VCO for babies with BabySpa
Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is now formulated for topical use in infants, with the launch of a new baby-care line from Splash Corporation, the Filipino personal-care company. Splash announced that its Babyspa Naturals line is the first in the world to use VCO extract as active ingredient for baby products such as a liquid baby powder, baby oil, hair oil, and baby wash.
Splash now corners a dominant share of the VCO market in the country, said president and chief operations officer Jessin Soriano. It recently became the first publicly listed personal-care company at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The new baby-care line is hinged on the reputed antifungal and antibacterial properties of VCO. Pediatric pulmonologist Mary Rose Alcañeses of the Makati Medical Center said that there are now clinical trials proving these claims.
The company also stressed that the all-natural ingredients of the VCO-based products are in stark contrast to the synthetic fillers, mineral oil, and other petroleum-based ingredients present in many baby products. Also, a compound found in mother's milk, lauric acid, is found in VCO and is known to have antimicrobial properties.
"We found a need for natural baby-care products because a big percentage of mothers feel secure when the products they use for their babies contain natural ingredients," said Babyspa Naturals brand manager Rainier Dagala. He added that the products underwent numerous testing to guarantee mildness, hypoallergenicity, and delivery of product claims.
One unique product is the "liquid powder." Many mothers, Alcañeses noted, may be doing their children more harm than good through a popular practice of using loose powder to prevent sweat from drying off their children's body and prevent asthma.
Loose powders, especially when dusted on a baby, can be inhaled, and the talc in it may irritate the lungs and trigger respiratory problems.
"The use of a liquid powder minimizes the risk of respiratory illnesses caused by airborne particles that come from traditional loose powders," said Alcañeses.
The Babyspa liquid powder is applied like a lotion and gains the consistency of a powder on the skin. The powder also incorporates cornstarch and vitamin E, which works with a lauric-acid-derived ingredient to prevent skin dermatitis and chafing in the baby's diaper area.
Other products in the baby-care range also contain anti-bacterial and skin nourishing components including vitamin B5. The hair oil is meant to be applied deep in the baby's cortex to nourish hair and scalp and prevent cradle cap, characterized by flaky dry skin or oily, discolored crusty patches on the baby's head.
M Grace Roxas
Pfizer net income takes a dip
NEW YORK
Pfizer's third-quarter profit slipped 77 percent from a year ago to US$761 million amid a big write-off by the pharmaceutical giant linked to the withdrawal of diabetes drug Exubera.
The maker of blockbusters like Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering agent, and antiimpotence drug Viagra, said it took a charge of US$2.8 billion to exit Exubera, an inhaled insulin product.
Revenues were slightly better than expected at US$11.99 billion, a dip of two percent for the July-September quarter.
"We are encouraged by our operating results in the third quarter, and we remain on track" for 2007 revenue and profit goals, said chief executive Jeff Kindler.
"Meanwhile, we made an important decision regarding Exubera, a product for which we initially had high expectations. Despite our best efforts, Exubera has failed to gain the acceptance of patients and physicians. We have therefore concluded that further investment in this product is unwarranted," he said.
Sales of Lipitor, one of the biggest-selling prescription drugs worldwide, fell five percent from a year ago to US$3.2 billion in the quarter in a market that is "highly competitive" and "increasingly cost-sensitive."
Revenues for products that lost US marketing exclusivity in 2006 and 2007, depression drug Zoloft and hypertension treatment Norvasc, declined 54 percent in the third quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year.
Viagra sales were up six percent from a year ago at US$450 million dollars.
M AFP
Novartis profits up over 9 months
BASEL, Switzerland
Novartis announced record earnings over the first nine months of the year, even as third-quarter profits fell 12 percent on sharper competition from generic drugs. Net profits rose seven percent to US$5.61 billion in the first nine months of the year, the company said. Operating income was up nine percent to US$6.47 billion and net sales were up 13 percent to US$28.14 billion dollars.
But in the third quarter, net profits dropped 12 percent to US$1.57 billion, below expectation. Analysts had estimated net profits for this period at US$1.71 billion.
Commenting on the results, Novartis chairman and chief executive Daniel Vasella said: "Despite the anticipated weak quarter in pharmaceuticals, we showed a strong operational performance driven by our other businesses."
Although some sales were lost when Novartis's exclusive right to certain drugs expired, opening them up to generic competition, the group said it had launch several new products that were expected to help boost growth in the second half of 2008.
In 2005, Novartis boosted its foothold in the generics market with the double-barreled US$7.4-billion takeover of German generics specialist Hexal and its US counterpart Eon Labs, which were integrated into the company's Sandoz generics division.
Nine-month operating income at Sandoz grew 48 percent compared with the same period last year to US$789 million, the strongest growth of any Novartis division. Sandoz accounted for US$5.2 billion of the group's nine-month sales, compared with US$17.9 billion for the core pharmaceuticals division.
Vasella said at the time of the Hexal-Eon deal that Novartis was aiming to seize leadership of the global generics market with a ten-percent share for Sandoz and combined sales of US$5.1 billion based on 2004 data.
Meanwhile, Novartis said it will invest US$700 million to build a cell-culture-production facility in Singapore. Construction of the facility-Novartis's biggest investment to date in its manufacturing capacity-is expected to start early next year and the plant should be operational by 2012.
The plant will support clinical and commercial production of potential new products in biopharmaceutical therapies, the statement said.
In October, Novartis opened a US$180 million US facility in Singapore to manufacture tablets of existing Novartis brands.
M AFP
Bayer nets US$1.7 billion
FRANKFURT
Bayer posted a third-quarter net profit of US$1.7 billion, almost four times bigger than a year earlier owing to strong pharmaceutical results and a one-off tax boost. Group sales rose by 4.5 percent at US$11.3 billion and operating profit before exceptional items gaining 6.9 percent to US$2.26 billion.
Operating profit at Bayer's Health Care division rose to US$933.8 million from US$722 million a year earlier, a jump of more than 29 percent. The unit continued to benefit from Bayer's acquisition in July 2006 of the German drug group Schering, with sales rising by 5.7 percent to US$5.34 billion.
Another strong point was the CropScience unit, which the group said had "achieved significant growth rates" owing in part to stronger demand from farmers in Latin America. "Higher prices for agricultural commodities, increased cultivation of crops for the production of biofuels and a more favorable market environment in Latin America led to an expansion of business," said chief executive Werner Wenning.
Bayer's results were generally in line with market expectations and allowed the group to raise its full-year outlook slightly. "Despite high raw material costs and unfavorable currency effects, this business trend has strengthened our confidence that 2007 will be another very successful year," Wenning said. "We are targeting another record for the full year."
The group expects 2007 sales to increase by six percent, compared with a previous forecast of five percent, and expects operating profit margin to rise "by at least one percentage point from the 19.3 percent recorded in 2006."
M AFP
Sanofi-Aventis lifts 2007 targets
PARIS
Sanofi-Aventis raised its 2007 performance forecast after reporting better-than-expected net earnings in the third quarter. The company said adjusted net profit rose 9.1 percent to US$2.7 billion in the third quarter from the same period last year. "Thanks to this good quarter we have decided to raise our projection for 2007," said Jean-Claude Leroy, vice president for finance.
Sanofi-Aventis now foresees an increase in adjusted net earnings per share of 10 percent rather than nine. Sales in the third quarter rose 1.8 percent to US$ 10.15 billion, thanks largely to a 6.1 percent gain in the United States. Overall European sales were stagnant and they declined in France and Germany.
Sanofi attributed its third-quarter results to strong US and Japanese sales of its anticoagulant treatment Plavix. The company recently won an extension of Plavix's patent in the US to November 2011 and convinced a court to block further sales of a generic product from rival company Apotex.
M AFP
B. Braun opens dialysis center
B.Braun Avitum Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of B. Braun Medical Supplies Inc., recently inaugurated its newest dialysis center along E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City. Equipped with state-of-the-art hemodialysis products and world-class patient care, B. Braun Avitum-E. Rod dialysis center is an addition to the growing network of accessible and affordable centers. B. Braun Avitum offers total patient comfort and relaxation in its dialysis centers, which have stylishly designed interiors, cozy treatment spaces, piped-in music, and cable television.
Ed Rodriguez, general manager, said B. Braun Avitum aims to provide the the best renal-care products and services at the best price. "We are continuously expanding to reach, if not all, most of Filipinos afflicted with chronic kidney disease and establish ourselves as their partners toward recovery," he added.
Dialysis uses a membrane as a filter and a solution called dialysate to regulate the balance of fluids, salts, and minerals carried in the bloodstream. The toxins pass from the blood through the membrane and into the dialysate to be taken away. With a normal functioning kidney, these toxins can be filtered and excreted through urine.
To date, B. Braun Avitum has treated a significant number of patients, with a high recovery rate. B. Braun Avitum Philippines is affiliated with B. Braun Avitum, a global dialysis provider which owns and operates more than 80 dialysis centers in Europe, 10 in Asia, and three holiday dialysis stations in Spain. B. Braun Avitum is the only ISO-certified dialysis service provider in the country.
Other B. Braun Avitum dialysis centers are located at Medical Center Muntinlupa, Las Piñas Doctors Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center, De Vera's General Hospital (Isabela), Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (Pangasinan), St. Paul Hospital (Cagayan), St. Jude Family Hospital (Olongapo), St. Lorenzo Ruiz General Hospital (Cavite), Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Holy Family Clinic (Laguna), Eduardo L. Joson Memorial Hospital (Nueva Ecija), and Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center (Tondo).
M
Pink against breast cancer
Woman Today, in its seventh year of advocating breast-cancer awareness, held "Live Pink," an event featuring talks by health-care professionals, advocates, and celebrities on the need to understand and treat the silent killer. Held at the Music Hall of the SM Mall of Asia in November, the event was supported by various medical companies and institutions, including Genasia Philippines, GlaxoSmithKline, East Avenue Medical Center, and the Bessie B. Legarda Memorial Foundation under the leadership of Senator Loren Legarda.
The awarding of a "pink chair" to Teresa Pamintuan, a breast-cancer patient who is currently recovering from the disease, highlighted the event. The chair was given in in recognition of her courage to fight cancer. She said: "The only thing in my mind was, I want [the cancer] out, I don't care about my breast, it's my life." After undergoing lumpectomy and four sessions of chemotherapy, she remains strong and even stronger.
"Live Pink" emphasizes the fact that diagnosis of breast cancer should not be perceived as a death sentence, but a challenge to overcome the illness and live a normal life after.
There were also celebrities present to support the cause including Raven Villanueva, Greggy Vera Cruz, and Angelu de Leon who hosted the event, as well as guest singers Mark Bautista and Kuh Ledesma.
M Gayleen Caballero
MEPI names best industry people
The Marketing Executives of the Pharmaceutical-Healthcare Industry (MEPI) announced the winners in the 2007 Excellence Awards held at Hotel Intercontinental Manila in October. Luzbelita Paz of Bayer was named top sales representative while Ma. Jocelyn Inciong of Pascual Laboratories and Marie Paulette Manacio of Bristol Myers Squibb were named top district sales manager and top product manager.
The Excellence Awards aim to give recognition to outstanding sales and marketing practitioners, encourage them to strive for excellence and highlight the continuing effort of MEPI in developing the pharmaceutical sales and marketing profession.
MEPI is composed of professional marketers from the national and multinational pharmaceutical-health-care companies operating in the Philippines.
M
Sanofi launches generics arm
The year 2006, said Teddie Rivera, chief executive officer of the pharmaceuticals arm of the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), was "a banner year for the local pharmaceutical industry." It was the year that local pharmaceutical companies "fast outgrew" their multinational counterparts. In addition, the cost of medicines in the country-long acknowledged as one of the highest in the world-had been reduced by about 42 percent.
And with the launch of Winthrop Pharmaceuticals Philippines, the generics arm of the French multinational Sanofi-Aventis, Rivera showed his confidence that there is now a greater chance that the drug prices in the country will go even lower-closer to the 50-percent goal.
At the official launch held in Greenhills, San Juan, in November, Rivera talked about the inroads being built to lower the prices of drugs in the country. But he also said that the thinking that all generics are inferior to branded medicines should also become a thing of the past. "Medicines don't have to be expensive," he told doctors. "Tell your patients that generics are also effective."
Mito Raagas, business development director of Winthrop Philippines, said that the company is not only committed to producing effective and affordable medicines. Winthrop would also like to ensure that the medicines are easily accessible.
He said: "Winthrop guarantees the highest standards of quality not only in terms of product efficacy and safety, but also in terms of strict manufacturing quality control."
The company, he added, is "committed to ensure access to medicine and contribute to the reduction of health-care cost."
In keeping with this commitment, Winthrop introduced to the public its first medicine, Winthrop glimepiride. Glimepiride is known as an effective and safe insulin secretagogue and sensitizer. It has also been found to have cardioprotective effects.
Dr. Edith Arceo-Dalisay, vice president of the Philippine Diabetes Association, stressed that type 2 diabetes "is not a mild disease." Its complications, specifically those that relate to the cardiovascular system, could be staggering. Raagas agreed, saying that the introduction of Winthrop glimepiride seeks to respond to the need to control type 2 diabetes and its complications.
Winthrop Philippines is set to introduce other drugs in the coming months, said Raagas. These drugs cover such therapeutic areas as metabolic diseases, cardiology, thrombosis, pain, and antiinfectives.
M
Radiology innovations at SLMC
St. Luke's Medical Center (SLMC) is beefing up its radiology services with the acquisition of a new, ultrapowerful PET/CT machine and developing niche specialties among its radiologists. Dr. Bernard Laya, SLMC chief quality officer for imaging services, disclosed that the hospital is set to deploy in early 2008 a super-high-resolution PET/CT that can handle up to 500 contiguous images. A conventional CT can only generate 20 to 50 images.
The new equipment can produce image slices of up to a millimeter thin, making its images a great deal more accurate than the one-centimeter-thick slice that is the standard output of conventional types. It can also reduce scanning time to only 12 to 15 seconds from the usual one minute.
Since a patient has to hold his breath during the duration of the scan, Laya said that the speed of scan time affects the accuracy of images. He said it is clinically impossible, more so with cancer patients, to hold their breath for a full minute without producing respiratory motion artifact that will affect accuracy of the image.
In addition to equipment innovation, the hospital is also adopting organ-system-based radiology, which enables radiologists to become subspecialists in the different cancer areas. Explained Laya: "If it's brain cancer, it's a neuroradiologist who'll interpret the study. For lung cancer, it would have to be a chest radiologist. For cancer patients two year old and below, they need a pediatric radiologist and so forth. Why is this important? Because when you do this again and again, you get better."
He said that there is a need for clinicians in general, not just radiologists, to be better oriented on imaging technology. "A clinician who looks at a potential cancer patient should be able to know what type of examination to order, how sensitive this examination is, which one is better than the other because there are a lot of modalities," he explained.
Laya offered some general pointers for clinicians to judge whether an imaging modality is good enough. "We look for technical performance or good image quality, time or if it is done quickly enough and correct interpretation."
He added: "That's why we have to establish good communication with the radiologist or nuclear-medicine specialist because if you do not trust your subspecialist, diagnostic performance will be affected. Overall, imaging studies are done according to therapeutic impact. We also need clinicians to give very good clinical information too."
Chief radiation oncologist Miriam Joy Calaguas pointed out that from the point of view of radiation oncology, imaging is important not only for detection but in devising the patient's treatment plan. "We have moved on to treating tumors in a three-dimensional manner through IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy) and even IGRT (image-guided radiation therapy) in the near future," she said.
M Grace Roxas
Singapore woos Filipino patients
Medical tourism in Singapore is booming and the city-state's top-flight specialty hospitals are inviting Filipino patients in. SingaporeMedicine, a multiagency government initiative aiming to provide international patients with easy access to Singapore's world-class health-care services, is now looking in the direction of the Philippines.
SingaporeMedicine director Dr. Jason Yap said Singapore offers "cheaper rates for the same quality healthcare than the United States and, even some Philippine hospitals." He pointed out that there is a "shortage of doctors in the Philippines and, until Asia's medical tourism industry grew, many Filipinos would travel to the United States for surgery and treatment. Now Singapore offers Filipinos a closer, less expensive alternative to going to the US for medical treatment."
Parkway Health country manager for corporate marketing Joey Tan said: "Singapore's health-care system can also boast of a strong ethical foundation." For instance, transplant surgery requires the establishment of "an emotional bond … between the donor and the recipient" to discourage the black-market trade in organs.
Meanwhile, Chong Pik Wan, KK Women's and Children's Hospital director for international medical services, said the Singapore experience in medical tourism "was a long, painful process in which we had to raise standards for training, certification, record-keeping and procedure." The results of this process now benefit not only Singaporeans, but foreigners as well. "Now we can assure all our patients that they will get the same high quality of treatment no matter what their social standing and financial capability is," Wan said.
The Parkway Cancer Centre offers "comprehensive and holistic treatment of cancers in a safe and comfortable environment," Tan said. "Our patients are cared for by our highly skilled, multi-disciplinary team of medical specialists, nurses, counselors, and other paramedical professionals."
The KK Women's and Children's Hospital is the only integrated women's and children's hospital in Singapore. It offers such specialized services as maternal-fetal medicine, a gynecological cancer center, a urogynecology center, pediatric neurosurgery, children's hospital emergency transport service, pediatric endocrinology, children's ENT (ear, nose, and throat) care center, children's cancer center, cleft and craniofacial center, and orthopedic surgery.
It also provides assistance in making appointments and referrals, admission services, accommodations, transportation, discharge, and medical evaluation as part of a total medical-care package.
"Come to Singapore and experience world-class conventional and traditional Chinese medical services at a reasonable rate," Yap said.
M Alma Anonas-Carpio
VMV doctors receive honors
Filipino dermatologists were named for excellence in research at the 21st World Congress of Dermatology in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October. They beat thousands of other dermatologists from all over the world for the honor.
VMV Skin Research Center (VSRC), spearheaded by its chair and program director, Dr. Vermen Verallo-Rowell, together with Drs. Jeni Pua, Edeleen Chua, and Desiree Bautista, graduates of the Skin and Cancer Foundation (SCF), won high honors for two of the three scientific posters they presented.
Competing were 3,050 research posters form all over the world, including those from powerhouse research and academic institutions, universities, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic company laboratories. About 150 posters were preselected by the WCD organizing committee. Two of VSRC's posters were chosen among the 150.
Final voting was done by the International Jury Board in charge of selecting the winning posters based on their scientific relevance, practical importance, methodology, and communication quality.
VSRC's poster with SCF won in the contact-dermatitis category. The research poster, a cross-sectional study on visible light photopatch testing of common photocontactants on female Filipino adults with and without melasma, gives a new and unique understanding on how melasma should be managed. Melasma are marks that develop in the facial skin of men and women starting middle age, especially prevalent among people with pigmented.
After her dermatology and dermatopathology training in the Philippines and the USA, Verallo-Rowell founded VSRC in the 1970s as an extension and support operation for her clinical practice to enable her to continue her research with a focus on tropical skin research. An award-winning and published dermatologist, Verallo-Rowell has practiced her specialties, created a successful bath and PUVA psoriasis-treatment center, and produced a large body of clinical research. Many of these studies have been published in global peer-reviewed journals and presented in conventions. VSRC was established to push clinical care of the skin and dermatological research to a higher level of legitimacy, validity, creativity, and ethics.
Through strategic partnerships with companies supportive of dermatological research, VSRC has become a unique, comprehensive skin center that provides excellent clinical care as well as creative, innovative, and ethical dermatological research and educational support for in-house and participating research-oriented physicians.
M
Lasik Surgery Clinic opens
Singapore's Lasik Surgery Clinic (LSC), the world's largest dedicated laser-eye-surgery clinic, formally launched its Manila branch at the SM Megamall recently. The LSC at Megamall's MegaClinic offers refractive surgery using state-of-the-art equipment, and functions as a referral center for all eye problems, including cataracts, glaucoma, oculoplasty, retina, and pediatric ophthalmology. LSC Manila is a partnership between Felix Huang of LSC Singapore and the Delos Santos-STI MegaClinic.
LSC Manila uses the most trusted excimer laser in the world, the VISX STAR S4 with Iris Registration, and offers advanced cataract surgery using the latest and most sophisticated machines. Its experienced core group of cataract and refractive surgeons offers patients the best refractive options for the best possible vision results.
The clinic also offers Lasik (laser in situ keratomiuleusis), a procedure that involves the use of laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to correct varying degrees of myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism.
Dr. Enrique Enriquez-who together with Dr. Gabriel Juan Heredia serves as head senior eye surgeon-said that LSC Manila's vision is "to excel as a premier total eye-care center in Asia and the rest of the world, having now performed 10,000 surgeries to date."
The average cost of laser surgery at the LSC Manila is between PhP50,000 to PhP65,000 for both eyes and the actual surgery for each eye takes between five and 10 minutes to complete. It is relatively painless, though postsurgical dryness of the eyes and slight discomfort may be felt.
LSC Manila uses the newest and highly-precise Amadeus II Microkeratome machine in creating the retinal flap by cutting through the retina surface so the laser can be used on the bare cornea. "You don't see the blade," Heredia said, adding that most patients who undergo Lasik "fear going blind, fear being awake through the procedure, but they usually find that there was nothing to fear."
LSC Manila also offers EpiLasik, which is used on people who cannot undergo the regular Lasik procedure because their retinas are too thin.
Other members of the LSC Manila team are Drs. Adel Vergel Samson, Jay Marianito Vicencio, Lee Verzosa, Irwin Cua, and Noel Castillo, senior eye surgeons; Shierley Cortez, optometrist; and Venia Bumanlag and Elma Ungay, operating-room nurses.
M Alma Anonas-Carpio
No weight loss for cancer patients
Recent studies show that up to 80 percent of all cancer patients experience cancer-related weight loss, while 20 percent of all cancer deaths are related more closely to malnutrition than to the cancer itself. This is why Abbott, a global leader in health care, introduces ProSure, a new medical nutrition therapy for people with cancer who are at risk of experiencing involuntary weight loss.
ProSure aims to prevent or delay cancer cachexia which is the involuntary weight loss characterized by satiety, muscle wasting, weakness, and anemia experienced by cancer patients
The unique formulation of ProSure combines eicosapenta-enoic acid (EPA), an omega 3-fatty acid found in fish oil, and a high level of proteins, low level of fat, and high caloric content. These help build muscle mass, improve physical activity, promote weight gain, and increase strength in people with cancer, allowing them to better cope with cancer therapy and experience improvements in activity levels and quality of life. With just two glasses of ProSure every day, cancer patients will see positive results in just three weeks.
ProSure's nutritional formula is 300 calories/serving, with 1.1 of EPA/serving. It is available in vanilla flavor in 380-gram packs.
M Gayleen Caballero
Study notes doctors-industry link
WASHINGTON
Nearly two-thirds of department chairs in medical schools in the United States maintain some form of personal or financial links to the private sector, according to a recent study. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also urges greater transparency and "underscore the need for the disclosure and management of these relationships."
The study's authors interviewed leading faculty at 125 US medical schools and the 15 largest independent university hospitals between February and October 2006. A total of 459 of the 688 eligible department chairs (67 percent) responded to their queries.
Sixty percent of department chairs revealed "some form of personal relationship with industry," such as the pharmaceutical sector, according to lead study author Eric Campbell of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Twenty-seven percent reported working as a paid consultant for a private firm, and the same number reported serving on a scientific advisory board. Among other links cited, 11 percent said they were member of a board of directors, nine percent said they had founded a company, and 14 percent said they were paid for giving speeches.
More than two-thirds of department chairs said they believed those ties had "no effect on their professional activities." But 72 percent admitted that such activities could have "a negative impact on a department's ability to conduct independent unbiased research."
M AFP
|
