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Mumbai:  Smruti Valegaonkar, 25, Mumbai-based senior architect and product designer at MuseLab Design Engine, has a life insurance cover. “My parents bought it when I was a child,” said Valegaonkar, who has an endowment life insurance plan. The nominee of her insurance plan is her younger brother. “If she does not have dependence requirement, Valegaonkar can continue with the same plan,” said Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder7 Financial Advisories. However, Valegaonkar wants to buy a separate life cover next year. Unlike Valegaonkar, Bhavika Maniar, 30, operations manager at Indiabulls Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd, does not have a life insurance cover. “This is the right time to buy because I have a stable monthly income now,” said Maniar. If you are in your 20s and 30s and, like Valegaonkar and Maniar, are considering buying a life insurance policy, here is what you should know: Do you need a life insurance policy? Life insurance is an instrument ...

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma has inked a definitive agreement with Canadian pharmaceutical firm Apotex to take over its commercial operations in five European countries. The two pharma players signed an all-cash deal amounting to 74 million euros, under which Aurobindo’s step-down subsidiary Agile Pharma B V will acquire commercial businesses of Apotex and some supporting infrastructure, according to a regulatory filing by the Indian pharma major. The deal is expected to be finalised in three to six months. The acquisition deal follows company’s strategy to strengthen and grow its European business and to expand in key Eastern Europe markets, Aurobindo Pharma said in its statement. Under the acquisition deal, Aurobindo would acquire commercial infrastructure including personnel, products, marketing authorisations and dossier license rights in Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands (including a manufacturing facility in Leiden), Spain and Belgium. Aurobindo takes over Apotex ...

New Delhi:  DUSA Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, has filed a trade secret misappropriation and tortious interference claim against Biofrontera Inc. in the district court of Massachusetts, the company said in a statement. The lawsuit alleges patent violation of topical solution Levulan, and Kerastick. DUSA has also alleged that the Germany-based Biofrontera improperly obtained confidential information from former employees. Sun Pharma unit files patent case against German firm The lawsuit seeks an assessment of both damages and injunctive relief against the Biofrontera defendants. The patents-in-suit concern an apparatus and method for “photodynamic therapy” (or “PDT”) and equipment for PDT. The photodynamic therapy, pioneered by DUSA, combines a drug with a light source to treat disease conditions. The product was launched by DUSA, in September 2000 in the US. DUSA’s Levulan combination therapy is approved by FDA for treatment of non-hyperkeratotic actini...

Cadila Healthcare share price erased opening gains after rising more than a percent due to tentative approval from the US health regulator for the oral iron chelator. The company in its filing said its group company Zydus has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Deferasirox. Cadila Healthcare stock erases opening gains, Zydus gets USFDA nod for oral iron chelator Deferasirox is an oral iron chelator. Its main use is to reduce chronic iron overload in patients who are receiving long-term blood transfusions for conditions such as beta-thalassemia and other chronic anemias, according to Wikipedia. At 10:15 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 386.10, down Rs 1.75, or 0.45 percent on the BSE. source: moneycontrol

China said on Monday it had reached an agreement with India to reduce tariffs and increase imports of Indian medicines, particularly anti-cancer drugs, part of moves to broaden its trade relations amid its on-going spat with the United States. Both India and China slashed import tariffs of a range of products starting July 1, following the fourth round of negotiations under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), which also includes Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka. China said it would reduce tariffs on 8549 items including chemical and agricultural products, while India would do likewise for 3142 products. India has particularly pressed China to open up its market for pharmaceuticals, which was highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the April 28 Wuhan Summit with President Xi. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that China and India had reached an agreement on reducing tariffs on Indian medicines, especially anti-cancer drugs. There is widespread deman...

Share price of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories added 3 percent intraday Monday as company entered in to distribution and co-promotion agreement with UCB. The company has entered into a distribution and co-promotion agreement with UCB for Briviact, a brand of brivaracetam. The agreement grants company the exclusive right to distribute Briviact in India. Briviact is approved as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in epilepsy patients who are 16 years of age and older. M. V. Ramana, CEO – Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy’s said, “In our endeavor to make innovative medicines accessible to patients in India, we are excited to partner with UCB India for Briviact, a novel treatment for epilepsy that will make a difference to the lives of patients living with epilepsy.” At 15:06 hrs Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was quoting at Rs 2,328.75, up Rs 62.35, or 2.75 percent on the BSE. source: moneycontrol

As the government aims to launch India’s first bullet train by 2022, the floating of a tender by the NHSRCL, the nodal body to implement the project, has been the first major step towards completing the 508-km high-speed railway network between Gujarat and Mumbai. Once completed, the Japan-backed $17 billion bullet train project would reduce the travel time between the two prominent cities to just 3 hours from the usual seven. Though the tender has been floated for the construction of a bridge in Navsari district of Gujarat, it is one of the 60 bridges to be built on the high-speed railway corridor, an Indian Express report said. The floating of the tender also marks the slowing down of a confrontation over the land acquisition process in the two states. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has said the acquisition process is on, and that the first tender under the project has been floated in Gujarat. The nodal body had earlier failed to achieve much during its ma...