Mahendar and Kalpana of batch 19, gave an outstanding presentation on the  topic of RISKS BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

Nagamani and Harinivas of batch-19, gave an outstanding presentation on the topic ''Population pharmacokinetic studies''.

Rewant of batch-19, provided an excellent presentation on technical topic of Blue Card. 

Human lungs successfully grown in a lab for the first time

Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have succeeded in growing human lungs in the laboratory, using components from the lungs of deceased children.

Taking lungs from two children who had died from trauma (most likely a car accident), the researchers stripped one of the lungs down to a bare "skeleton" of just collagen and elastin - the main proteins in connective tissue.

Using this stripped-down lung as a "scaffold," they then harvested cells from the other lung, which were applied to the scaffolding.

This lung structure was then placed in a chamber filled with a nutritious liquid, which was described as "resembling Kool-Aid."

After 4 weeks of immersion, the team extracted a complete human lung from the liquid - "just pinker, softer and less dense." The team then successfully replicated the process using a second set of lungs.

Suven Life Sciences gets three patents

Suven Life has received three product patents in Canada, China and India for its new chemical entities for treatment of disorders associated with neuro-degenerative diseases.

The granted claims of the patents include the class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven and these patents are valid through 2025. It may be noted here that the new chemical entities are being developed as therapeutic agents and are useful in treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Huntington's disease, Parkinson and Schizophrenia.

With these new patents, the company now has a total of 14 granted patents from Canada, 12 from China and 17 from India.

The company also said in a statement that products out of these inventions can be out-licensed at various phases of clinical development.

Researchers develop laser-based meningitis test

Several different types of bacteria can cause bacterial meningitis - the onset of which can be rapid and severe - and as each is sensitive to different antibiotics their speedy identification is crucial.

The researchers found that using a spectroscopic imaging technique known as SERS (surface enhanced Raman scattering) - which basically involves firing a laser into a sample that has been exposed to silver particles - is able to identify more than one bacterium at a time, and thereby paves the way for faster and more targeted treatment.

Combining the SERS technique with chemometrics – data-driven extraction of information from chemical systems – allows for the amount of bacteria in a sample to be measured while simultaneously identifying the bacteria.

The test would be particularly useful "where co-infection of multiple species is common and identifying the dominant pathogen present would allow targeted treatment".

Sun Pharma secures DGCI approval for breast cancer drug

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company has received the approval from Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for its medicine to be used for the treatment of breast cancer. The company‘s medicine, Paclitaxel Injection Concentrate for Nano dispersion (PICN), was found to be equally effective and safe when compared to Abraxane in a clinical study. 

The drug has been approved by the regulator both in the 260mg/m2 and 95mg/m2 doses to be administered every 3 weeks. This medicine offers the convenience of a quick and easy one-step dilution and infusion preparation for healthcare professionals. It can be administered in a short 30 minute infusion and unlike conventional Paclitaxel formulations it does not require pre-medication with steroids and anti-histamines. Also, this drug doesn’t lead to any significant hypersensitivity reaction in patients.