The tailwind of low price erosion in the US generics market, seen by domestic pharmaceutical companies in calendar year 2023 (CY23), may be reversing slowly, caution analysts. According to the latest data from US-based Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS), price erosion in calendar year 2024 (CY24) on a year-to-date (YTD) basis stood at a high of 15 per cent in the oral solid dosage (OSD) segment compared to a low of 1 per cent in CY23. This erosion, according to a report by Antique Stock Broking, was the highest in the last three years.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration will soon provide advanced training to Indian astronauts, with the goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station, a top American diplomat said Friday.

'We want to make sustainability affordable.' 'We tell everyone, don't just recycle, Craste it!'

Infosys said on Tuesday it is collaborating with Microsoft to jointly develop industry solutions that leverage Infosys Topaz, Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Cognitive Services. Both organisations are bringing together their respective artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to enhance enterprise functions with AI-enabled solutions across multiple industries. The integrated solutions are aimed at accelerating the rapid democratisation of data and intelligence that will help businesses increase productivity and drive new revenue growth.

The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.

'With Trump, the relationship was very transactional, whereas with President Biden it is very structured.'

"We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. Understanding how the pandemic began remains both a moral and scientific imperative," Ghebreyesus said.

'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.

'Which will not happen.' 'Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has expressly refuted Beijing's statement that normalcy was returning to Sino-Indian relations.'

Party insiders concede statements of the Raja kind have the potential to hurt the DMK's electoral chances in closely-fought seats in 2024, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.

'The aim of Russian policy is to reform European security, stop NATO expansion and in a more general sense -- set up the new rules of relations between the great powers.' 'From this perspective. the invasion of Ukraine is quite pointless.'

'In the likelihood that Omicron is circulating, you have a much greater chance of getting infected now, than you did during the Age of Delta.'

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has recommended the conduct of Phase III clinical trials of Russia's single dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light.

Whether the third wave will ravage us depends on the pace of vaccinations, careful and calibrated opening up of establishments, and a strategy to contain the spread in specific states or pockets.

The government is hopeful of a speedy launch of single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light in India and all stakeholders, including the Russian manufacturer and its Indian partners, have been directed to fast-track the application and regulatory approval procedures for the jab to boost the country's vaccination drive, sources said.

Three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019, weeks before Beijing disclosed the COVID-19 pandemic, a United States media report said, citing a previously undisclosed American intelligence document that could add weight to growing calls for a full scale probe of whether the coronavirus may have escaped from China's top bio lab.

Domestic pharma major Panacea Biotec in collaboration with Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has begun the production of 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine in India, according to a joint statement issued.

'All the vaccines that are available in most countries, right now, are all highly effective and safe.'

'The trajectory of the disease will keep increasing because of the population density being very high.'

The government has the upper hand in the ongoing negotiations, and it is unclear if a real debate will happen, observes Tulika Narayan.

India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the United States company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.

The parties intend to start the production of Sputnik V in the beginning of 2021, it added. Currently, Phase III clinical trials are approved and are ongoing in Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and other countries, as well as Phase II-III in India, RDIF said.

In a virtual conference from Moscow, Dmitriev said Sputnik V is not only 'one of the most effective' but also among the 'affordable' vaccines in the world.

As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The expose, which was in Chinese, said that the Chinese Communist Party was covering up the COVID-19 crisis and there was a human-to-human transmission of the virus.

'We cannot be naughty and expect the government to do good!' 'We have to behave ourselves and then we can expect the government to support us.' 'If we are able to protect ourselves well, then we should not be having deaths.' 'Unfortunately, people have gotten into this super scary event participation (mode) -- birthday parties, large gatherings.' 'Among the people who have attended those, 80 to 90 per cent of them have come down with COVID-19.'

'The majority of the spread is by people coughing, or sneezing or talking loudly, in a very short distance, two metres from one another, and a mask will prevent that sort of transmission.'

'Everybody says 5G and communication is important.' 'Everybody says automation, robotics, human computing interfaces -- people and machines working together -- is the future.' 'Everybody agrees that cybersecurity is something that is here to stay.' 'Everybody agrees that synthetic biology is important.' 'Instead of outlining thinking about industries for tomorrow and the future, let the evolutionary pathway be built in a way that it promotes robust, creative, thinking.'

The WHOS has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

'As people have moved from cities to small towns and villages, they have carried the infection into new territories.' 'Poor healthcare infrastructure in these places should be a big worry in the days to come.'

'The worst case scenario is a rebound of the virus.' 'Life is not going to be what it was.' 'Life as we know it has changed forever.' 'The new normal therefore is test, trace and treat.'

'If it works, something good can come out of this tragedy for the common public good,' say Dr Prasad Gadgil and Dr Kunal Basu.

The reality is, the worldwide toll could have been checked within time if China had been more transparent and had warned countries regarding the new strain of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like infection, which originated at a 'wet market' in its province of Hubei late last year.

'I give Modi full credit, for brilliantly using his personal diplomacy, his personal stature, to accomplish his goals...'

'This is a tragedy that must be stopped.'

Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday

'Both Japan and China face a common challenge: How to deal with Trump.' 'The trade war with the US seems to have facilitated/hastened Abe's China visit, the first by a Japanese prime minister since 2011,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.

The SBI report ruled out a October rate hike

These could be the reasons for erectile dysfunction.

Dr Manjiri Bakre's OncoStem is revolutionising breast cancer treatment. And has raised $6 million to do more!