Ranbaxy Laboratories

• Past public ire over high drug prices has recently taken a back seat to a more insidious problem – no drugs at any price.
• Patients and their providers increasingly face limited or nonexistent supplies of drugs, many of which treat essential conditions such as cancer, heart disease and bacterial infections.
• The American Society of Health System Pharmacists now lists over 300 active shortages, primarily of decades-old generic drugs no longer protected by patents.

A generic problem

• The problem boils down to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry and how differently the markets for brand and generic drugs operate.
• Perhaps the clearest indication of this is the fact that prices of brand drugs in the U.S. are among the highest in the developed world, while generic drug prices are among the lowest.
• But once the patent expires, the drug becomes generic and any company is allowed to manufacture it.

Outsourced production creates more supply risks

• One of the consequences of generics’ meager margins is that drug companies outsource production to lower-cost countries.
• While overseas manufacturers often enjoy significant cost advantages over U.S. facilities, such as easy access to raw materials and lower labor costs, outsourcing production at such a scale raises a slew of issues that can hurt the supply.
• The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the country’s reliance on foreign suppliers – and the risks this poses to U.S. consumers.
• To ensure domestic supplies, the Indian government restricted the export of medications, disrupting the global supply chain.

Low profits hurt quality

• Manufacturing drugs to consistently high quality standards requires constant testing and evaluation.
• A company that sells a new, expensive, branded drug has a strong profit motive to keep quality and production high.
• That’s often not the case for generic drug manufacturers, and this can result in shortages.
• Thus, any hiccup in production or shutdown due to quality issues can affect the entire market.

Repatriating the drug supply

• It is hard to quantify the impact of drug shortages on population health.
• However, a recent survey of U.S. hospitals, pharmacists and other health care providers found that drug shortages led to increased medication errors, delayed administration of lifesaving therapies, inferior outcomes and patient deaths.
• Whether this approach is feasible on a broader scale is uncertain, but, in my view, it’s a good first attempt to repatriate America’s drug supply.

• Global Law Firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP expands its global Intellectual Property (IP) & Technology capabilities with the addition of Jayadeep "Jay" R. Deshmukh as a shareholder in the New York office.
• NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Global Law Firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP expands its global Intellectual Property (IP) & Technology capabilities with the addition of Jayadeep "Jay" R. Deshmukh as a shareholder in the New York office.
• He joins from Kasowitz Benson Torres and previously served as senior vice president of Global IP at Ranbaxy Laboratories, an international pharmaceutical company.
• I know the possibilities to grow my practice and benefit my clients are limitless here," Deshmukh said.

• DUBLIN, Nov. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Arriello , a leading provider of integrated Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance and Auditing & QA solutions and services, has appointed respected regulatory expert Pete Embley as Chief Regulatory Officer, signalling the company's commitment to growing its pre-approval service line.
• Pete, who joined Arriello in September and is based in Oxford in the UK, is the company's first Chief Regulatory Officer.
• Accelerated pathways trigger an earlier and more intensive engagement with Regulatory agencies.
• Pete has known Arriello since the company's inception, having previously worked with the co-founders Alan White and Anna Lukyanova.

• SPAG Founder Aman Gupta to Lead FINN Health Practice Throughout Asia; SPAG Co-Founder Shivani Gupta Appointed FINN Managing Partner, Culture and Brand Reputation, Health Asia
  NEW DELHI and NEW YORK and SINGAPORE, July 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global independent marketing and communications agency FINN Partners announced today that SPAG , a leading, Asia-headquartered, health-sector communications and marketing firm with offices in Bangalore, Delhi, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mumbai, the Philippines and Singapore joins FINN Partners.
• SPAG serves global biopharma companies, health trade associations and health provider systems and is one of the region's top award-winning agencies.
• Aman Gupta, SPAG founder and managing partner, joins FINN as a managing partner and lead for the Agency's Health Practice throughout Asia.
• SPAG Co-Founder Shivani Gupta, joins FINN as managing partner, Culture and Brand Reputation, Health Asia, and will focus on building brand communications and Practice culture throughout Asia.