Against monopoly

Interview with Dr. Yusuf Hamied, chairman, Cipla Limited.

SARAH HIDDLESTON

YUSUF K. HAMIED with Cipla's version of Imatinib, an anti-cancer drug.

YUSUF K. Hamied is the chairman of Cipla, one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies and the country's fifth largest private spender in research and development. Both an entrepreneur and a scientist, Hamied is considered a pioneer of the Indian drug industry. Since returning from Cambridge with a PhD in organic chemistry in the 1960s, he has fought for the right of the Indian industry to develop drugs for sale at low cost on payment of a royalty to the inventor. In February 2001, he broke the monopoly of multinational drugs companies on HIV/AIDS drugs by offering the world the first triple therapy combination at less than a dollar a day.

Hamied was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005 for his efforts in trade and industry. Ironically, that was the same year India amended its patents laws to adhere to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In the light of controversies on the Mashelkar Committee report, Hamied spoke to Frontline on the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005, and the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Exerpts from the interview given in Mumbai:

How does India's Patents Act interplay with international obligations under the TRIPS Agreement?

Patent laws in general are national laws, not international. No two countries have the same patent laws. British law is different, American law is different, German law is different. So every country decides for itself, within a framework, what the national laws should be. And within the needs of that particular time. That is important.

The present problem, which arose after the patents Bill was passed, is what the definition should be for patentability. For that, there was Section 3 (d) [which states] that unless there is a substantial improvement in the efficacy of a drug, you cannot patent a polymorph or a salt or an esther or a metabolite or a pro-drug and so on. Now, that is correct, because that is what stops evergreening. The point they put in was [that there should be a] substantial improvement in efficacy. How do you define that? It's vague, it can go to court. What Mashelkar was saying was that incremental improvements should be allowed to be patented.

What should be the defining criteria for a patent?

A patent has to be something that is totally novel, inventive. Suppose this is a product [holds a business card] and then you just do that [turns it through 90 degrees], is that a novelty or not? In my personal opinion, no. You have a patent or a dozen patents on a product - fine. But some products today have 240 patents - is that what patenting is all about? Take the first anti-AIDS drug, AZT. It was invented in 1963. Only in 1985 did they find out that it was good for HIV/AIDS. So it was re-patented in 1985, [and given a] usage patent for AIDS until 2005. Come 2003, GlaxoSmithKleine says that AZT by itself is no good, and it has to be given in combination with a drug called Lamuvidine. Lamuvidine's patent expires in 2007. They put the two together in one tablet, and took out a patent in 1997. That patent in America and most European countries is valid up to 2017. Now, directly and indirectly, AZT, has a monopoly for 54 years. My fight over this patent issue is not against patents. We have never been against patents. An inventor should be rewarded. But countries in the third world cannot afford a monopoly... .

Now, post-2005, you will see us going back to the pre-1972 era. I call it genocide. In 2015, drugs won't be available at affordable prices. It's going to be a catastrophe.

What would you say to the idea that the Indian pharmaceutical industry's strength is just in making small changes?

What do you mean by small changes? There are two types of R&D [research and development] in the world. One is concept, and the other is `me too'. Now, conceptual research is done essentially by universities, NIH [National Institutes of Health], [and is] government funded. In America, $20 billion is spent in universities and NIH on conceptual research. The multinational pharmaceutical industry, even if it is Pfizer or Bayer, is essentially investing in `me too' research. Diazepam, the first major tranquiliser [is a] concept drug. Then you have Alprazolam and Lorazepam and Midazapam and Temazepam, and so on, [of the same] family. Typically, the breakthrough drugs normally happen through government-supported venture capital or small companies, and then they get taken over by the big boys. Today, 70 per cent or more of all drugs marketed were not invented by the guys who are selling them. I develop something I can't sell; I go to Pfizer and ask them to sell it for me. They'll take it up. Lipitor, the world's number one drug, was not invented by Pfizer. Ninety per cent of the drugs for HIV were not invented by the originator.

In 1987, I came out with Deferiprone, marketed as Kelfer, a drug for thalassemia [an inherited disease of red blood cells]. I thought it would sell well in India; it was an iron chelator. It didn't sell. So, I go to doctors in India and say here is a drug, why aren't you using it? [Their response was:] "Dr Hamied, if the drug is as good as you say it is, how come other companies like Pfizer haven't brought it out?" Even if I do the research, the acceptability is not there. How many countries have come out with a drug on their own steam? None. So, how will I be successful on my own if I bring out a new product? It's very difficult.

Do you think patents should be restricted to new chemical entities? And to what extent do you agree with the analysis of the Mashelkar report?

Definitions should be very exact. There is no real definition of a new chemical entity. I would say "a new chemical entity in relationship to a drug". Then I can say for certain if it is active, if it has some efficacy. Patenting is when someone has invented something [and] needs a suitable award. A patent to me is the grant of a favour by the state to the inventor. You have a monopoly for 20 years. If it is something that I have gifted to you, it is something that I can withdraw as well.

In the context of India's development, a national law should be made to suit India and to suit Indians. Just because six or seven pockets of India are superdeveloped, it doesn't make India a superdeveloped country. There are several Indias within India. If you take Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, we are backward. Has the WTO defined `least developed country'? How do you define `least developed' country? I tried to investigate it. There is a U.N. definition - 500 dollars per capita income. Moreover, any country with a population of over 75 million cannot be considered least developed. Why is India not in the least developed category? Look at the Human Development Report. Under Low Human Development Index, India; under medium, even Peru, Sri Lanka and so on. We are in the bottom 50 of 138 countries.

What action should the government take?

The issue that makes my blood boil is that this should have been done prior to March 2005, not post-March 2005. I am not against patents, I am against monopoly. The word `incremental' never existed when the patent law was discussed. All this should have been discussed pre-2005. Let Parliament withdraw the patents law of 2005 and reinstate the 1970 Act until it sorts out the problem of defining patentability and so on. And, if not, then get out of the WTO. In what way has membership of the WTO helped India? Not at all. Every deal is bilateral today. China was not a member, yet the Americans gave preferred-country treatment to China, so all the imports to China were duty free.

The Ministers and Secretaries say the government is bowing to the inevitable. Kamal Nath has said we cannot upset the international community...

What do you mean by that? Investment in India is short term. They will only invest in India if they can get their money out in three years. Then they don't mind continuing. We are sitting here like guinea pigs.

What we have [going on] is PR&D [public relations and development] All research has to be accountable. Mashelkar makes a statement that CSIR will take out 1,000 patents every year. Since 1995 they should have taken out 10,000 patents. Has any one drug come out of it? No. Can he explain the outcome of the CSIR research in actual commercial terms? It's very easy to talk, but what is the track record?

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2405/stories/20070323001904600.htm

New biotech raises $20M first VC round

A biotechnology company newly launched by two Boston University researchers has reeled in big bucks in its first round of institutional financing.

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals reports it has raised $20 million in Series A financing to advance its small-molecule treatments for blood disorders. The financing came from De Novo Ventures, a California investment group; Forward Ventures, of San Diego; and Lilly Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indianapolis-based drug firm Eli Lilly and Co.

HemaQuest, based in Newton, plans to request permission to begin trials of its lead drug candidate, a treatment for sickle-cell anemia and beta thalassemia, by the end of 2007, firm officials said. The company also plans to develop treatments for other blood disorders such as anemia and neutropenia.

The founders of the newly hatched firm include Susan Perrine and Douglas Faller, both of whom are medical researchers at Boston University, as well as George Stamatayannoupolous, a former president of the American Society of Hematology, according to the company.

Ronald Berenson is the company's CEO, and Lilly Ventures' Bryan Dunnivant is chairman of the board.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/10/29/daily43.html

Scientists discover novel way to remove iron from ferritin

A new study led by Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute senior scientist, Elizabeth Theil, PhD, is the first to suggest that a small protein or heptapeptide (seven amino acids wrapped into one unit) could be used to accelerate the removal of iron from ferritin. The results of this study may help scientists develop new medications that dramatically improve the removal of excess iron in patients diagnosed with blood diseases such as Beta-Thalassemia (Cooley’s anemia) or Sickle Cell Disease.

The study appears in this month’s issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was conducted by Dr Theil and her co-authors Xiaofeng S. Liu, postdoctoral fellow at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Marvin J. Miller, PhD and Leslie D. Patterson, a predoctoral student, both from the University of Notre Dame. The scientists knew that the ferritin protein cage had pores that could open and close. It was also known that chelators (a method to detoxify blood) removed iron faster when the pores were open. ‘We wanted to prove a hypothesis that a small protein or peptide could bind to ferritin and could be used to regulate ferritin pores,’ said Dr Theil. ‘Our hypothesis was correct. We proved that when a binding peptide of seven amino acids, a heptapeptide, is coupled with Desferal the rate of removal of iron from ferritin is eight times faster.’ Desferal is currently used to detoxify the blood of patients with iron overload and is a common therapeutic remedy.

Ferritin is a protein that concentrates iron in its inner core or ‘cage’. It plays a critical role in understanding iron overload, which can lead to a variety of symptoms including chronic fatigue, weakness, joint pain and arthritis. If left untreated, iron overload can lead to serious problems, including diabetes, liver and heart disease.

The study’s results are based on laboratory tests. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation and Children’s Hospital and Research Centre Oakland provided funding for this research.

Source: Children’s Hospital and Research Centre Oakland
http://www.childrenshospitaloakland.org/

Article: http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/07110305.htm

Overlooked Cancer Cure From Japan, The

Nature provides an anti-cancer molecule found in rice bran that exceeds the effectiveness and safety of most anti-cancer drugs. Yet it goes unutilized by modern medicine.

Most drugs are modeled after molecules found in nature. Nature’s molecules are then re-arranged so as to acquire a patent. Pharmaceutical companies can then justify the expense of conducting studies to prove the safety and efficacy of their pharmaceutical compounds. But frequently, nature cannot be improved upon. This is the case in regards to rice bran extract

Given that tumor cells utilize iron as a primary growth factor, cancer researchers are searching for a drug that would be able to attach to (chelate) iron molecules and remove them from the body, thus producing an effective anti-cancer drug. Researchers at Wake Forest University Health Sciences state that "iron chelators (pronounced key-lay-torz) may be of value as therapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer. They may act by depleting iron, a necessary nutrient, and limiting tumor growth." [Current Topics Medical Chemistry 4: 1623–35, 2004]

Another report says: "There is therefore an urgent need for an orally active, inexpensive iron-chelating drug, because the only currently available iron chelator cannot be administered orally, is expensive and side effects have raised doubts about its safety." [Hoffbrand AV, Current Opinion Hematology 2: 153–58, 1995]

Toxicity of iron-chelating drugs

The primary iron chelator utilized in anti-cancer studies, Desferal (desferrioxamine), can retard tumors. [Buss JL, Current Medicinal Chemistry 10: 1021–34, 2003] However, Desferal has a modest effect because of its poor ability to get inside tumor cells and remove iron. [Richardson DR, Critical Review Oncology Hematology 42: 267–81, 2002]

Adriamycin (doxorubicin), an antibiotic drug often used for cancer treatment, is an iron binder. One of the major drawbacks of Adriamycin is that it often results in severe damage to the heart. In certain circumstances this drug can release iron from its storage protein (ferritin), resulting in heart damage. [Thomas CE, Arch Biochem Biophysics 248: 684–89, 1986] The beating force of the heart is reduced by 50 percent with Adriamycin. [Husken BC, Cancer Chemotherapy Pharmacology 37: 55–62, 1995] Even if Adriamycin cures cancer, the patient is likely to die of a heart problem.

Recently, an oral drug that can remove iron from the body was introduced. Ferriprox (deferiprone) is the world's first and only orally active iron-chelating drug, which is effective and inexpensive to produce, but has similar toxicity to other chelating drugs. [Kontoghiorghes GJ, Current Med Chemistry 11: 2161–83, 2004]

I’ve gone to the trouble of citing these many scientific reports to make this undeniable statement – that iron-sequestering molecules are currently utilized to treat cancer and less toxic iron chelators are being sought. Many of the drugs and alternative therapies for cancer already involve iron chelation.

Rice bran extract (IP6)

Nature’s most effective iron-chelating molecule is inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), found naturally in seeds and bran. IP6 is a selective agent against cancer cells. Because cancer cells are high in iron content, IP6 directs most of its attention to abnormal cells. IP6 selectively removes iron from tumors cells, which deprives them of their primary growth factor. IP6 does not remove iron from red blood cells which are tightly bound to hemoglobin. Unlike cancer drugs, healthy cells are not affected with IP6, so IP6 has very low toxicity. [Deliliers GL, British J Haematology 117: 577–87, 2002]

There have been numerous lab dish and animal studies that conclusively prove IP6 is an effective and non-toxic anti-cancer molecule. But the National Cancer Institute has never seen fit to conduct a human trial even though IP6 made it on a list of promising anti-cancer agents. [Fox CH, Complementary Therapy Med 10: 229–34, 2003]

As an alternative to chelating drugs, IP6 has been shown to desirably alter the expression of proteins produced by the p21 and p53 genes that control cancer growth, but goes unused as a cancer treatment. [Saied IT, Anticancer Research 18: 1479–84, 1998]

IP6 enhances the anti-cancer effects of Adriamycin and Tamoxifen, two commonly used cancer drugs. [Tantivejkul K, Breast Cancer Research Treatment 79: 301–12, 2003] However, it goes ignored by cancer doctors.

While Desferal, an iron-chelating cancer drug, has a modest effect because of its poor ability to get inside tumor cells and remove iron, IP6 is found in every cell in the body and is essential for life. By virtue of its ubiquitous presence in living human cells, it is non-toxic. [Richardson DR, Critical review Oncology Hematology 42: 267–81, 2002]

In 2001 Food and Drug Administration researchers reported that 8 of 12 chelating agents tested were mutagenic (caused gene mutations). Among the four non-toxic chelators was IP6. [Whittaker P, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis 38: 347–56, 2001]

Bill Sardi in Wakayama, Japan

The obvious choice among available iron chelators is inositol hexaphosphate or IP6. IP6 meets all the requirements for a safe iron chelator to treat cancer. It penetrates inside cells. It is non-toxic, inexpensive, and very effective. It’s just not a drug.

Rice bran extract from Japan

In my many investigations involving cancer cures I traveled to visit the Tsuno Foods & Rice Company of Wakayama, Japan (near Osaka). This company sends trucks to rice processing plants in Japan to pick up rice husks. From rice bran, Tsuno Foods extracts many useful nutrients such as inositol used in baby formulas, tocotrienols used in dietary supplements, ferulic acid, a natural sunscreen agent, rice bran oil (which has twice the antioxidants as virgin olive oil), and inositol hexaphosphate (called IP6), which is nature’s most potent iron chelator.

A few years ago Tsuno Foods & Rice Company sponsored a worldwide symposium on the role of IP6 rice bran extract and cancer. Researchers from around the world attended and extolled its potential as a cure for cancer. [Anticancer Research 19:3633–808, 1999] Efforts by Tsuno Foods & Rice Company to educate the world about the potential anti-cancer properties of IP6 rice bran extract have been ignored by cancer treatment specialists.

Meanwhile, the Japanese people who labor at Tsuno Foods & Rice Company in Wakayama, like most Japanese, are not given to boasting. They labor dutifully without fanfare for the miraculous molecules they have extracted from rice bran. Tsuno Foods, founded in 1947 by Masaji Tsuno, is now managed by his daughter, Fumi Tsuno, an exception in the male-dominated Asian business world. They must wonder why world cancer therapists and researchers have not continued to explore the use of IP6 for cancer prevention and therapy.

About 70% of the IP6 made by Tsuno Foods and Rice Company of Wakayama, Japan, is available to chelate (attach) to iron (as well as heavy metals), which are primary growth factors for tumors. IP6 as an extract from rice bran is a far more effective anti-cancer agent than rice bran or bran cereal alone. [Vucenik I, Nutrition Cancer 28: 7–13, 1997]

The safety record of IP6 is long standing. First, it is a normal dietary component and is found in every living cell of the body. Second, extensive studies have been conducted to confirm the lack of toxicity of IP6. In 1987 phytic acid researcher Ernst Graf reported that only 4 of 22 chelating agents studied, including IP6, block hydroxyl radical production. Only phytic acid IP6 was found to be economical, nontoxic, and effective. [Graf E, Journal Biological Chemistry 262: 11647–50, 1987]

Does it work? Case reports

Since writing a book about iron and IP6 (The Iron Time Bomb), numerous reports of dramatic cancer remissions involving this dietary supplement have been received. Some of them notably stand out.

An 80-year old man with terminal liver cancer took IP6 for a few weeks prior to a scheduled rescue procedure where an anti-tumor drug was to be injected directly into the liver. A cat scan performed just prior to the procedure revealed the liver tumor was completely necrotic – the tumor was a ball of dead cells.

A middle-aged woman whose husband worked for a prominent member of Congress, who had stage 4 breast cancer, experienced a rapid and complete remission following the consumption of IP6.

At age 70, a man was diagnosed with lung cancer. Radiologists had missed a lung tumor the size of a golf ball in an earlier x-ray. A year later it was the size of a softball. Chemotherapy reduced the tumor by 75 percent. In 1999 the man began taking IP6. By 2004 the lung tumor had completely disappeared, which was confirmed by bronchoscopy and x-ray.

A man with recurrent bladder tumors submitted to surgical removal in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He then embarked upon the use of IP6 as a dietary supplement and has not experienced a return of bladder tumors in 38 months.

IP6 rice bran extract, made by Tsuno Foods of Wakayama, Japan, is available under different brand names as a dietary supplement in health food stores throughout the USA. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) only makes brief mention of IP6 as "a substance found in many foods that come from plants, including corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans, and in large amounts in cereals and legumes. It is being studied in the prevention of cancer." According to the website, there are no current or planned human clinical studies of IP6.

http://thehealthmanual.blogspot.com/2007/04/overlooked-cancer-cure-from-...

Stem Cells Save Lives In Dubai

DUBAI, July 9 (Bernama) -- The Dubai Centre for Umbilical Cord Blood has provided stem cells for 34 patients with thalassaemia and other blood diseases since it was opened in June last year, Emirates news agency, WAM, reported.

The centre's director of laboratories, Dr Asma Al Asad, said the institution, which is considered the first of its kind in the region, has stored 800 units of umbilical cord blood in its first year of operation. She said the centre helps in the treatment of various blood diseases, cancers, thalassaemia and anaemia.

Dr Al Asad said the aim of the centre is to treat thousands of patients from UAE and abroad, through providing healing stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

Apart from the storing of umbilical cord blood, the centre has examined tissue similarities for more than 100 samples, she said.

Stem cells are stored from three categories: donors for themselves, donors for purposes of scientific research and donors for patients in general, Dr Al Asad said.

The centre has joined the International Organisation for Umbilical Cord Blood, a nonprofit United States governmental organisation considered a pioneer in the field of stem cell treatments.

The Dubai centre is the first in the Arab World to be made a member.

-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=272194

Flesh and blood

An umbilical cord blood storage facility, promising stem cell therapy for serious ailments, is coming to town, reports Subhro Saha

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070708/asp/calcutta/story_8026365.asp

A lab technician holds a sample of processed cord blood ready for storage at CordLife’s cord blood bank in Singapore. (Below) Cord blood samples being lowered into the cryogenic tank. Pictures by Subhro Saha

Little Treta (not her real name) has been undergoing blood transfusion for beta thalassaemia since she was two-and-a-half months old. Not yet two, she would have had to continue the painful process for the rest of her life. But now she has a ray of hope. Treta’s parents, young professionals, could opt to store the cord blood (blood from the umbilical cord) of their second-born to try and cure her blood disorder. Her mother, a few weeks pregnant, is going to AIIMS in New Delhi for a test to rule out thalassaemia in the second child. If all goes well, the cord blood of the second child can give the sibling a new lease of life.

Cord blood, collected after the umbilical cord is severed from the child, is a rich source of stem cells. These cells are found at different stages of foetal development and are also present in several types of adult tissues. Stem cells are the master cells of our body, which have the ability to grow into other tissues and have the potential to cure about 75 serious ailments, from blood disorders to heart and eye ailments to Type 1 diabetes.

If Treta’s parents decide on storing their second child’s cord blood after a proper HLA (human leukocyte antigen, through which the immune system recognises “self” and rejects “non-self”) match, the stem cells could be transplanted into Treta’s blood to cure her thalassaemia. That is stem cell therapy, which is being billed the future of medicine. However, to store her sibling’s cord blood in a bank now, Treta’s parents would have to travel to Gurgaon, Mumbai or Chennai, where banking facilities exist. Or store it with a Chennai-based company that collects the cord blood from the city. But things look set to change for Calcutta by the year-end — with a cord blood bank being set up in the city for the first time.

The bank is being set up by CordLife Sciences India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CordLife, a company focused on tissue and cord blood banking based in Singapore and Australia. The facility, coming up off Diamond Harbour Road about 7 km from the Indian Institute of Management campus, is nearing completion. It will be able to offer cryogenic storage facilities for 40,000 samples to begin with. “However, we can go up to four to five times that capacity once demand picks up,” said Meghnath Roy Chowdhury, managing director, CordLife Sciences India, representing the local partners, Strassenburg Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

It means that parents from this part of the world can store the cord blood stem cells of their children, at a cost, but quite easily. Before delivery, the parents have to pay an initial deposit of Rs 35,000- Rs 40,000. The annual rental will be 10 per cent of the deposit and there will be the option of paying 18 years’ rental up-front to “avail discounts”. If that sounds like just another transaction, it holds the promise of a lot of health, for you, for your family. Actress Raveena Tandon and MP Priya Dutt have banked their newborns’ cord blood. Dutt has compared cord blood to “life insurance”.

There are mainly three kinds of stem cell transplantation — of adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells and cord blood cells. But stem cell research is in an embryonic stage in the country and there are debates on the efficacy of various kinds of stem cells. (As there is an absence of uniform guidelines; cases of malpractice have been reported from different parts of the world.) Adult stem cells, mainly from the bone marrow of the patient, are mostly in use in India. Harvesting stem cells from the embryo is considered unethical in many quarters. Advocates of cord blood stem cell transplants believe that they are less prone to rejection than bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells (another source of adult stem cells), perhaps because the cells do not develop the features that can be recognised and attacked by the recipient’s immune system.

Stem cell therapy is also a huge market, estimated to go up to $20 billion by 2010, according to a Frost & Sullivan study. The Indian market is estimated to touch $540 million by 2010. That is one reason why so many private players are into cord blood storage.

There are several cord blood storage facilities all over the country but the city’s advantages are clear to the Singapore company, which runs Southeast Asia's first AABB-accredited (the industry gold standard) cord blood bank in the island nation. “We needed a city, which is similar to us politically, in terms of the ability to allow us and our partners get things done. Besides Calcutta is geographically close to Singapore,” said Simon Hoo, India coordinator from CordLife. He added that this is “one of the first projects to materialise as part of the Singapore-Bengal initiative” kicked off by the chief minister’s Southeast Asia trip.

V.R. Chandramouli, CEO of LifeCell India Pvt Ltd, the cord-blood banking company headquartered in Chennai that collects samples from the city, agreed there’s a crying need to build capacity and is bullish on Calcutta as well. “Collection from Calcutta has been growing at 30-35 per cent month-on-month,” he said.

“Our presence in Calcutta will be a good start towards establishing a strong network. We think the Indian market is huge, specially with the fast-growing middle class, rising disposable income in major cities and a genuine increase in concern for the welfare of the children,” Steven Fang, CEO and executive director, CordLife, told Metro in Singapore.

The project has a lot of support. Director of drug control Sajal Roychowdhury feels that the bank “will open up a new vista” in treatment of critical diseases. “We will extend all necessary support,” he says. The medical community is on its side too. “This is the future of medicine. Stem cells form part of our blood and immune system and they rejuvenate other cells in our body’s system and thus can be a potent cure for cancer,” says city-based gynaecologist Ranjit Chakraborti. He feels the cord blood bank in “our own backyard” will inspire more confidence among clinicians. He hopes the company will also address the needs of the economically weaker sections.

Stem cell faqs

Why is every one so caught up with stem cell therapy?
Stem cells transform into the range of specialised cells that define us. Many of the most severe disorders occur because of problems during this process. Scientists believe that the disorders can be cured with the re-application of the stem cells, from the stored cord or extracted from bone marrow or from the small number of such cells present in the bloodstream.

What are the various kinds of stem cell therapy?
In Blood, 2005, one of the latest scientific papers available on the topic, the chance of use of cord blood samples for cell therapy was reported as one in 400. Past medical opinion had put the rate at around one in 20,000. One reason for the growing number of cord blood transplants is the greater ease of matching donors and recipients compared to bone marrow. “Cord blood banking can help us build capacity of haematopoietic stem cells, which are in huge demand for treating blood-related disorders,” said paediatric haematologist Arpita Bhattacharyya.

For bone marrow, a perfect 6 out of 6 HLA match is required, to prevent tissue rejection. In the case of cord blood, in some cases for some diseases, as few as two out of six match will suffice. But as cord blood can only be collected immediately after the birth, it’s scarce. There’s research to establish cord blood being applied in case of heart failure and diabetes, the two most potent killers in India.

What diseases can be cured with the therapy?
Cord blood stem cells are commonly used to treat different types of blood cancers, other blood disorders and various inherited disorders. Study has shown adult stem cells can also be used to treat autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical studies suggest these can even help avert corneal degeneration and restore vision in cases of blindness, can help restore proper cardiac function to heart attack sufferers and improve movement in patients with spinal cord injury.

What are the facilities of storing cord blood in Calcutta now?
LifeCell India collects samples from six medical facilities, including the Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre, Belle Vue Clinic, Woodlands and AMRI Dhakuria.

Former minister raises fear of HIV blood cover-up

· Lord Owen claims officials knew of hepatitis risk
· 1,700 dead and many terminally ill after blunder

Sarah Hall
Wednesday July 11, 2007
The Guardian
http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2123433,00.html

New concerns are raised today that government officials attempted to cover up evidence that they could have stopped thousands of people becoming infected with HIV from contaminated blood supplies. Lord Owen, who was a Labour health minister in the 1970s, says he has unearthed the first concrete proof that officials knew more than 30 years ago that there was an increased risk of contracting hepatitis from imported blood products.

More than 1,700 people went on to die and many are terminally ill after contracting hepatitis C and then HIV from infected blood during treatment for haemophilia in the 1970s and 80s. Lord Owen, who as health minister pledged that Britain would no longer import blood products, has found a document from the Department of Health which shows officials knew in February 1976 that imported blood products were "more costly" to the NHS and came with a "higher hepatitis risk" - something that has been consistently denied.

The discovery comes ahead of Lord Owen's appearance today at the independent public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal, chaired by the former solicitor-general Lord Archer of Sandwell. Lord Owen is expected to query why several volumes of documents relating to the issue were destroyed at a time when a similar HIV-tainted blood scandal was erupting in France. "This may be a coincidence - but it may also be a reason why the documents were destroyed. The inquiry will find out if there is any deliberate cover-up or simply maladministration."

As health minister from 1974 to 1976 the then David Owen was concerned about the hepatitis risk when he pledged Britain should stop importing blood products in January 1975. For more than 20 years he has repeatedly been told by officials that there was no known risk. Describing the document as a gem, Lord Owen said: "We now at last have actual evidence from the department that corroborates ... that we knew [the imported product] was more likely to be contaminated. What is important is that here they are in February 1976 - and they more or less concede every argument: it is cheaper to go for self-sufficiency and there is higher hepatitis risk [from imported products]."

Since 1988 Lord Owen, who went on to become foreign secretary before later leading the SDP, has battled to see evidence backing up what he was told by doctors and officials at the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) during his time as health minister. The DHSS pulped his official papers 10 years after he left the department, without telling him - an action he describes as "inexplicable".

But in May the Department of Health released 68 documents following pressure from the inquiry into the scandal. The three-paragraph minute, dated February 20 1976, was among those documents.

Roddy Morrison, chair of the Haemophilia Society, described the discovery of the new memo as "very significant. It begs the question of why this information was not shared more widely with the haemophilia community so that they could make an informed choice on whether to be treated," he said.

Lord Owen said that he was "quite convinced" hundreds of patients with haemophilia would not have contracted HIV if self-sufficiency had been introduced.

A total of 4,670 people with haemophilia were infected with hepatitis C between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, and 1,200 of those were also infected with HIV.