LET SUSPECT DEPORTED FROM SAUDI ARRESTED
NEW DELHI :The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said it has arrested a terror suspect linked to proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-tayyeba (LET) following his arrival from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to the national capital.
In the last few years, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has sent back more than half a dozen terror suspects to India after verifying their antecedents. Prominent among them being Abu Jundal alias Zabiuddin Ansari, one of the alleged handlers of the 26/11 Mumbai attackers and the alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Fasih Mehmood.
The NIA officials said the terror suspect named Habibur Rahman was one of the handlers of LET terrorist Shaikh Abdul Naeem who was initially arrested in 2007.
Naeem later escaped from custody while he was being taken for court attendance to Maharashtra from Kolkata in August, 2014.
“After his escape from custody, Naeem again started his nefarious activities on the directions of his handlers based in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia. A well-established conspiracy was hatched for targeting vulnerable locations in India,” said NIA spokesman Alok Mittal.
Mittal added that Naeem was tasked to identify locations where terrorist attacks could be carried out. For this purpose, he assumed fake identities and visited different states. NEW DELHI: Indian companies are coming up with their Viagra versions to tap into a lucrative American market as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer would lose the patent in the US in 2020 on the blue pill used for treating impotence. Nearly five crore Americans suffer from erectile dysfunction. They will be India’s largest market for exports of medicines.
Seven Indian companies – Rubicon Research, Hetero Drugs, Macleods Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Ajanta Pharma – have got US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’S approval to produce the medicine. They are among 15 global firms to get the go-ahead for producing sildenafil citrate, the formulation patented as Viagra.
COULD SPARK PRICE CRASH IN THE US
The Indian firms are working on strategies that could bring down the Viagra price in the US by almost 99%. The pill costs about $65 (over ~4,400) in the US. Pfizer had launched its generic version at half the price in 2017.
Experts believe even this would not match the price the Indian firms could offer.
Macleods Pharmaceuticals sells its Viagra version in India for ~58 and Ajanta Pharma for ~32 per tablet.
Pfizer’s global sales from Viagra touched $1.685 billion (over ~10,900 crore) in 2014 while the global erectile dysfunction drugs market was estimated to be worth $4.35 billion in 2016.
Macleods Pharmaceuticals vice president Niteesh Srivastava called lower pricing the only way to gain preference. “Hence, a price war is certain.” Srivastava said lesser-known or relatively smaller firms will be able to crash prices due to less overhead expenditures. He added pharma giants will have a better hold on the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMS) in the US to reach the desired negotiations.
“It is an opportunity for Indian drug makers to cash in on their R&D and pricing strength and get into the US market for Viagra, which has largely been cartel led so far due to patent and policy regulation,” said Sougat Chatterjee, president of TFPL, a global research consulting firm.
The Indian firms face rising FDA license fees. The FDA has increased the fee for processing drug applications by over ~65 lakh to ~1.1 crore this fiscal year, against the earlier ~45 lakh.
“With such investments gaining approvals, every player will come on the ground with a surprise strategy to reap long-term results,” Srivastava said.
An important factor will aid
THE PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS ROUTE
The Indian manufacturers are expected to tie up with the PBMS, which managed pharmacy benefits for 26.6 crore Americans in 2016. “These PBMS operate inside of integrated healthcare systems as part of retail pharmacies, and as part of insurance companies. The success of Indian firms will depend on their relationship and networking with these pharmacy chains,” said Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association executive director Ashok Madan.
Most of the firms remained tight-lipped about their plans. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories said its spokesperson was travelling, emails sent to Cadila Healthcare, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Rubicon Research went unanswered.
An Ajanta Pharma official, who requested anonymity, said they had just two US approvals until 2014. “In 2016, we had nine new approvals. We are upping our ante to expand the business in the US. Whenever a drug loses a patent, it is a big opportunity. However, we are still working on the strategies.”