The central government
has fixed prices for as
many as 700 medicines
for the benefit of the
people as part of a
comprehensive healthcare
policy, stated Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi recently.
Inaugurating a Rs 500
crore multi-speciality
hospital set up by the
diamond merchants of
Surat on April 17, 2017,
the Prime Minister
also assured that the
government would make
sure that the doctors
prescribe only generic
medicines. “This will
break the monopoly of big
medicine outlets,” he said.
The Prime Minister
described the effort
devoted towards
making the hospital as
“commendable”, and
added that the state-of-
the-art hospital would
benefit citizens. He
emphasized that the
poor must have access
to quality and affordable
healthcare. In this context
he talked about the Union
Government’s initiatives
to bring down the prices
of medicines, stents etc.
He said he is committed
to providing affordable
healthcare for the poor
and the middle class.
CelluGen counters
LifeCell’s claims of
being the stem cell
bank pioneer
The stem cell research
organization, CelluGen
Biotech has challenged
LifeCell’s recent claim of
being the pioneer of ‘Pool/
Shared Private Umbilcal
Cord Blood’ banking in
India, contending that
it was Cellugen that
initiated the first UCB
pool banking in the world
with its revolutionary
initiative Mycord.
In 2016, CelluGen Biotech
redefined umbilical
cord blood banking in
India by introducing the
Mycord Precious Pool
Plan, to create a private
pool of umbilical cord
blood units. This was
the first such private
effort in the country that
desperately needed shared
UCB banking. While
Lifecell’s foray into
the field is welcome,
it is incorrect for
the organization
to present itself as
the pioneer in the
shared banking
space, the company
said in a statement.
PM Modi bats for
generic drugs
In a recent interview,
the Managing Director
and CEO of LifeCell
International, Mayur
Abhaya has made claims
to this effect. Lalit Jaiswal,
Founder-Director,
CelluGen Biotech has
responded to this claim
by saying, “We welcome
LifeCell into this arena
of shared cord blood
banking and appreciate
their efforts to restructure
the concept of umbilical
cord banking after a
decade of storing cord
BIOVOICENEWS.COM
67