Bayer challenges Nexavar generic licence order
Drugmaker Bayer has filed an appeal against an Indian Patents Office’s order, which allowed domestic drugmaker Natco Pharma to sell a generic version of the German firm’s cancer drug ‘Nexavar’ in India, with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board. In March this year, the government had invoked a law permitting Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma to manufacture and sell cancer-treatment drug Nexavar at a price over 30 times lower than charged by its patent-holder Bayer Corporation. “We strongly disagree with the conclusions of the Patent Controller of India and have appealed his order on May 4, 2012, with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board,” a Bayer spokesperson said in a statement. “We will rigorously continue to defend our intellectual property rights which are a prerequisite for bringing innovative medicines to patients,” the spokesperson added. An order, which would be of great relief to the kidney and liver cancer patients, was issued by India Patents Office as a ‘Compulsory Licence’ under Section 84 of the Indian Patent Act, which is in compliance with the TRIPS agreement of the World Trade Organisation.
Bosch net up 22.38% at R336 crore
Bosch on Monday reported a 22.38% growth in net profit at R336 crore for the quarter ended March 31 on the back of cost management and higher sales growth. The Bangalore-based flagship company of the Bosch Group in India reported a 10% increase in net sales at R2,267.54 crore compared to sales of R2067.52 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The company follows a January-December fiscal year.
Bharti Airtel launches 4G services in Bangalore
Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile services operator, on Monday launched its 4G services in Bangalore, making it the second city after Kolkata to have the high-speed wireless technology. The 4G or long-term evolution (LTE) of radio access technology is the latest standard in mobile networks which promises faster speed in usage of data, video, etc on the handset. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel, said that they were optimistic of garnering more number of subscribers for the 4G service, adding that it would take some years before users adopt to this new standard.
?Top 5 Indian IT services cos grew 23.8% last year?
Top five India-based IT services providers grew 23.8% last year compared to a 7.7% growth logged by the overall global IT services market, research firm Gartner said on Monday. Nasdaq-listed Cognizant, which displaced Wipro to become the third-largest Indian IT services provider recently, experienced the highest growth rate of 33.3% among the top five IT service providers in 2011, Gartner said in a statement.
About 2,000 NLC contract workers arrested
About 2,000 contract workers of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) were arrested on Monday when they tried to block roads and railways, police said. They are a part of 14,000 contract workers on an indefinite strike for the past 17 days, demanding regularisation of services in a phased manner and implementation of ‘equal pay for equal work’ formula, among other things. An NLC official said the ongoing strike has led to a shortfall of 390 MW.
Bosch net profit rises 22% in Jan-Mar quarter
Auto components major Bosch on Monday reported a 22.39% increase in net profit at R335.82 crore for the quarter ended March 31. Bosch had posted a net profit of R274.39 crore in the January-March quarter last year, the company said in a filing to the BSE. The total income during the quarter moved up 10.03% to R2,295.04 crore against R2,085.79 crore in the year-ago period, it added.
ReNew Wind Power commissions Guj project
ReNew Wind Power, an independent power producer, commissioned its first 25.2 MW wind farm project at Jasdan in Rajkot district of Gujarat, a statement from the company said on Monday. The facility comprises 12 units of Suzlon S88 wind turbines with 2.1MW capacity each. Construction of the project began in October 2011 and was completed in March 2012. The project is selling its output under long-term PPA (power purchase agreement) for 23.1 MW to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam and the remaining output to Philips India.
GlaxoSmithkline healthcare Q1 net up 19% at R132 cr
GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) on Monday said its net profit rose 19.30% to R131.97 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. The company had posted net profit of R110.62 crore for the same period during the 2010-11 fiscal, GSKCH said in a statement. Net sales of the company rose to R813.02 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 against R710.01 crore in Q1 last year.
