BTG Pharma Quiz October 2016

Created by the 1975 merger of Sigma Chemical Company and Aldrich Chemical Company, Sigma-Aldrich, is a fine chemical, life sciences and biotechnology company based in St Louis, Missouri 

 

Several solvents and chemicals used at BTG are manufactured by Sigma-Aldrich 

 

Last year, Sigma-Aldrich was acquired by X

 

A well known fact about X is that it is the world’s oldest operating pharmaceutical company.

 

A lesser known fact about X is that it is the world’s largest maker of liquid crystals used in TVs and computer screens.  

 

X is 

The life sciences industry is torn between

 

1. Making medicines and devices accessible to patients and

2. Making a profit.

 

The patent is a central aspect of this debate. 

 

On the positive side, it provides pharmaceutical companies and scientists with an incentive to invest their time and money to find cures for the world’s diseases. But on the negative side, it provides the innovator company with an effective monopoly over the drug - allowing the company to charge extortionate prices. 

 

Although the patent is valid for X years, companies enjoy only a few years of market exclusivity since the patent is applied at the time the molecule is identified. More than half of the parent period is lost due to the lengthy process of clinical trials and regulatory approval.

 

This is the reason why companies rush to get their medicines approved - so that they can charge exorbitant prices in the limited market exclusivity period for longer. 

 

X is 

In October 2016, Kenya launched the world’s first drug specifically designed to treat X in children. 

 

In October 2015, X overtook HIV AIDS to become the world’s deadliest infectious disease. 

 

The new pill is a combination of 3 drugs used to treat X in adults, mixed in the right dosage and fruit flavored to appeal for children. 

 

Until now, pills designed for adults had to be split to get the dosage for children. 

 

Kenya is the first country to roll out the new drug, with more countries expected to follow suit. 

 

Experts say that the new treatment will be more effective in children since the components have been measured accurately and specifically for children and the pill is not bitter-tasting. 

From 2017, several countries including UK, USA and Australia will ban microbeads from all of its X products 

 

Microbeads are really tiny plastic particles usually smaller than 5 millimeters.

 

The problem with microbeads is that they are so small that most wastewater treatment plants don't filter them out.  Hence they get discharged into waterways.

 

Once in the waterways, the beads absorb persistent organic pollutants (long-lasting toxic chemicals like pesticides, flame retardants, motor oil and other industrial chemicals) that move up the food chain when the toxic-coated beads are consumed by fish and other marine organisms.

 

The ban only applies to X products. It does not extend to medical devices. Hence LC/DC Bead and Lumi are safe!!

 

X is? 

 

In October 2016, Pfizer offered a donation of a million free vaccines for the world’s largest killer of children - Pneumonia. But X, a humanitarian aid NGO, refused to accept the donation. 

 

The heart of the refusal—which could well imperil children who would have received those vaccines—is a principled stand against the extremely high cost of many vaccines.

 

X’s refusal was based around the premise that pharma companies use donations, goodwill and social corporate responsibility to defend high drug prices. 

 

X is 

On 6th October, BTG announced that it reached a settlement with the US government in relation to the Department of Justice’s investigation of the marketing of X.

 

The investigation commenced in July 2014 and focused on the period pre-dating BTG’s acquisition of the Y - the subsidiary that manufactures X.

 

Y agreed to settle all allegations and agreed to pay a total penalty of $36M. 

 

What is X and Y?

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release of biological agents. These agents can be bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form.

 

The most notorious incident of bioterrorism was the 2001 anthrax attacks in the US. 

 

During this attack, 30,000 people had to be treated, 22 became ill and 5 died. 

 

In August 2014, a laptop owned by a Physics & Chemistry graduate, who was fighting for ISIS, was found to contain a 19-page document on how to develop X from infected animals and turn it into a weapon. 

 

In preparation for dealing with the possibility of a biological attack by terrorists, the UK Department of Health and the UK Vaccine Network awarded Prokarium, a British biotechnology company, £2 million in funding to to develop vaccines for X and to conduct phase 1 clinical trials. 

 

X is