News in brief

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw chosen BioSpectrum Person of the Year

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the chairman and managing director of Biocon Limited has been chosen as the BioSpectrum Person of the Year.

The award, instituted by BioSpectrum magazine, has been given away for her outstanding contribution in the field of biotechnology.

Shaw is the chairperson and mission leader of CII’s National Task Force on Biotechnology, the force behind ABLE (Association for Biotechnology Led Enterprises) and chairperson of Karnataka’s Vision Group on Biotechnology. Shaw has also won the Padmashri in 1989.

Li Taka Pharma secures anti TB contract

Li Taka Pharmaceuticals has recently got an anti TB contract under the World Bank Tender 2003 from Novartis India Ltd. The contract order has a value of Rs. 200 million and is to be completed in a period of six months beginning from December 2003. The company is also in the process of upgrading its anti-TB facility at Vadgaon (Maval) Maharashtra, to meet the CGMP requirements.

Kopran receives approval from EDQM for its API facility at Mahad

Kopran Ltd has received the formal approval of the European Directorate for Quality of Medicines (EDQM) for its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) facility at Mahad.

As a result of this successful audit of the facility, other Certification of Stability (CoS) applications like Sterile Ceftriaxone, Cefotaxime and Ceftazidime are expected to be cleared shortly, thus enabling Kopran to export these products to the European market.