Big pharma companies, however, said while it was true that formulation players would not rush to buy raw material, they could not afford losing customers.

The Duff & Phelps report shows that Virat Kohli has increased his brand value by 40 per cent to $237.5 million in 2019 and taken a huge lead with his closest rival, Akshay Kumar, ranked second.

Indian pharmaceutical companies are heavily dependent on China to source fermentation-based active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates to manufacture these medicines, but the coronavirus outbreak there has disrupted the supply.

The new regime aims to bring in ease of doing business, as the NITI Aayog has proposed to do away with the need to have manufacturing licences to register medical devices or to get a certificate of compliance.

As fear grips the world, demand for protective gear used by health care professionals and citizens is on a rise. And, supply disruption from China has opened a window of opportunities for Indian medical device makers.

At least two key drugs in the gliptin category have already gone off patent and cheaper variants are crowding the market. Also, several patent expiries are round the corner for the newest category of drugs - SGLT-2 inhibitors or gliflozins.

'If you look at the Number 1 film in India this year across Bollywood and other regional film industries, it is Avengers: Endgame.'

PharmEasy, 1mg and Netmeds believe that their disruptive capabilities will power their brands despite the recent court ruling. The Drug Controller General of India recently directed all state FDAs to stop the online sale of medicines as per a Delhi high court order of last year.

Concerned about the rise of antibiotic resistance and the time it takes for drugs developed abroad to reach Indians, the government is considering holding its own clinical trials. Clinical trials for new drugs have so far primarily been conducted only by private Indian or foreign drug firms. But given the stringent nature of India's regulatory environment for clinical trials, several pharmaceutical companies have moved their trials out of India. As a result, only 1.2 per cent of global clinical trials take place in India.

According to a senior government official, the plan is to do "collective bargaining" for certain medical devices and implants by assuring a bulk requirement to the manufacturers. "The requirement for these devices runs into millions. We assure them that the requirement is going to be in bulk. In return, they should offer us better rates," he said.

The government said that "in exercise of extraordinary powers in public interest, conferred by paragraph 19 of the DPCO, 2013", the ceiling prices of 21 key formulations had been increased. These formulations include common medicines like BCG vaccines, penicillin, malaria and leprosy medicines (Dapsone), life-saving drugs like Furosemide (used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease), vitamin C, some common antibiotics, and anti-allergy medicines.

The company will now focus on specialty products in Japan; it is open to inorganic opportunities, especially in India.

Revenue from convenience fees has grown at a compound annual rate of 85 per cent for multiplex chain operator Inox Leisure and 58 per cent for PVR.

Maharashtra govt, California-based Zipline to launch the automated delivery service funded by Serum Institute.

As on July 31, the valuation of his shareholding in the company stood at Rs 9,830 crore.

The growth in imports was led by product categories such as diagnostic items, ultra-sonogram machines, MRI and ECG apparatus, syringes with needles, suture needles, digital thermometers, malaria diagnostic kits, and hearing aids.

Overall slowdown in the economy and growing volumes of unbranded generic medicines in the domestic market are behind poor sales.

What has worked though for Brand Saridon has been its single-minded focus on headaches as opposed to other analgesics that dwell on a wider set of problems, reports Sohini Das.

Aurobindo Pharma, Cadila Healthcare and Serum Institute are readying their vaccine candidates.

While the company insisted it had enough spectrum across circles, analysts said the company might soon need to acquire some spectrum to ensure uninterrupted service.