Air Inida denies police from opening suspected drug consignment

IMPHAL, September 7: A suspected consignment of pseudo-ephedrine which was sent by air cargo from New Delhi by smugglers has been denied from verification by an Air India station manager.
A team of the Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) led by Inspector K Ranjit received specific information in the morning that around 11 am, a drug consignment was being sent through an Air India flight.
After the aircraft landed at Tulihal, the SIU team rushed to the Airport and pointed out three parcels having consignment number 00128844/03IMP and addressed to as “IMPHAL” only.
The airport authorities present there suggested the SIU team to check the parcel at the Air India head office located at MG Avenue, Thangal Bazar and loaded the parcels in their office van.
Later, after arriving at the office, K Ranjit gave a written application to the flight authorities to permit the SIU team to check the parcels presumed to be containing the said contraband.
A staff identified as Md Kalam told the sleuths that the authorizing Station Manager was unavailable at the time and denied the verification on the grounds.
There was some heated deliberation among the flight officials and the SIU team in the regard.
Later, the Station Manager, Panganbam Nilakamal who is also the State’s first Olympian was telephonically communicated by the Air India employees and K Ranjit mentioned to him of informing about the issue to his superior police officers if the verification was refused.
Later, the station manager came to the city office and after had a heated exchange with the SIU officials. Still they failed to arrive to an understanding. Nilakamal told the Inspector that if he had adequate proof of the parcel containing drugs, then the SIU team could seize it. Inspector Ranjit also retorted that there is specific information received of the drug consignment and the SIU team will inspect the parcels. If the material contained is ordinary then there would be no seizure but if there are drugs then, it would be confiscated.
http://www.ifp.co.in/nws-9257-air-inida-denies-police-from-opening-suspected-drug-consignment/ 

Ganja worth above one crore burnt

IMPHAL, November 6: The state custom department burnt down contraband drugs, Ganja (Cannabis) worth around Rs 1,44,62,500 and Methamphetamine tablets worth around Rs 6,00,000 infront of media persons today at M/S Dameyenti Brick field, Waiton Lamkhai, Imphal East under Heingang Police Station.
The Ganja which was burnt today weighted 2892.5 kg and methamphetamine tablet were of 600 numbers. The contraband drugs were seized by the custom department from different parts of the state during their checking.
Speaking to media persons, Inspector of the Disposal team, said that burning of contraband drugs was conducted after a gap of 4 years by the state custom department.
He further informed that the methamphetamine drugs are generally smuggled into the state from our neighbouring country, Burma and these drugs are generally used by Afghan base militants and also at Latin America. These drugs keep them active for around 48 hours, he added.
http://www.ifp.co.in/nws-10500-ganja-worth-above-one-crore-burnt/

Rs 30 lakh worth drugs seized

Rs 30 lakh worth drugs seized

IMPHAL, November 10: A team of the Deputy Commissioner, Customs Division, New Checkon has seized illegal drugs worth around Rs 30 lakhs in the local market from a DI truck from in front of the new Gauhati High Court Imphal Bench complex this morning around 9:30am.

The driver of the vehicle bearing regd no NL 014 5670 who is also the owner of the illegal drug consignment has also been arrested. The owner has been identified as Md Islaur Rehman, 20 son of Md Abdul Salam of Lilong Terel Ahanbi.

He has disclosed that the drug consignment was supposed to be transported to Moreh, said a source.

The seized drugs include Spasmo Proxyvon tablet- 1512 strips (with printed rate of Rs 2,62,937), Actilab T tablets-5859 strips (Rs 36680), Phensedyke (100ml)-1000 bottles (Rs 80000), Lupicof-1170 bottles (Rs 87,750) and Actitite tablets-24800 strips (Rs 148800) with a total printed value of Rs 616167 and a local market value of around Rs 30 lakhs.

According to a source, the consignment had started from Dimapur in Nagaland and was supposed to reach Moreh.

An official who had taken part in the raid told IFP that after receiving inputs about a DI truck proceeding towards Imphal from Dimapur with illegal substances, the team had been lying in wait for sometime.

The official also said that the consignment was found inside the DI truck and covered with sandals as decoy.

It is also learnt that the owner of the drug consignment had tried to flee on seeing the team, however the team managed to overpower them and arrest them.

http://www.ifp.co.in/nws-10587-rs-30-lakh-worth-drugs-seized/ 

India revokes Roche patent; questions high price of drug

India revokes Roche patent; questions high price of drug

India dealt a fresh blow to the international pharmaceutical industry on Friday as its patents appeal board revoked a patent granted six years ago on Roche’s hepatitis C drug Pegasys.

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) cited a lack of evidence that the drug was any better than existing treatments and its high price as reasons for the decision.

Pegasys was the first medicine to win protection in 2006 under India’s new patent regime and the revocation will rekindle tensions between New Delhi and global drugmakers worried by the country’s tough stance.

The decision follows another high-profile setback for the industry in March, when India granted the first ever compulsory licence to domestic drugmaker Natco to sell cheap copies of Bayer’s  cancer drug Nexavar.

Multinational drug manufacturers see India’s $12 billion drug market as a huge opportunity, but are wary of what they see as lax protection for intellectual property in a country where generic medicines account for more than 90 percent of sales.

Indian generic companies, which do not need to plough money back into future research, can produce drugs at a fraction of the cost of originator firms like Roche or Bayer.

Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, an advocacy group for cheaper medicines, had challenged the Pegasys patent with the IPAB, saying the drug was costly and gave the Swiss company a monopoly in the market for the drug.

The market price of Pegasys is 436,000 rupees for 48 weeks of treatment, although it is also available at a discounted price of 314,496 rupees, Sankalp said in a statement.

Pegasys is given in combination with another drug, ribavirin, which costs Rs 47,160  for the same period, Sankalp added.

The appeals board on Friday termed Sankalp’s plea “valid.”

PAYING FOR INNOVATION

Roche, which can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, said it was reviewing the IPAB decision and could not comment on it in detail. But it said a solid system of patent protection was essential to ensure research into new treatments.

“Many of the generic drugs today used in India were once patent-protected and are only available to society because companies such as Roche were willing to take a risk by investing in new innovative drugs,” a company spokesman said.

He added that Roche was assessing a number of different ways to make drugs accessible to patients in poorer countries, including volume discounts, rebates and price capping.

Campaigners for greater healthcare access contend that the best way to ensure low drug prices is to maximise generic competition by challenging unjustified patents.

Leena Menghaney, a manager in New Delhi for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said this was particularly important in a disease area like hepatitis C, which is a growing problem in many Asian countries and often hits the most vulnerable in society.

“This case shows that if people choose to use different public health safeguards in Indian law to check abuse of the patent system, then indeed they do work,” she said.

Another case involving drug patents is currently in front of India’s the Supreme Court, with Novartis battling against an earlier decision refusing it a patent on cancer drug Glivec.

India is also taking a tougher line on drug pricing more generally, with plans to increase dramatically the number of essential drugs subject to price regulation.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/india-revokes-roche-patent-questions-high-price-of-drug-513666.html