum here: www.fdanews.com/01-29-16-MoonshotCuresMemo.pdf .

Dhathri Ayurveda Private Ltd houses branded consumer goods like Dhathri Hair care herbal oil, Dhathri fairness facepack, Dheedhi Shampoo etc and has evolved into an household name in the Ayurveda segment in a short span of 6 years. Dhathri, with its range of 25 ayurveda products and has won the trust of millions across the world. The products are prepared under stringent quality control and the ingredients sourced from traditional herbal gardens and untouched mountain range Post :  R and D Scientist No of opening :  3 Experience :  0 to 5 years Job Description : Following are the Openings with Dhathri Group for its R&D Department. Research Associate - Stability Study - (1 Year Experience in Stability Analysis) Pharmacology  - (2Years related Experience in Ayurveda Field) Jr.Scientist  - Food & Drug Formaulation - (3Years Expereince in Capsule,Tablet,oinment and Food Formulation) Educational Qualification :  M.Sc  - Bio-Chemistry,...

1. Post :  Business Analyst in Pharmaceutical Research Experience :  0 to 2 yrs Job Desciption : a. Track the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices industry, especially therapeutic areas/modalities of interest to our regular clients b. Understand project brief given by clients/project leaders, create analysis plan, data requirements, research approach, and prepare reports or executive presentations with key insights and recommendations c. Report to project leader/consultant and assist in executing or execute the projects completely depending on complexity and scale Education :  M.Sc – Bio-Chemistry, Biotechnology, Life Science Salary : INR 1,75,000 – 2,50,000 P.A. The CTC is exclusive of Performance Bonus Desirable : a. High level of comfort with MS Excel, Power Point, ability to perform basic calculations (basic financial, statistical and data manipulation) understand sales and marketing performance metrics, basic data cleaning and organizing, ability...

Dr. Reddy's, recognized consistently amongst the top pharma companies in Asia. Post :  Executive Production No of Post :  15 Experience :  2 to 6 yrs Job Description : 1.Should be able to understand equipment / capacities and schedule manufacturing. 2.Coordinating with delivery planners for mart requirement and materials availability. 3.Ensure smooth functioning and timely delivery as per commitment given 4.Close monitoring of flow to reduce lead times, inventories and improve up times of equipments Education :  PG - Biology, Life Science Location :  Hyderabad Contact Details : Executive Name:Murthy Contact Company:Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd Address: 8-2-337, Road No 3, Banjara Hills HYDERABAD,Andhra Pradesh,India 500034 Email Address :  murthyvvnrc@drreddys.com Reference Id:Production Planning Deadline : 29.03.12

For Indian laboratories, the decision to implement  informatics applications that support compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 delivers multiple benefits. They are protecting their access to regulated markets in the US and other countries while implementing electronic processes and procedures that can reduce costs while enhancing their ability to deliver world class results.

Just out of school with an MSc, Btech, BE, Mtech and you feel that there is a huge gap between your skill set and the education qualification you have in hand. How to really prepare yourselves for a job as soon as you finish and have your degrees in hand? Your employer expects you to be productive from day one and to be contributing to any of the on-going projects of the organization. So what are the odds on your side to be picked up for a job?   So buckle your shoe and prepare to be absorbed by the industry. Finishing schools already clichéd! BioSaga Buckle Your Shoe Programmes are 100% hand on workshops which provide near to industry exposure in two most sought-after areas in the Life Science/Bio/BioPharma & Pharma Industry: BioSaga Drug Discovery BioSaga Genomics Contact lukeskywaran@aol.com for more information    

Courtesy jobsinsciences.com Research Associate position Molecular Biology at Piramal Life Sciences Research Associate Piramal Life Sciences Ltd Experience: 1 – 2 Years Compensation:Rupees 2,00,000 – 2,25,000 Education: UG – B.Sc – Bio-Chemistry,B.Tech/B.E. – Bio-Chemistry/Bio-Technology PG – M.Sc – Bio-Chemistry,M.Tech – Bio-Chemistry/Bio-Technology Job Description • Responsible for performing research and development experiments for projects and products, in collaboration with others. • Regularly exercises technical discretion in the [...] Principal Investigator/ Senior Principal Investigator – Neuroscience at Syngene International Ltd Principal Investigator/Senior Principal Investigator for Neuroscience Syngene International Limited Experience: 5 – 10 Years Compensation:Rupees 6,00,000 – 9,00,000 Education:UG – Any Graduate – Any Specialization,Graduation Not Required PG – Any PG Course – Any Specialization,Post Graduation Not Required Job Description Qualification: Ph.D. in P...

Shares of Gen-Probe jumped 14 percent today after  Bloomberg  reported that the firm has hired Morgan Stanley to seek a buyer. Among the possible bidders listed in the article are Novartis, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Danaher, and Life Technologies. Novartis already sells Gen-Probe's Tigris blood-screening instrument to blood banks, and it has  helped fund development  of Gen-Probe's new automated molecular testing platform, called Panther. The firms have collaborated since 1998 on nucleic acid tests and instruments for the blood screening market. According to Mizuho analyst Peter Lawson, around $12 billion has been spent on diagnostics-focused merger and acquisition activity over the past year. He noted that typical molecular and proprietary-focused acquisition valuations fall into the 3x-6x price/sales range. Two months ago, Gen-Probe  reported full-year 2010 revenues  of $543.3 million. At that time, it also reported a 2 percent decrease in fourt...

Big U.S. and Japanese drug makers said they're still trying to account for all of their employees in Japan in the wake of Friday's earthquake and tsunami, but preliminary reports suggest company facilities haven't suffered major damage. Most major drug companies have operations in Japan because it's the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world behind the U.S., as ranked by IMS Health. Late last year, IMS projected Japanese prescription drug sales would increase 5% to 7% in 2011, to up to $100 billion. Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said its headquarters and main production facilities in Tokyo, Osaka and Hikari didn't appear to suffer major damage, but the company is still assessing the impact on its operations and employees throughout the country. do you wish to know more?

Pfizer Inc., whose serial mega-mergers have disappointed investors, may now be headed in the opposite direction. The New York-based drug maker may spin off various businesses, including its consumer-health and generic-drug units, in deals that result in a 40% contraction in its revenue base, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson wrote in a research note Monday, after meeting with Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read. The mounting speculation of potential Pfizer divestitures helped lift its shares to a 52-week high Monday, recently trading up nearly 2% at $19.82. "Investors are desperate to see pharmaceutical companies take bold steps...to try and break the cycle of underperformance," Anderson said. He added that Read and Pfizer's board "appear eager to do the same and dismantling the business will accomplish that goal." Pfizer spokeswoman Joan Campion said Monday, "As we previously stated on Feb. 1, we're conducting a portfolio review in 2011, and the re...

Reckitt Benckiser emerged successful in race to buy Pars in spite of 4 global drugmakers submit bids for India's Paras Pharma buy .  Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (RB) today announces that it has agreed to buy Paras Pharmaceuticals Limited (Paras) forINR 32.6 billion (Indian Rupees) (approximately GBP 460 million) from the current shareholders, including the Patel family and Actis, the emerging markets private equity investor. RB will finance the transaction from existing facilities.    Paras is a privately-owned Indian company with a portfolio of leading Indian over the counter Health and Personal Care brands including:    Moov, the No 2 topical analgesic pain ointment, D’Cold, the No 2 cold & flu remedy, Dermicool, the No 2 for prickly heat, Krack, the No 1 medicated skin treatment for cracked heels and Itch Guard and Ring Guard anti fungal creams. In addition, Paras has a personal care business led by Set Wet, a leading hair gel and deodorant bran...

Belgian biotech firm Galapagos today announced its BioFocus service division has extended a contract with Amgen through 2012 to include target discovery and validation work. The extension will include the use of BioFocus' target discovery platform to deliver novel targets to support Amgen's therapeutic programs. Galapagos will receive €2 million ($2.6 million) in research fees in the first year, under the terms of the deal. It is also eligible for access fees and milestone payments. Originally forged in 2002, the collaboration between BioFocus, which Galapagos acquired in 2005, and Amgen involves identifying new molecules against drug targets. The partnership was extended in 2006 and 2008. BioFocus' discovery platform includes the use of  in vitro  and cell-based screening, structural biology, and chemogenomic and informatics tools.

Thomson Reuters today announced that it has acquired GeneGo, a leading provider of biology and disease information, analytics, and decision support solutions for pharmaceutical research and development. Effective immediately, GeneGo will become part of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition enables Thomson Reuters to provide the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic research communities with solutions that provide better understanding of the underlying mechanism of disease and potential therapies. GeneGo’s scientific expertise and assets in biology-driven drug discovery complement the Thomson Reuters life sciences portfolio that covers drug pipeline competitive intelligence, patents, and chemistry. do you wish to know more?

Roche today announced a global restructuring plan, which includes reducing its global workforce by 4,800 jobs, most of which are in the firm's Pharmaceuticals Division. The firm has dubbed the restructuring an "Operational Excellence Program" that is intended to result in annual cost savings of CHF2.4 billion ($2.4 billion). It expects to implement the changes, which also include the transfer of certain positions, consolidation at certain sites, and the closure of some facilities, during 2011 and 2012. The 4,800 job cuts equates to 6 percent of Roche's global workforce. In addition to the reductions, it also expects to transfer around 800 jobs internally and approximately 700 positions to third parties. The cost-cutting measure is not a surprise, as Roche had said in September that it would undertake such an initiative. However, the details of the effort were not announced until today. Roche's Pharmaceuticals Division will bear the brunt of the cuts, with 5,400 jo...

Creating an alliance to deliver insulin treatments worldwide, Biocon and  Pfizer  have entered into a global commercialisation agreement. Pfizer will make an upfront payment of USD 200 million in a licensing deal for Biocon’s biosimilar insulin portfolio for diabetes treatment. As per the agreement,  Biocon  will also be eligible to get additional payments of up to USD 150 million. These payments will be linked to sales of Biocon’s insulin biosimilars. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Vikas Dandekar of pharmasianews.com gave his perspective on the deal. Excerpts from  Reporter's Diary on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Q: What do you make of this arrangement? First of all tell is what is the potential the market size as far as this insulin is concerned and what does this mean both for Biocon and Pfizer? A: A number of biosimilars are scheduled to be launched in the European market. A number of trials are going on, on insulin and this is a big potenti...