3200% premium for innovation!!

April 2012

Discussion posted on Pharmaceutical Discussion Group on Linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/PhRMA-says-price-as-trigger-38263.S.105200659?qid=8b279aac-88f8-4538-b788-061d5b62bd1d&trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-cmr&goback=%2Egmr_38263

PhRMA says price as trigger for compulsory license is not provided for in TRIPS - wonder if TRIPS provides for 3200% premium for innovation?

Reference article:

PhRMA’s Special 301 Comments on Indian Compulsory Licensing...infojustice.org

PhRMA’s Special 301 comments to the U.S. Trade Representative include a section on the compulsory licensing provisions in India’s Patents Act.  PhRMA recommends that “India should ensure that the CL provisions comply with TRIPS...

Why won't Gates spend a few more cents (per dose) on non-mercury biocides & shut-up the vaccine detractors?

April 2012

Discussion posted on Pharmaceutical Discussion Group on LI - by Murali Apparaju

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Why-wont-Gates-spend-few-38263.S.109547291?qid=8b279aac-88f8-4538-b788-061d5b62bd1d&trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-cmr&goback=%2Egmr_38263

I remember trying to promote ProClin (Supelco) as a viable safe non-mercury alternative to Thimerosal (Sigma), both Sigma-Aldrich products for the uninitiated - I've seen that despite obvious interest & some intention, vaccine manufacturers solely surviving from the bulk purchases by the likes of gates foundation continued to use Thimerosal owing to the cost-advantage it offers in a climate of 50% price fall each year… - 7 years hence, I’m wondering if all the noise on autism by Trump motivated Mr. Gates to at least encourage his supplier base to start looking at safer alternatives to Thimerosal albeit at a few cents higher per dose?... if not, why bill?

Reference video 

Why Bill Gates Is A Hero And Donald Trump Is A Zero - Forbes forbes.com

Donald Trump should stop creating fear about vaccines, which are safe.

Review of Mahendra Ramsinghani's "The Business of Venture Capital: Insights from Leading Practitioners on the Art of Raising a Fund, Deal Structuring, Value Creation, and Exit Strategies

21 Aug 2012

Review Posted on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2Q6WI836ZOCJT/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0470874449&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=

A 'must' for all those who fancy the bucket & probably the ocean too!, August 21, 2012 By Vishrasayan As someone aiming to venture into VC, and moving quite laterally at that, I was on lookout for a book that not only strengthens my basics but would also help me develop my own perspective of how the ecosystem behaves & how I could synergize and coexist with the same - `The Business of Venture Capital..' by Mahendra Ramsinghani fit the bill perfectly. While essentially structured as a comprehensive guide to the VC process, the author took pains not to make the style pedagogic & peppered it liberally with quotes, case-studies and his own witty one-liners that helped the overall learning process while not getting your goat. Even as I persisted through all chapters, I did realize that the composition of each chapter allows one to skip a chapter or two & still make sense of the flow. The book ends with a quote by David Ogilvy "Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals". Interestingly (for me at least...), the epilogue starts with the sentence, "At its core, VC is truly an apprenticeship business" - This seeming contradiction/ irony is what defines the approach taken by the author Mahendra Ramsinghani in establishing that a true venture professional is essentially a lifelong apprentice who nonetheless perpetually aims to challenge the boundaries of a conventional success. Highly recommended for aspiring & established VCs and anyone else who fancies the `bucket' in whichever way!

The clinical attrition of INX-189 post a 2.5 billion acquisition - are investors into life sciences really looking at where the buck is headed?

October 2012
Discussion initiated onGlobal Private Equity & Venture Capital group on Linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=48513&type=member&item=156370875&qid=b8ecfd7b-c40b-491c-9e3d-f3f42e0780e4&trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-ttl&goback=%2Egmr_48513

Agreed BMS is no VC & acquisition of Inhibitex at 2.5 billion was more a survival tactic, but probably the outcome could be such for many investments into the life science (drug discovery). I believe the investor due-diligence of the investee should go beyond market projections of the pipeline candidates & a rational assessment of the druggability & clinical longevity of the pipeline candidates is what should interest the investor the most – not sure if this happens to the extent required?

Would love to hear what the investor community feels about this.

----------------------------------

PS: My love went totally unrequitted :-)... zero response

Is the LP bias against investment into life-sciences contra-logical?

17 January 2013

Early Stage Biotech Showing Positive Signs of Scaling Its Wall of Worry by Bruce Booth on Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucebooth/2013/01/15/early-stage-biotech-showing-positive-signs-of-scaling-its-wall-of-worry/ goback=%2Egmr_38263%2Eamf_38263_16107339%2Egde_38263_member_205146678

Despite the apparent consensus opinion at JPM that innovative new start-ups are continuing to attract capital, I wonder if in reality the venture funding, particularly from big-pharma CVCs, is mostly channeled into development/ acquisition of potential clinical candidates - THIS anomaly of an 'uncharacteristic aversion of domain biggies themselves towards investing into early innovation that'd feed their own pipelines' is WHAT I feel is the primary reason for a strong bias in the LP universe against investment into Life Sciences......

INX-189 clinical attrition - a call for re-look at single isomer strategy of Gilead?

October 2012

Discussion posted Pharmaceutical Discussion Group on LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/INX-189-clinical-attrition-call-38263.S.156348010?goback=%2Egde_38263_member_103345417

Is the purported toxicity of the non-active diastereoisomer in a P-chiral nucleotide prodrug (protide) a scientifically derived hypothesis OR is it merely a surmise from a coincidence that no active-isomer is found toxic till date? (considering very few 'single isomers' entered PI till date..)

The quintessential 'Indian vegetarian meal' prototype on Emirates

23 Nov 2012

On FB McKinsey article "the trouble with Travel distribution" 

http://www.facebook.com/mckinseyquarterly/posts/432757166778183

Yes indeed - the globe trotting traveler these days can negotiate and get deals on anything & everything, except if he/she's an Indian vegetarian, flying any global airlines and hoping for a gourmet food experience.... Get real chum, eat ur paneer, okhra, rice & all together :-l