The real McCoy

 Lately customs in some European countries, such as France and the Netherlands, have stopped import of generic drugs manufactured in India. This has been done after complaints about counterfeiting from large pharmaceutical companies, with competing drugs. Generic drugs are "copies" of drugs that can be manufactured legally after the patent has run out. Thus these drugs are not illegal and stopping them should be in violation with World Trade Organization policies. What makes the holders of the expired patents worried, is that the generic manufacturer can provide the drugs without the very expensive drug development process, thus selling the same drug at a lower price. A typical drug development process is often estimated to cost around $2 billion and take around 10 years.

Now this problem has been resolved, at least for now, and Indian generic drugs can be imported again. However, Indian officials are still worried about coming developments in this matter. India is currently a leading location for manufacturing of generic drugs, much due to relatively low wages and high competence.

[Pharmaceutical] [Generics] [Free Trade] Share on Facebook

Happy pills?

Pills (medicines) for children are often coated with bright colors, to make the pills more look more appealing. So far all is well. However, the color used is so called azocolor. The problem with this synthetic color is that it is harmful to humans. This is something which is not recognized and dealt with by pharmaceutical producers.

Azocolor are a group of water-soluble or oil-soluble mono-, di-, and trisulfonated colors containing a naphthalene ring and an azo linkage to either a second naphthalene or benzene ring. This coloring compound are involved in induction of DNA-change, eg. they are mutagenes. By this process sever disorders can arise, such as cancer. Furthermore, studies have shown children developing hyperactivity and behavioral disorders after exposure to this group of colored compounds.

These kind of coloring is also present in many food products, something which has recently been getting media attention.

Some further information:
Radomski, 1974
Tsuda, et al., 2001

[Color] [Pharmaceutical] [Drugs] [Food] [Azo]

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