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Using wearable wireless technology, Amala Hospital has introduced a brand-new smart ward. This smart ward, the first of its kind in Kerala, is outfitted with cutting-edge technology that offers ongoing patient monitoring with the goal of enhancing patient outcomes and lowering the possibility of medical error. To apply its iMS technology across cardiology and medicine departments at its hospital in Thrissur, Kerala, the hospital chain has teamed with Chennai-based health-tech startup, LifeSigns. The wireless patient monitoring system with early warning scores that enables real-time monitoring of vital signs and other significant health indicators is one of the major components of the smart ward. Using this technology, patient health can be monitored more effectively and efficiently than with conventional wired monitoring devices, which can be cumbersome and uncomfortable for patients. The smart ward is equipped with patient information systems for the hospital, as well as monitors at the nursing station, in addition to the wireless monitoring system. These components all work together to enhance patient care and speed up the medical process.

Mukesh Ambani is aiming to advance the field of genetic mapping, which may be helpful in determining a person’s predisposition for certain illnesses and diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiac risks, etc. The comprehensive Rs 12,000 genome sequencing test, developed by Strand Life Sciences, would be made available by Reliance Industries. According to Strand CEO Ramesh Hariharan, the genome test, which costs $145, is around 86% less expensive than comparable local options. It will be the least expensive genomic profile in the world, he said. He predicts that adoption will be sparked by the low price. Strand will use the most recent findings in science, according to Hariharan, while evaluating the test results. The testing will enable the building of a database of biological information that could help in the development of drugs. Businesses like the US-based 23andMe offer ancestry reports for $99, while the company’s health plus ancestry reports cost $199. Indian companies like MapmyGenome and Medgenome charge over $1,000 for full genome sequencing for health red flags. Chinese companies who give the results for less money do not include all of the tests, though. In the upcoming weeks, Reliance intends to actively promote the test on the MyJio app. Finding one’s heritage or traits like athleticism, hair texture, or a propensity to gain weight are very popular among consumers in the US. The focus of the longer-term business plan is on preventive healthcare. Genetic test regulations have not yet been set up in India.

Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, jointly known as keratinocyte carcinoma and the most prevalent types of cancer diagnosed in the United States, are likely to be preventable with simple laser skin treatments, according to new research. The work was undertaken by a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham. It provides an approach to safeguarding people’s skin health that is simple to execute and was published in Dermatologic Surgery. In contrast to ablative fractional lasers, which remove the top layer of skin after treatment, nonablative fractional lasers (NAFL) deliver heat in a fractional manner, leaving the skin completely intact after treatment. They are currently used to treat scars, age spots, sun-damaged skin, and other conditions; however, it is unknown whether or not they are effective at preventing skin damage. The Mass General Dermatology Laser & Cosmetic Center’s Mathew Avram, MD, JD, and his team looked at patients who had previously undergone successful treatment for facial keratinocyte carcinoma as a way to learn more. After 3 years, these patients have a 35% chance of developing a second keratinocyte carcinoma, and in 5 years, they have a 50% chance. In the study, 52 patients served as controls and did not get NAFL therapy, whereas 43 patients received this treatment. Over an average follow-up of more than 6 years, the rate of subsequent facial keratinocyte carcinoma development was 20.9% in patients treated with NAFL and 40.4% in controls, showing that patients receiving NAFL had about a 50% lower risk. Control patients had a 2.65-times higher risk of developing a new facial keratinocyte carcinoma than NAFL-treated patients, even after accounting for age, gender, and skin type. Moreover, in patients treated with NAFL compared to untreated patients, the time to development of a face keratinocyte carcinoma was noticeably longer. According to Avram, “These findings suggest that NAFL treatment may have an important role in protecting against subsequent keratinocyte carcinomas.”  While the exact mechanism underlying NAFL’s protective action is unknown, it is hypothesised that the drug reduces the overall number of photodamaged keratinocytes while also possibly promoting a wound healing response, which favours healthy skin cells. Avram pointed out that more research is necessary to more thoroughly evaluate NAFL’s contribution to the prevention of skin cancer, to show how long its preventive effects last, and to establish the ideal treatment parameters. According to this research, patients are advised to undergo nonablative laser treatments if they are at risk or detect anomalies in order to help avoid skin cancer. Also, it’s crucial to take the right precautions to lower your chance of developing skin cancer, such as wearing sunscreen every day, wearing helmets and other sun-protective gear, and performing self-skin examinations.

The state government has allocated Rs 1,062 crore for the development of the healthcare infrastructure. In addition to upgrading primary and community health services, the approved works also included new construction at district headquarters hospitals (DHH) and sub-divisional hospitals. The letter sent to all chief district medical and public health officers stated, “The health and family welfare department has approved action plan for construction of new buildings and maintenance and repair of existing health institutions for 2022-23 to the tune of Rs 1,062 crore for 863 number of works under the state sector of scheme — Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Seva Mission.” Nine district headquarters hospitals would receive additional construction at a cost of around Rs 26.7 crore, according to the action plan. Similar to this, the department has set aside Rs 240 crore to construct sub-divisional hospitals (SDH) in accordance with Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS). Six community health centres (CHCs) have been designated by the government as SDHs. The government would invest Rs 5,964 crore to develop new CHC buildings in accordance with IPHS norms, and Rs 355 crore to create primary health centres (PHC) and staff quarters. PHC and CHC maintenance and repair will cost around Rs 46 crore, according to official sources. The government will spend Rs 580 crore on the development of Ayush hospitals. The health secretary has directed all CDMPHOs to confirm the budgetary allocations from other sources for the same work or project, such as the National Health Mission Implementation Plan, PMAyushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, Ama Hospital, District Mineral Funds, and Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation, and to make sure there isn’t any duplication of funding sources. Additionally, the officers have been instructed to inform higher authorities of any site, land, or other obstructions to the execution of projects or works.

According to a senior health department official, the Odisha government will set up a cutting-edge cancer care institute, upgrade 147 hospitals, and set up four new medical colleges as part of the “Ama Hospital” programme. Speaking at the two-day collectors conference that started on Tuesday, Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit made this statement. Kalahandi, Talcher, Jajpur, and Kandhamal are the proposed locations for the new medical colleges, according to Pandit, who also noted that the state government has approved Rs 750 crore under the “Ama Hospital” programme. Pandit stated that the government was developing dedicated cancer and cardiac care hospitals in Jharsuguda in a PPP mode and that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had set a motto of “every life is precious.” Seven new medical colleges, according to her, have opened in the last several years, and four more are in the planning stages. Capital Hospital Bhubaneswar has been transformed into a Post Graduate Institute. She added that the establishment of the Odisha University of Health Sciences is already underway and that PPP projects for inexpensive healthcare have been planned in four areas, including Angul, Barbil, Jharsuguda, and Bhadrak, to create up hospitals providing specialist care. The health secretary also mentioned the establishment of the “Bagchi Srishankar Cancer Hospital” in the state capital, which will have 750 beds and all modern amenities. On the NISER campus, Tata Memorial Center is working with the Government of Odisha and the Department of Atomic Energy to build a second 200-bed state-of-the-art cancer hospital. Pandit added that Odisha is the first and only state in the nation to impose a requirement that all patients receive free treatment in all public health facilities. In all government healthcare facilities, from primary health centres to medical college hospitals, the free services include free medications, diagnostics, OPD, IPD, surgery, and ICU.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced on Friday that its subsidiary has been given the go-ahead to market a generic medication for the treatment of multiple myeloma by the US health regulator. According to a statement from Sun Pharma, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has given the company final approval for the generic lenalidomide capsules in multiple strengths. Sun Pharma and Celgene Corporation (Celgene) reached a settlement in June 2021 to end the legal dispute over the patent for Sun Pharma’s generic lenalidomide capsules. In accordance with the settlement’s terms, Celgene gave Sun Pharma a licence to the patents necessary to produce and market a specific number of generic lenalidomide capsules in the US, starting sometime after March 2022. In addition, starting on January 31, 2026, the licence enables Sun Pharma to produce and market an unlimited number of generic lenalidomide capsules in the US. On the BSE, Sun Pharma shares were down 0.48 percent, trading at Rs 1,002 per share.

The first shipments of the world’s first intranasal Covid19 vaccine, iNCOVACC, were sent by Bharat Biotech on Monday to various locations throughout India. “The first shipments of #iNCOVACC are being dispatched to various locations across #India. A moment of pride and accomplishment for team @BharatBiotech,” Bharat Biotech said in a tweet. On Sunday, Dr. Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech, announced that the company has begun sending hospitals the world’s first intranasal heterologous booster dose. “We have just dispatched nasal vaccines two days ago to the hospitals,” he said. Dr. Ella informed about the distribution of vaccines during the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, and Ella Foundation agreement to establish the first-ever “UWMadison One Health Center” in India to improve vaccines, medicines, and global health education. iNCOVACC is the first intranasal COVID vaccine in the world to be approved for both a heterologous booster dose that is given as nasal drops after the first 2-dose schedule. It is a Covid19 vaccine that does not need syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandages, etc., saving money on expenditures associated with procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, which are often necessary for injectable vaccines. For purchases in large quantities by State Governments and the Government of India, iNCOVACC is priced at Rs 325 per dosage. The first COVID intranasal vaccine for Primary series and Heterologous booster, iNCOVACC (BBV154), was today dedicated to the nation by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), a global pioneer in vaccine innovation and development of vaccines for infectious diseases. On the occasion of Republic Day, it was launched by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the presence of Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh. Read: Health minister Mandaviya launches the nasal Covid vaccination from Bharat Biotech Adenovirus vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised spike protein called iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient vaccine. Phase I, II, and III clinical studies on this vaccine candidate were reviewed with favourable outcomes. The intranasal vaccine has been created for effective distribution and simple, pain free administration. It is stable at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for easy distribution and storage. Dr. Krishna Ella, the Executive Chairman, stated earlier in January that “With the rollout of iNCOVACC today, we have achieved our goal of establishing a novel vaccine delivery platform for intranasal delivery. It proves that India can innovate for itself and for the world. We and the country are well prepared for future COVID-19 variants and future infectious diseases.”  He continued by stating that Bharat Biotech is a leading global vaccine developer and manufacturer, having produced more than 7 billion doses to date. Source: ANI

Karkinos Healthcare and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay collaborate to bring together the expertise of more than 100 medical professionals and academics in order to enhance cancer treatment. Through this partnership, industry and academic expertise will be combined to develop next-generation omics technologies to fight cancer. A project has been started on brain tumours, which are still among the deadliest cancers, by teams from Karkinos and IIT Bombay. The team intends to extend its research to other cancers that are often diagnosed in India. Proteins or genes alone can only provide a limited amount of information. As a result, new efforts have been made by the researchers to expand proteogenomics investigations in cancers by combining mass spectrometry-based proteomics data with genomics. “The advancements in genomics and proteomics in recent years has given a remarkable boost to our understanding about the disease pathology. Proteogenomics are adding new capabilities of providing novel insights at an unprecedented scale, which was not possible earlier,” a statement said. Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava of IIT Bombay commented on the collaboration, saying, “At IIT Bombay, we have setup large infrastructure of proteomics-based technologies using mass spectrometry and protein microarrays to identify protein-based biomarkers.”  To speed up biological and biomedical research, Karkinos has established cutting-edge genomics technology and data analysis. “In a short time, we have enabled the latest next generation sequencing platforms and multi-omics data analysis workflow to sequence alterations in cancer genomes. We have streamlined the whole genome sequencing process which will offer rapid, accurate variant analysis,” said Dr Prashant Kumar,Chief Scientific Officer, Karkinos Healthcare.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday that tribals under the age of 40 will be given cards stating their sickle cell anaemia status and pre-marital counselling regarding the risk of their child to get the disease if they marry another person who has the disease. After the presenting of the Union Budget, Mandaviya declared that the government will take on the eradication of sickle cell anaemia as a mission and perform extensive screening in the afflicted tribal areas for the early discovery of cases. According to Mandaviya, the tribal population in India and other vulnerable populations are frequently affected by the genetic disease, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). “Going forward, the government will also issue cards after screening to tribal persons below 40 years affected by the disease mentioning their sickle cell anaemia status and also provide premarital counselling to make the patients aware of the detrimental effects of the disease if they marry another sickle cell anaemia patient and give birth,” he said. The aim of the screening is to lower the disease’s prevalence. A strategy for screening about 7 crore people under the age of 40 in 200 districts with the most affected residents has been developed by the Union Health Ministry in consultation with the tribal ministry and the states. The rapid “point of care” histological test, which just requires blood, will be used for the screening. According to Mandaviya, the establishment of 157 new nursing colleges in conjunction with the 157 medical colleges that have already been operating since 2014 is another significant health-related highlight of the budget. A mission will be launched to eradicate sickle cell anaemia by 2047, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who made the announcement earlier on Wednesday when presenting the Union Budget for 2023–2024 in the Lok Sabha. “A mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047 will be launched. It will entail awareness creation, universal screening of seven crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments,” she said.

On the occasion of Republic Day on Thursday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh introduced the nasal Covid vaccine, iNCOVACC, from Bharat Biotech. At Mandaviya’s residence, the first intranasal vaccine produced in India was introduced to the world. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the nasal vaccine, BBV154, in November for restricted emergency use among adults as a heterologous booster dose. Bharat Biotech previously issued a statement stating that “iNCOVACC” is priced at Rs. 800 for private markets and at Rs. 325 for supplies to the Indian government and state governments. Adenovirus-vectored vaccine called iNCOVACC has a spike protein that has been stabilised before fusing and recombinant replication deficiencies. The Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer had stated that this vaccine candidate had undergone successful evaluation in phase I, phase II, and phase III clinical trials. The efficacy of iNCOVACC as a primary dose schedule and a heterologous booster dose for individuals who have already received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin were assessed in clinical trials.