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BOOK
REVIEW |
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Title |
: Views and Reviews –
4
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Editor |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Published |
: Association of
Pharmaceutical Teachers of India publication |
Pages |
: 170 |
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Views and Reviews-4 by Professor Harkishan
Singh, Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of
India publication, Bengaluru 2019, pp187.
Professor Harkishan Singh of Panjab
University, Chandigarh is a well known Medicinal
Chemist by profession but he is now known as
historian of eminance. In the last three decades, ie;
after superannuation he has dedicated his life in
researching and documenting the history of pharmacy
in India and other contemporary developments of the
profession, its practices, men, institutions and
industries. His works have been extensively
published in professional journals in India. But
APTI has taken the yeoman’s task of compiling his
works in the form of ‘volumes’ for posterity.
The present ‘Volume-4’ is the latest (2019) in the
series. It is divided in to 17 chapters covering
nearly 170 pages. For one who has closely followed
Professor Singh’s works, most of the pages of the
volume-4 are earlier published elsewhere but the
chapter-1 ‘Making of an archival collection and its
utilization’ gives his personalized account of how
he began his journey of researching and documenting
the history of science in general and pharmacy in
particularly- a pains taking journey for a retired
University professor. He documents year wise or step
by step (1998-1994; 1995-97; 1998-2000; 2001-08;
2009-11; and the rest) journey, though some it has
been covered in as many of his earlier articles. The
historical aspects of drugs and pharmacy statutes,
status of Indian pharmaceutical industries, the
unsung Heros of pharmacy including some Britishers
who contributed to drug industry have been aptly
covered, something Universities do not teach in
their curriculum. It is evident from the description
that the author has derived inspirations from
stalwarts like Professor GP Srivastava, Professor ML
Schroff, Professor Ramanath Chopra and the likes. In
the digital world, the old titles or even the
existing Indian Journals have lost their relevance
as they have not kept up with times, much to be
blamed to Indaian academia. But one thing I have
observed that in his selection of individuals (his
prerogative) at places misses, quote ‘set him/her in
the context of time’, unquote (page-13). Intersting
enough, he writes about three contemporary Indian
professionals (late DK Jain, BD Miglani and PR
Pabrai) and about one living legend (nonagenarian PC
Dandiya). The volume has been dedicated to late Mrs
Gian Kaur, the lady behind the committed scientist
and historian.
The publishers, APTI, Bengaluru deserve rich
compliments for their efforts to bring out such
invaluable works to the attention of the profession.
The book is recommended for the University
libraries, more so to libraries of Pharmaceutical
institutions, a valuable collection. |
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Title |
: Affordable and
Effective Drug Delivery
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Editor |
: N Udupa |
Published |
: Manipal
Universal Press |
Pages |
: 276 |
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A Message by Prof. Bhupinder
Singh Bhoop Printed In The Above Book.
I am quite delighted to know that
earnest endeavors are being made to bring forth a
book compiling as many as high quality 50 PhD theses
in abridged form, all spearheaded by Professor
Nayanabhirama Udupa, one of the most accomplished
pharma scientists of the country.
I have known Professor Udupa almost
for the last two decades. I have had the opportunity
of frequent interactions with him during various
scientific conferences, professional meetings and
award ceremonies. Besides, I have also been
associated with him in several other ways, as an
examiner for his PhD students, participated in
conferences organized by him as a speaker, or
organized conferences where he participated as the
speaker, and had him as the author of several
chapters in books edited by me.
Professor Udupa is verily an embodiment of
arduousness, gregariousness, organizational
capabilities, professional enthusiasm and above all,
characteristics of a thorough gentleman. Every time
I meet him, the level of my appreciation and
adoration towards him tends to augment. Over 500
publications with over 5000 citations, about eight
patents, half-a-dozen books, and research guidance
of over 1 00 research scholars is a definitive
testimony of his exemplary contribution to pharma
education and research.
I sincerely wish him a long, healthy and blissful
life ahead, with decades of further contribution
towards science, education and society.
Price Rs.: 600/- |
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Title |
: WITNESS to an Era
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Author |
: Prof. Harkishan
Singh |
Published |
: |
Pages |
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Prof. Harkishan Singh, Professor Emeritus, Panjab
University, Chandigarh, is a senior member of the
pharmaceutical fraternity, a distinguished academic,
an outstanding medicinal chemist, an active
participant in the growth and consolidation of the
pharmacy profession in India and a pharmaceutical
historian of international standing. Reviews of his
works and recognitions have appeared in many
journals in India and abroad. Prof. Singh has
published his autobiography Witness to an Era in
2013, describing the events of his life and
experiences from his childhood to the present time
which was well received by readers. The last five
years which has passed since then has largely been
the period of consolidation of his work which had
been in progress. Certain recognitions have been
bestowed upon him. All this called for revision of
the autobiography of the first edition. A few
corrections have been made and some new material has
been added to the old text. Some new historical
pictures, family photographs and a few pictures of
recent recognitions bestowed upon him have been also
included to the revised edition. The second edition
of this autobiography has now been published in
2019, describing completely his lifelong memories
(he celebrated his 90th birthday on 25 November
2018), covered in 159 sections of the new edition
with Appendix of his fruitful career.
Born in a mud house in Lower Chenab Colony in
Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab in 1928, he
also mentions the birth of his brothers and sisters
at Khara and Tarn Taran (Harkishan was the eldest of
all). He narrates the events of his early life,
talks of his parents, their marriage, and their
family history and above all of life in villages in
the twenties of the last century. Life in Punjab,
food, festivals, dresses and tradition of different
communities makes very interesting reading not only
for today’s youth but also for the future
generations. He had his schooling in Gurdaspur and
Tarn Taran. Then he joined Sikh National College in
Lahore in 1945 for intermediate studies. Sikh
National College, Lahore established in 1938 had its
own reputation where the tricolor remained flying
all 24 hours even during colonial period. He
describes the glory of Lahore, which was a cultural
and education centre of Punjab. Due to the traumatic
event of the partition of Punjab he left Lahore and
continued his intermediate studies in Amritsar, the
holy city of the Sikhs. His ambition of adopting
medicine did not mature as he was placed in the
waiting list of MBBS, whereas in B.Pharm. he was
kept at the top of those selected. He selected
pharmacy (I would say that pharmacy profession of
India was lucky to have him). In spite of the trauma
of the partition, which affected him deeply and the
people of Punjab in particular, he was able to
qualify for B. Pharm. in 1950 with top marks from
the newly created East Panjab University. He recalls
his association during the pharmacy studies with
senior teachers such as Dr P. N. Mehra,
pharmacognosy; Dr K. N. Gaind, pharmaceutics and Dr
Nazar Singh, pharmaceutical chemistry from whom he
learnt a lot. This was followed by a period of
practical training at Drug Research Laboratories,
Jammu, where Sir Ram Nath Chopra was the Director.
During the educational tour with Dr. P. N Mehra,
Singh proudly recollects attending the 37th Session
of Indian Science Congress in Poona in January 1950,
where he saw Pandit Nehru inaugurating National
Chemical Laboratory (NCL). He was inspired to see
the presence of stalwarts of science such as
Professor P. C. Mahalanobis, Sir Robert Robinson,
Madame Curie Joliot, Professor Desmond Bernal and
Professor Joliot Curie. After a brief period of work
at the United Chemical Works, Jalandhar, he
persuaded his further studies completing M. Pharm
(1952) and Ph. D (1956) from Banaras Hindu
University (BHU) under the guidance of N.K. Basu. He
mentions explicitly that his life and career were
guided by N. K. Basu and G. P. Srivastava with whom
he had a deep association at BHU. He makes a special
mention of his sister, Charanjit without whose
financial help, he says he would not have been able
to peruse his M. Pharm studies. She worked as a
teacher at Hyderabad, where his father also worked
in postal service. During his stay in Banaras, he
recalls the visit of such great foreign scientists
like Noble Laureate Professor E. B Chain,
accompanied by Mrs. Chain and Alexander Todd.
Professor Singh describes his career as a member of
the faculty at BHU ( 1952-1956), at University of
Saugar (1956-1964), finally settling down at the
Panjab University, Chandigarh (1964-1988) where he
rose to be a professor in 1972, and also held other
important positions like Head of the
Department(1976-1981). He gives a detailed account
of his studies abroad as postdoctoral fellow and
visiting professor at the Universities of Maryland
(USA), Mississippi (USA) and University of London
(UK). He mentions his work with Norman J. Doorenbos
(USA) and William B. Whalley (UK) about whom he
often speaks in different sections of this book. He
also mentions his association with John M. Midgley,
University of London (UK) with whom he developed a
deep friendship.
Prof. Singh writes in one of the sections about the
celebration of his marriage with Gian in 1958 at
Amritsar. In the next sections, he narrates in
detail of his first journey for research studies to
USA by sea in 1958 with his wife soon after marriage
and speaks especially of the hardships which arose
while completing the formalities. He recalls the
horror of a situation he faced because the Indian
Government then did not allow its citizens to carry
foreign exchange in cash. Had a State Bank of India
officer and some others not stepped in and helped
him, he would have almost missed his boat and never
gone abroad. However, the adventures of this about
four week journey makes an enjoyable reading,
especially the contacts he made while on board the
ship.
At the Panjab University, he built a school of
research on azasteroids, a prominent highlight of
the work of his research group being the discovery
of muscle relaxant, Chandonium Iodide (named after
Chandigarh city). The development and the clinical
tests of this drug are detailed in many sections of
this book, describing collaboration with Ian G.
Marshall, University of Strathclyde (UK), Sandor
Agoston, University of Groningen (Netherland), Rex
A. Palmer, University of London (UK) as well as with
Nitya Anand and B. N. Dhawan, Central Drug Research
Institute (CDRI), Lucknow.
In many sections of this autobiography, Prof Singh
writes gratefully the work of his research students,
their dedication, hard work and honesty that also
contributed to his rise.
Prof. Singh has lectured extensively on azasteroids
and Chandonium Iodide in India, USA, Canada, UK,
China, Switzerland, and all itineraries of his
travel and lectures are mentioned in detail in this
book. In spite of his busy schedule in these
countries, he took time for sightseeing and visiting
museums, historical cities and places of historical
interest, of which very interesting descriptions are
given in the book. He especially brings to the
readers’ attention scientific lectures, tours and
trips, some of which were also organized and planned
by his students, colleagues or friends from India
who are now settled in USA and Canada. He mentions
with respect their great hospitality, and the
trouble they took to make his stay comfortable at
these places. Some even organized get-togethers and
parties, the accounts of which he relates
extensively. In many conferences abroad, he could
meet prominent scientists as Noble Laureate Dr
George Palade, USA.
In some sections of this book he writes about
research programs and teachings of the Department of
Pharmacy, Chandigarh, which has attained an enviable
reputation and was designated as University
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) and got
the status of Centre of Advanced Study. Besides this
a number of pharmaceutical congresses and seminars
were held in the department for the last 40 years.
Prof. Singh has been associated with the working of
several professional and statutory organizations of
India.
Prof. Singh mentions in at least 6 sections of the
book about the struggles and many frustrations faced
in the establishment of a Central Institute of
Pharmacy (CIP) starting from 1954. Many suggestions
were made to the Government of India (GoI), with new
names like Central Institute of Pharmaceutical
Sciences (CIPS) or National Institute of
Pharmaceutical Sciences (NIPS). With the support of
his pharmaceutical friend Dr. Parvinder Singh, CEO
Ranbaxy Laboratories and other pharmaceutical
personalities, he actively perused the matter with
GoI. Number of conference were held and a huge
correspondence file developed during the period.
Ultimately at the 37th Indian Pharmaceutical
Congress at New Delhi, attended by then Prime
Minister of India Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, the vision of
such an institute became a reality. The institute
was created on 27th February 1991 and he christened
its name as National Institute of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research (NIPER). Prof. Singh played a
dominant role in its establishment and academic
structuring and was honoured to perform its
groundbreaking ceremony in Mohali (Punjab). One of
the happiest moment in the life of Prof. Singh was,
when after the meeting with GoI officials about
NIPER on 15th February 1991, Dr Parvinder Singh told
him “daktar sabh, nipper ban gaie” (Doctor, the
Niper has become a reality) Prof. Singh mentions in
his autobiography the influence and deep devotion to
his parents (to whom this book is dedicated) on his
life, especially that of his father. But behind the
success in his scientific career, he warmly
mentions, was his great and noble wife Gian to whom
he was happily married for 40 years. She accompanied
him on many trips abroad but often had to stay
behind at home to take care of their children and
his parents. He dedicates two sections to her and
describes her wonderful qualities and writes about
her health problems with great feeling, finally
speaking of her tragic death at Ambala Cantt.
Station in 1998 which had a great impact not only on
him but also on their two children Tript and Manjeet.
He also writes about his sisters and brothers, their
marriages and professional settlement in life. Many
are settled in Punjab or some in Delhi and a few
abroad. His own son and daughter live in New Jersey.
A tragedy occurred by the death of his younger
brother Gurpal in January 2010, followed by the
death of Gurpal’s son which shattered Prof. Singh
after the death of his wife.
In spite of these tragedies, he continued to work
tirelessly on his lifelong mission of exploring the
history of pharmaceutical developments in India
during the last two centuries, which work he had
started after his superannuation in 1988. He has
built a massive collection of archival material
through his dozen visits to libraries in India, UK
and USA and obtained material by large
correspondence. He has organized his collections
appropriately into 1700 thick and thin volumes and
published 9 history monographs. Reviews of these
monographs by competent reviewers are also published
in the new edition. Details of his work on
pharmaceutical history are fully covered in the
book. He got elected to prestigious Academie
Internationale d‘Histoire de la Pharmacie. An
extract of the interview that he gave for Cipla is
also reproduced here.

With Dr. Ravindernath Kaul and Durga (2010)
Prof. Singh has received numerous awards and honours
listed in the Appendix of this book. The latest
honour is the award of Honorary Degree of Doctor of
Science from University of Sciences in Philadelphia
(US Sciences) in 2014. Panjab University, Chandigarh
also conferred on him the honarary degree of Doctor
of Science (honoris causa) in 2016. The Government
of India honoured him with prestigious Padma Shri
Award in 2017 for his outstanding contributions to
pharmaceutical sciences. Beautiful color pictures of
these functions are also to be seen in this book.
My personal association with Prof. Singh goes back
to 1961 at Saugar University and this contact
remains till today. As a humble scientist it is my
pleasure to write in many articles about great
contributions that Prof. Singh has made to the
profession of pharmacy and to the history of
pharmacy in particular, which is a treasure not only
for the future generations but also to the country.
My wife Durga and I are overwhelmed by the honor
that he has given by mentioning us in his memoir and
dedicated one section of the book to us (Section
146), especially mentioning my two articles about
his pharmaceutical history research, published in
Pharmacy in History of the American Institute of the
History of Pharmacy. Also a reproduction of colorful
portrait of his by Mina Gampel, famous artist of
Stuttgart, Germany has found a place in this
autobiography; this painting is a befitting tribute
to this great man of Indian pharmacy.
This book is extremely well written and interesting
to read. The print and compilation are excellent. It
should be recommended to all educational communities
of India as an eye-opener to the younger generations
who must learn how as a young man Prof. Harkishan
Singh started from a scratch with little financial
means and faced with the trauma of partition of
Punjab in 1947, but with hard work and sheer
honesty, he has set a living example by achieving
his leading position in pharmacy profession in
India. It was a hard life accompanied with ups and
downs and successes but in all a very purposeful
life. He is still active at the age of 90 years. As
an admirer of President John F. Kennedy, whom he has
quoted (p. 116) “Ask not what your country can do
for you – ask what you can do for your country”.
Prof. Singh has never asked, but has contributed
tremendously to the pharmacy profession of India of
which we all should be proud. One can say with pride
that Prof. Singh has raised the standard of Indian
pharmaceutical education and research. This book
should be recommended to pharmaceutical
professionals and is worthy of being a part of all
the big and important libraries of India.
Book Reviewed By:
Dr. Ravindernath Kaul, Germany |
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Title |
: Good and Simple
Therapy (GST)
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Author |
: Professor S.K.
Kulkarni |
Published |
: Association of
Pharmaceutical Teachers of India |
Pages |
: 200 |
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It
is another book by Dr. Kulkarni, who had earlier
published “Rhythms of Life”, “Fair play” and
“Learning from Experience”. His observations of the
events that goes around in everyone's life but he in
his typical brahmanical style gives a humorous touch
and tells it in very simple language that only a
seasoned professor like him can make it interesting
and provoke the reader’s broad smile. “Good and
Simple Therapy” is written on household
conversations and observations which he has picked
up making it very interesting reading. He has done a
great job in describing, aptly, his early teachers
of Bangalore (Govt) College of Pharmacy. I had known
most of them until some of them died but I had never
observed the angularities and the excellence in each
case pointed by the writer. He has released, through
this book, a guarded secret of two highly placed
pharmacologists, Dr. E. Costa and Dr. P.N. Kaul of
International fame, their visit to a ‘mujra party’
when they were visiting me at Jaipur. Until now, it
was a secret, well kept for more than forty five
years. The Chapter on “Panchagavya” is not only
informative; it tells so much about the belief of
the traditional people which may be partly true. His
comments on ‘Ramanyan’ and ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Sage
Balmiki’ are important and I recommend people to go
in these more seriously, reading the original text
written by C. Rajgopalachari. I had read them sixty
years back. For Pharmacists and Phamacologists his
remarks on ‘Marijuana’ (Blissfully ours) are
informative, instructive and educational. He has
narrated the whole saga associated with it. It is
equaaly interesting to read about ‘Botox’-the
wrinkle-therapy.
Dr. Kulkarni has not forgotten to make a mention of
my idiosyncrasies. He has described them in details,
why not with the aging process you change. He has an
eye on the changes and I do not mind.
Book Reviewed By:
Prof. P.C. Dandiya |
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Title |
: Words of Wisdom &
Miscellany: A Collection
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Author |
: Harkishan Singh |
Reviewed |
: Dr. Saranjit Singh |
Pages |
: 183 |
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A surprise over surprise. The reason
for the new surprise has been that just a few months
back, I wrote a review on a treatise from his pen
titled ‘Views and Reviews 3’ (published by APTI
Bengaluru), and last week again I get a gift copy of
a much larger volume (771 pages) titled ‘Words of
Wisdom & Miscellany: A Collection’, which is also
published by APTI. It is from the pen of a living
legend, who is the only pharmacist Padma awardee
till date, a person who is completing 90 years of
his life next year, and the one who has history
collection that would keep him writing for next 10
years, is on his writing desk with office like
precision from morning till evening daily, 365 days.
For me, it seems he is silently watching his body
get frail, and perhaps understands that he has to
finish up the pending 10-year agenda in as many
breaths as would be gifted to him by the God
almighty. Somewhere in his mind he is real
passionate about the essence in the following:
Mein to nahin rahunga
Mere geet rahenge
(My songs shall live even though I shall perish) -
Surjit Patar (p. 106)
Zindagi mein apna kirdar aise nibhao ki parda girne
ke
baad bhi taaliyaan bajti rahen. (p. 566)
………….Remember the words of Abraham Lincoln: 'It is
not the years in your life that count, it is the
life in your years, (p. 602)
To the extent, Professor Harkishan Singh is
committed to his zeal, so I am, in continuing taking
pleasure in reading every page of his new writings,
and share with readers my enjoyment in few pieces.
The content of this volume is very different, it is
not about history of pharmacy, the luminaries of
pharmacy profession, or his personal views and
reviews, but it is a collection of anecdotes, poetic
notes (hindi, punjabi and urdu), proverbial
expressions, historical accounts in brief and
miscellaneous items; which he has been immaculately
jotting down from various sources in his notebooks
in the last 50 years, and also from the paper
cuttings he has preserved for an equal long period.
Difficult to apprehend how a scientist, who has been
entrenched into experimental research and
publications for most part of the life, and being
inventor of Chandonium iodide, the first drug from a
University set-up, could take out time to pursue
such a leisure pursuit. How blessed and fortunate we
are, to be connected to this genius.
In none other than this book, one will find together
the wisdoms of Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare, Einstein,
Roosevelt, Lincoln, Reid, Ghalib, Iqbal, Waris Shah,
Kabir, Tagore, Gandhi, Khuswant Singh and
innumerable other International and National
legends. The following is just a very small glimpse:
The real dates of history are those of scientific
discoveries, not the accession of kings or the
outbreak of revolutions. – E. E. Reid (p. 2)
If a professor thinks what matters most
Is to have gained an academic post
Where he can earn a livelihood, and then
Neglect research, let controversy rest,
He's but a petty tradesman at the best,
Selling retail the work of other men. – Kalidasa
(p.11)
Wisdom is a weapon to ward off destruction;
It is an inner fortress which enemies cannot
destroy. - Thirukkural 421 (200 BC) (p. 328)
………I am reminded of twelfth century Jewish
philosopher Maimonides who said, 'Give a man a fish
and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and
you feed him for a lifetime’ (p. 612).
When I showed this new tome by my Guru to my wife,
she gave a royal order that it is from this moment
hers, and I have to loan it when needed. Rightly
quoted in the present volume is Bacon’s advice on
judicious reading: Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and
digested (p. 734). I am sure, not only me and my
wife, but everyone of you will also vie to taste
this wonderful digest. Hope that APTI is able to
meet the demand for this immensely readable
hardcover. |
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Title |
: Herbal Medicine
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Author |
: |
Edited |
: Pulok K.
Mukherjee Jadavpur University, Kolkata,
India |
Pages |
: |
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A structured
approach to the characterization and validation of
herbal medicines and natural products using
evidence-based analytical and bio-analytical methods
Key Features
Includes state-of-the-art methods for detecting,
isolating, and performing structure elucidation by
degradation and spectroscopic techniques.
Covers biosynthesis, synthesis, and biological
activity related to natural products.
Consolidates information to save time and money in
research.
Increases confidence levels in quality and validity
of natural products.
Description
Evidence-Based Validation of Herbal Medicines brings
together current thinking and practice in the areas
of characterization and validation of natural
products. This book reviews all aspects of
evaluation and development of medicines from plant
sources, including their cultivation, collection,
phytochemical and phyto-pharmacological evaluation,
and therapeutic potential. Emphasis is placed on
describing the full range of evidence-based
analytical and bio-analytical techniques used to
characterize natural products, including –omic
technologies, phyto-chemical analysis, hyphenated
techniques, and many more.
Edited: Pulok K. Mukherjee Jadavpur
University, Kolkata, India
ISBN: 978-0-12-800874-4
Pub Date: February 2015
List Price: $225.00/ €165.00 / £140.00
Format: Hardback
Pages: 550
Trim: 8.5w x 10.875h
Audience: Analytical/bioanalytical chemists,
researchers working in natural product drug
discovery/medicinal chemists, pharmacists and
pharmacognosists, advanced students in these
disciplines. |
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Title |
: The Act That Wasn’t
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Author |
: Bobby George |
Publishers |
: Power Publisher
2017 |
Pages |
: 183 |
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The Pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated all
over the world. India is no exception (as a matter
of fact it is over regulated and under implemented).
India ranks 3rd in the world in terms of volume and
14th in terms of value. Nearly 40% of the generic
drugs manufactured by Indian Pharmaceutical
companies are sold in the Western or developed
markets of USA and Europe. We often read in the lay
press that United States Food & Drug Administration
(USFDA) bans certain formulations manufactured by
Indian companies for lack of regulatory compliances.
But for the recent ban of large number of Fixed Dose
Combinations (FDCs), which is now stayed by the
Honorable Courts, we do not hear such bans of
substandard formulations in the Indian market by the
Government. Is there a double standard in the
quality of drugs consumed by Indian patients as
against Western?
That brings us to the book, ‘The Act that wasn’t’
under review. The contents of the book cover wide
range of issues in as many as 12 chapters. The book
addresses issues ranging from ‘Acts and acts’ to
‘Reformative acts’. These chapters deal with how
acts are enacted, repeal and replacement,
dysfunctional, unhealthy, clinical study, organ
transplant, surrogacy, biosimilar and whistle blower
protection act etc. The range of titles of chapters
is suggestive of the fact that regulating healthcare
industry is very complex and the operative part is
still more difficult. Unlike USFDA, in India the
licensing agency for manufacturing of drugs is under
the state Drugs Control and the policy making is by
the Drugs Controller General of India (under Govt of
India). The author has tried to give the background
of each ‘Act’, compare it with such acts in other
countries, and explain the pit falls and in many
cases give corrective measures. The contents are
appropriately supported by references. Some of the
measures suggested are reducing timelines for
review, issuance of new rules and guidelines,
strengthening existing standards and practices,
digitalization drive besides others.
The author, Dr Bobby George is a pharmaceutical
scientist of long standing in the industry. He
presently heads the regulatory affairs division in a
leading company. The views and descriptions given
are based on real experiences and are authentic. The
writings are simple and straight forward. The
contents are related to Govt ‘Acts’, an eminent
former justice of the apex court of India has
written the foreword to the book. The book is
recommended as an informative text for teaching
‘Forensic sciences/pharmacy’ and also for libraries
in pharmaceutical institutions and industry, and
even for the libraries of Law colleges and
Universities.
Reviewed By:
Professor S. K. Kulkarni. |
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Title |
: Views And Reviews 3
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Author |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Publishers |
: Association of
Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, Bangalore |
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Recently, when an
announcement came that Professor Harkishan Singh has
been chosen for Padma Shri Award, I was one among
his long list of students whose joy was limitless.
Therefore, it was natural for me to rush to his
place to personally congratulate him, having the
advantage of being only a few kms away from his
residence. My best half was also most happy to
accompany me. After an hour of blissful time
together, when we rose to leave, Professor Singh
gifted me his latest treatise entitled ‘Views and
Reviews 3’ published by APTI, Bangalore. As also
outlined in preface in the book by Prof. Singh, this
is the third volume in the series. The first volume
was published in 2008, second in 2012 and the
current volume in 2016, each after a gap of four
years. Although this series is a compilation of
already published articles, what is creditable
indeed, is the dedication being put in by Professor
Singh at his tender age of 88 plus years to tie
information into bound volumes, for the benefit of
future generations.
Respecting my teacher and Guru, I have thoroughly
gone through the book, page to page, and found all
25 chapters to be an interesting reading. In
particular, it was an eye opener on how much effort
had gone in bringing NIPER into existence. The long
history of the institute has been traced very
lucidly in 7 chapters. I consider myself most lucky
and privileged person to enjoy the fruits of efforts
by very worthy peers, as myself happens to be the
first employee of NIPER, SAS Nagar (mention on p.
135) and by that virtue of any of the NIPERs.
Also, a good part of this treatise is dedicated to
luminaries of pharmacy profession, both from India
and abroad. These include Prafulla Chandra Ray (A
chemist who was behind establishment of Bengal
Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Works Limited), Amrut
Vithaldas Mody (Chairman and MD, Unichem
Laboratories Limited), Mahadev Lal Schroff (Banaras
Hindu University; his early life, patriotic fervour
and journalistic pursuits are highlighted in two
chapters), Kanny Lall Dey (Pioneer proponent of
indigenous drugs), Sahib Singh Sokhey (An eminent
medico-pharmaceutical professional ), David Waldie
(First to start chemical manufacturing in India) and
Apostolos Raptakos (Greece born Indian
industrialist, who established in partnership m/s
Raptakos, Brett & Co Ltd.). In many of these
biographical sketches, professional interests and
role of these prominent persons in IPA and IPCA
activities is highlighted. Atleast one chapter is
dedicated to establishment of IPA by Mahadev Lal
Schroff and professional affiliation of Bawa Kartar
Singh to the Association.
Among the other titles, there is one chapter on
historical perspective of hospital pharmacy in
India; two other titles on medical –pharmaceutical
milieu in colonial India, and its inheritance; and
two chapters covering history of Madras Medical
Journal and The Indian Lancet. The Medicinal
Chemistry research in India has been traced under
still another heading.
Apart from the above, Professor Singh has described
the life in his village Khara in 1940s. Also
included is narration of one of his interviews,
which gives brief account of his life in early
years, his family, his coming to study pharmacy, an
account of his research and professional activities,
and his foray into pharmaceutical history, including
in-depth search into life of visionaries of pharmacy
profession. And finally, he has included text of his
speech at the USciences’ Founders’ day celebrations
on conferment of Honorary DSC degree to him. A very
brief CV of his is added as an Appendix.
I will recommend this 3rd volume to all pharmacy
friends and libraries, as it is a very valuable
collection of writings of a living legend, who
happens to be the only pharmacist to be conferred
with Padma Shri
Reviewed By: Dr. Saranjit Singh |
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Title |
: Drugs & Cosmetics
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Author |
: Vijay Malik, LL.B,
M.B.A. (F.M.S.) |
Publishers |
: Eastern Book
Company, 34 Lalbagh, Lucknow-226001 |
Price |
: Rs. 1950 |
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The
current 25th edition of this most comprehensive and
exhaustive manual has been thoroughly revised and
updated. The book provides fully amended text of the
Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (as amended by
Amending Act 26 of 2008 enforced on August 10, 2009)
and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 as amended
up to the Second Amendment Rules, 2016, along with
case-law notes, allied Acts, Rules, Orders and
Notifications.
The
author has included all the recent notifications and
Orders, thus bringing the work up to date. New
case-law notes have been added, especially under the
Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Various new materials
have been incorporated in this edition which
include:
1.
Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules,
2014,
2.
Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015,
3.
Number of Licensed Blood Banks in India,
4.
Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI),
5.
Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions and
Haemovigilance Programme of India (HvPI),
6.
List of Drugs approved during January 2006 to March
2016,
7.
Updated chapter on Patents and Pharmaceuticals by
Elizabeth Verkey,
8.
Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act,
1994,
9.
Transplantation of Human Organs Rules, 1995,
10.
National List of approved Testing Laboratories.
The
book comes with a Free CD-ROM containing important
and useful materials like lists featuring
regulations regarding Clinical Trials, I.V. Fluids,
Recall and Rapid Alert System for Drugs, Sources of
Medicinal Herbs in India, etc.
The EBC Explorer™ is a new feature of
this edition, which provides online access to Free
updates to this edition by logging on to
www.ebcexplorer.com.. |
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Title |
: Pharmaceutical
Marketing Management
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Author |
: Dr. N. Udupa & Dr. D
Sreedhar |
Publishers |
: |
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The book begins with a brief overview of Indian and
Global Pharmaceutical Market. It discusses
unconventional topics related to pharmaceutical
marketing. Most of the chapters like Segmentation,
Promotional Mix, Consumer Behaviour and Pricing etc,
explain the basic concepts with an emphasis on the
Phrama perspective. Chapters are updated with recent
developments in those fields. Clinical Research has
always been under scan, the chapter on clinical
research covers the latest amendments and discusses
the future trends. Chapter Cosmeceutical gives an
overview of Cosmeceutical market scenario and the
growth drivers. The book includes a brief note on
Ethics.
Dr N Udupa is Professor and Director- Research
(Health Sciences), Manipal University, Manipal,
Karnataka. Dr N Udupa received his PhD in 1987 from
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. After
serving in Pharma Industry for 8 years, he has been
working in academics for last 30 years. Dr N Udupa
is prolific researcher and author with more than 500
research and review articles, over 400 presentations
in national and international conferences. He has
authored about 15 books. He is on the editorial
boards and advisory bodies of several reputed
journals. He is a life member of some 20
associations and societies. He has nine Indian
patents to his credit. He has won many awards for
his outstanding contributions in Pharmaceutical
Research and Education. He served as
Convener-Scientific Services of Indian
Pharmaceutical Congress Association from 2010 to
2012.
Dr D Sreedhar is Associate Professor and Head,
Department of Pharmacy Management, Manipal College
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University,
Manipal, Karnataka. He completed his PhD in 2010
from Manipal University, Manipal. After working in a
pharmaceutical company for about two years he joined
academics in 2003. Dr Sreedhar is author of over 100
research and review articles and more than 100 oral
and poster presentations at conferences worldwide.
He is author of five chapters in various books and
an editorial board member of journals of repute. He
is life member of over ten professional associations
and societies. He is secretary of Indian
Pharmaceutical Association, Manipal Branch. He
received “Distinguished Alumnus Award” by MCOPS in
the year 2014. |
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Title |
: Pharmacists Digest
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Author |
: Dr. B. D. Miglani |
Publishers |
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Pharmacist Digest by Dr. B. D. Miglani gives insight
regarding how profession of pharmacy developed over
the 5 decades of his professional carrier. It
includes various articles published in various
journals and presidential address given by B. D.
Miglani during various national and international
platforms and some of the chapters in the text
books. This book mainly emphasizes on development of
hospital pharmacy/ pharmacists, their educational
requirement and pay scales compared to other
professional staff in health care organizations.
Presented articles related to old method of
functioning of hospital pharmacy. Need of pharmacy
in hospitals, status of pharmacy in 1960's, problems
of getting containers for dispensed medications at
that time were highlighted. Some of the articles
highlighted the importance of Implementation of D.
Pharm. courses and uniformity in B. Pharm. and
postgraduate syllabus, also given development of
metric system/apothecary systems and its equivalent
used in the practice of pharmacy in the hospitals.
Recommended Importance of master degree in hospital
pharmacy also presented in the some of the seminar.
Importance of pre-packing of medicine and its
labeling also discussed. Some of the articles
discussed regarding hospital pharmacy organization,
its management storage of drugs, improve the
standard of pharmacists, and improve the number of
pharmacists. Also discussed regarding various
statutory bodies, professional associations and
their roles in pharmacy education. Chapters on
Organization of pharmaceutical services in Hospital,
which includes organization of hospital pharmacy,
personal, polices, drug distribution system,
departmental staff, location, space, equipment,
Pharmacy therapeutic Committee, Hospital formulary,
Drug information center, Central sterile supply room
etc. in the Text Book Professional Pharmacy by M. L.
Schroff were included in Pharmacists Digest. By
looking at the content of Pharmacists Digest, it is
definitely useful for the faculty and the students
of pharmacy colleges to understand how profession of
pharmacy in hospitals developed and how our
professional leaders contributed towards growth of
pharmacy profession in India.
Book Reviewed by:-
Leelavathi D. Acharya, Associate Professor,
Department of Pharmacy Practice, MCOPS. & Dr. N.
Udupa, Editor, IJHP & Research Director (Health
Sciences), Manipal University.
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Multi-Volume Book Series on “NanoBioMedicine”
Released |
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It
was an unparalleled accomplishment for any institute
when the six-volume book series on a highly
sought-after emerging area of “NanoBioMedicine” was
recently released by Professor K K Bhutani,
Director, NIPER, Mohali and Dr VSV Vadlamudi Rao,
President, Indian Pharmaceutical Association,
Mumbai. The multi-volume book set furnishes high
quality insight into a gamut of novel and evolving
subjects topics spanning this multidisciplinary
science of NanoBioMedicine, including nano-based
drug delivery systems, theranostic agents,
nanopharmaceuticals, functionalized therapeutic
nanocarriers, and several nanobiotechnological
approaches.
The mega book series has been compiled after two
years of concerted efforts under the stewardship of
Professor Bhupinder Singh Bhoop (Chairman,
University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS),
and Coordinator, UGC Center of Excellence in
NanoBiomedical Applications, Panjab University,
Chandigarh) as its Editor-in-Chief. With the
Foreword by Bharat Ratna Professor C N R Rao, a
globally renowned scientist in general, and a
nanotechnologist in particular, the mega book series
comprise of a total of 93 book chapters.
Contributions by more than 450 experts from diverse
disciplines of Nanotechnology, Biology, Medicine,
Biomedical Sciences and Pharma Sciences adorn the
multi-volume book series. Contributing authors hail
from across the globe including, Australia, Germany,
India, Israel, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman,
Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,
Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK and USA.
The entire book series has been meticulously
designed and printed by M/s Studium Press
Publications LLC, Chicago, USA, with International
ISBN No.: 1-62699-051-6.
The Fundamental Details of The Six- Volume Series
Include:
Volume 1 (Nanomedicine); Editors: Prof Jagat R
Kanwar, Deakin University, Australia; Prof O P
Katare, Panjab University, India)
Volume 2 (Nanopharmaceuticals); Editors: Prof
Kamalinder K Singh; University of Central
Lancashire, UK; Dr Gurvinder S Rekhi, University of
Georgia, USA)
Volume 3 (Nanotheranostics); Editors: Prof Mandip S
Sachdeva; Florida A&M University, USA; Dr Anton
Liopo, TomoWave Laboratories Inc, USA)
Volume 4 (Nanostructured Drug Delivery); Editors:
Prof Suresh P Vyas, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Hari Singh
Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, India; Prof Indu Pal
Kaur, Panjab University, India)
Volume 5 (Medical Nanobiotechnology); Editors: Prof
Sanjeev Puri, Panjab University, India; Dr Swaranjit
S Cameotra, IMTECH, Chandigarh, India)
Volume 6 (Drug Nanocarriers); Editors Prof Narendra
K Jain, Dr H.S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, India;
Prof O P Katare, Panjab University, India).
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Title |
: A Concise Textbook of
Drug Regulatory Affairs
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Author |
: N Udupa and
Krishnamurthy Bhat |
Publishers |
: |
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A concise Textbook of Drug Regulatory Affairs is an
honest attempt to publish a book that truly provides
vital information on various regulatory aspects. The
book truly stands out for its content that are of
significant importance to the learners, researchers
and professionals in the field of regulatory
affairs. The book covers a wide range of topics from
Environmental regulations and control to electronic
common technical documents. The chapter on
Environmental Regulations and Control is important
as deals with various regulations applicable to
environment in the US, management of pharmaceutical
wastes and its treatment, and regulations pertaining
to personal safety in pharmaceutical industry.
Chapter on regulatory guidelines for Pharmacy
Practice gives and overview of regulations for
carrying out practice of pharmacy in India and scope
of pharmacy practice. Europe being one of the major
markets in the field of pharmaceuticals and many
Indian companies marketing their products in Europe,
understanding regulations for drug registration is
of paramount importance. This chapter aptly deals
with various mechanisms and provisions for
registering a drug in Europe for marketing. Pricing
is a major contentious issue in pharmaceutical
field. Various regulations related to pricing exist
in different countries. Understanding of the pricing
regulations may help companies to appropriately
price their products in different markets. An
chapter on pharmacovigilance provides insights into
pharmacovigilance systems in India and the US, as
pharmacovigilance ensures safe and appropriate use
of medicines. A chapter on Intellectual Property
Rights (IPR), including its background, history and
trends provides readers with the understanding of
various aspects of IPR. Promotion of drugs by
pharmaceutical companies has come under intense
scrutiny and various regulations pertaining to drug
promotion exist. The chapter on regulations and
guidelines for drug promotion provide details of
regulations by various industry associations and
organizations. Companies need to carry out research
on drug molecules before marketing and have to
follow guidelines by regulatory agencies.
Regulations on New Drug Approval in the United
States are discussed in the book, which is necessary
to understand the drug approval process in the US,
largest pharmaceutical market in terms of value.
Chapter on Bioequivalence regulations provides
valuable information on carrying out bioequivalence
studies including patient population, study design,
exclusion and inclusion criteria. This is
significant for companies as many companies are
involved in developing and marketing generic drugs,
for which bioequivalence studies become the most
important component during marketing approval
stages. Product recall is an important issue when
deficiencies are found in marketed drugs. The
chapter on product recall provides stepwise
information on the process of product recall, which
would help professionals in the field of regulatory
affairs. Chapter on orphan drug regulations is
explained in clear, concise and in lucid language.
Submission of documents to regulatory agency is a
key step in any regulatory affairs related matter. A
systemic submission of documents in appropriate
format as accepted by regulatory agency is a key to
successful marketing approval. The steps of
submitting documents are explained in the chapter on
electronic common technical document.
Overall this book provides and interested read for
those in the field of regulatory affairs. An
appropriate mix of chapters and topics covered makes
this book truly worth read, among the many books
claiming to deal with topics on regulatory affairs.
This book is must for all involved in the field of
regulatory affairs.
Book Reviewed by:-
M Surulivel Rajan, Associate Professor,
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal.
Sreedharan Nair, Associate Professor, Department of
Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Manipal.
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Title |
Sethi’s HPLC –
Quantitative Analysis of Pharmaceutical
Formulations, Vol. 5-8
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Author |
: Dr. P. D. Sethi with
Rajat Sethi, Santosh Gandhi, Nitin Dubey and
Neeraj Sethiya |
Publishers |
: CBS Publishers and
Distributors, New Delhi |
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Recently I got a bulky parcel from m/s CBS
Publishers, and on opening it found the Volumes 5-8
of Sethi’s HPLC, which was a surprise, as only last
year I had received similar parcel containing three
volumes entitled Sethi’s HPTLC. I had reviewed this
last set also, and had expressed admiration as to
how a person without using computers could churn out
such volumes one after another. My admiration this
time has grown stronger as this new four volume set
is more bulky, with each volume containing almost
500 pages. Volume 5 contains 200 pages of
introductory information on HPLC and method
validation, which is reduced or expanded at places,
in comparison to similar content in volume 1 of the
series. In that way, this set has been targeted as
an independent purchase.
The set compiles 906 HPLC methods from literature
for multi-drug combination formulations, used in
different diseases. The volume-wise coverage of drug
combinations is as follows: volume 5:
musculoskeletal disorders; volume 6: cardiovascular
and central nervous systems; volume 7: respiratory
and alimentary systems along with antibiotics, and
volume 8: preparations for external use and
miscellaneous formulations. Like the style of other
volumes by Dr Sethi, each method protocol is divided
into two opposite pages, one on the left contains
structures of the drugs, overlapping UV spectra
(wherever reported), chromatogram(s) and the
literature reference. On the right page, information
is provided on contents of the formulation,
therapeutic classification, preparation of standards
and samples solutions, internal standards (where
used), HPLC system, column, and chromatographic
conditions, including temperature. At the end of
this page, a note is included on whether the method
had been validated for various parameters according
to ICH Q2 guideline.
In totality, the set is a huge compilation of
literature reported methods. The bench analysts will
find it as a ready source of information. I find
that most of the methods have appeared and picked up
from the so-called ‘on-line’ journals, As
credibility of many such journals is not
established, therefore, it s possible that a
particular method does not prove to be reproducible.
As pointed out by Dr Sethi in PREFACE of all the
four volumes, such eventuality is expected, and
those following a given method must check its
reproducibility, and in case of failure, details can
be sought from the authors named in the references
provided.
Overall, I congratulate Dr Sethi for such huge
compilation effort. Surely, this set is valuable for
library shelf.
Reviewed by: Dr Saranjit Singh, NIPER, SAS
Nagar
Dr. P D Sethi is an internationally known
pharmaceutical analyst and the author. All his books
are in the field of pharmaceutical analysis using
different analytical techniques. Recent books
published by him on High Performance Liquid
Chromatography (HPLC) consist of four volumes,
entitled “Sethi’s High Performance Liquid
Chromatography, Quantitative Analysis of
Pharmaceutical formulations”. These four volumes in
continuation of earlier 4 volume series on HPLC
provide the methods for analysis of 906 fixed dose
formulations under different therapeutic categories.
Volume-5 includes information about columns, their
maintenance; troubleshooting, Good Laboratory
Practices (GLP), Standard Operating Procedures on
out of specification (OOS) laboratory results.
Chapter 2 consists of validation of analytical
methods. Chapter 3 describes methods for
quantitative analysis of 154 fixed dose formulations
(Skeltal Muscle Disorders).
In volume-6, methods of analysis for 251 fixed dose
formulations under cardiovascular system and central
nervous system are discussed. The volume-7 describes
quantitative analysis of 112 formulations
(Respiratory system), 77 formulations (alimentary
system) and 70 (antibiotics). The 8th volume
describes the methods of analysis for 57
formulations (preparations for external use) and 185
formulations (miscellaneous drugs).
Details of the method of analysis for each
formulation is summarized under protocols with
complete chromatographic conditions adequate for
performing the experiments along with complete
literature references. A note at the end of the
protocol provides information; whether the method is
stability indicating or simply an assay method and
also its validation status.
This four volume series in fact is a ready reckoner
for the analysts. It is useful in academics and
industry as a guideline for the analysis of
multi-component formulations. I would like to
strongly recommend all four volumes of the book for
the students and researchers. It is suggested that
the libraries of pharmaceutical institutions not
already having volume 1,2,3 and 4 of the series must
procure them to complete the 8 volume series.
Reviewed by: Dr. Rajendra B. Kakde, Nagpur
University, Nagpur
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Title |
: WITNESS TO AN ERA – AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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Author |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Publishers |
: Vallabh Prakashan,
Delhi |
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A guided tour of the
world of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences spread
across spatial and temporal boundaries
Reviewed By:- M. S. Valiathan
In “Witness to an Era”, we are treated to a guided
tour of the world of pharmacy and pharmaceutical
sciences spread across spatial and temporal
boundaries. Professor Harkishan Singh is constantly
with us in the tour, describing places and their
historical importance, narrating events which became
landmarks in the history of science, and celebrating
individuals who influenced the course of
pharmaceutical history. As an expert guide,
Professor Singh has packed his literary tour of over
300 pages with scientific and historical material of
much value and authenticity and, at the same time,
made it agreeable by savory additives from personal
and social history.
The journey begins with a picturesque description of
Khara – a village in pre-partition Panjab – and the
life of a multi-cultural, rural community, their
food habits, dress, pattern of social exclusion,
customs, female feticide, high mortality from
infectious diseases, marriage of girls at 9 – 10
years, and poor facilities for schooling and medical
assistance. The narrative of “village Panjab” is one
of the best chapters of the book, generous in
friendships, generous in the pride of Sikh ancestry,
and generous in aspirations. The scene changed with
the British annexation of Punjab, the building of
the great canal system for irrigation rapid growth
of agriculture, and the opening of schools by the
Government and Khalsa. These were no clocks or
electricity, but life was settled and cheerful and
young Harkishan scored 100% school attendance and
developed a love for poetry and book binding!
School was followed by college years in Lahore which
was the cultural and educational capital of Panjab.
Soon the orderly course of academic progress was
violently jolted by the trauma of partition and the
fearsome days of 46-47 in Lahore, to which peaceable
Harkishan was an alarmed and anxious witness.
Someone gave him a sword to protect himself during
the days of massacre, but when it got stolen he
regarded the loss as good riddance lest he “might
not have been able to use it”. Migrating to
Amritsar, his family of nine lived in one room
without complaints and he himself pursued his
studies for B. Pharm. He took to pharmacy as a duck
takes to water and thus began his lifelong endeavour
in science. A short posting under the legendary Sir
Ramnath Chopra in Jammu was inspirational and led to
his writing a book on his hero many years later.
The move from Amritsar to BHU for M. Pharm studies
was a “release phenomenon” because it opened before
him the national vision of Madan Mohan Malaviya and
exposed him to the cultural winds blowing from the
length and breadth of India. It was an exhilarating
experience which heightened his fascination for
science. Mentors like Professor Srivastava inspired
him and knowledge became his single minded pursuit.
He obtained PhD in 1956 and became a Lecturer in
Pharmaceutical Chemistry in BHU followed by a move
to Saugor as an Assistant Professor, and later to
the home ground of Panjab University as Reader. His
visits to UK and US on Fellowships during this
period made a profound impression and enabled him to
investigate hetero steroids and other topics in
medicinal chemistry. The many scientific contacts he
established in several universities in the UK and US
were of much use to him intellectually and
materially (performance of analytical tests, supply
of chemicals etc.) on returning to India. His work
on azasteroidal neuromuscular–blockers and the
development of a novel drug “chandonium iodide” drew
international attention. The drug passed clinical
trials, got approved by the Drug Controller, and was
transferred for production to an industry who
aborted the product. This example is unhappily not
rare in India even today.
Professor Singh became a Professor of Pharmaceutical
Sciences in the Panjab University in 1972 and
subsequently threw himself into the promotional
aspects of pharmaceutical education, setting up an
organisation for pharmacy teachers, contributing to
the work of the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry, presenting papers at Conferences
in India and abroad and a host of other academic
activities. He guided 48 students for M.Sc. and Ph.D
many of whom became leaders in the profession in
India and abroad. His research endeavour in
heterosteroids obtained fourteen patents and led to
the publications of 125 research papers. His
prolific output also included 18 books, 6 book
chapters and over hundred articles on pharmaceutical
education and history. Apart from textbooks, his
series on the “History of Pharmacy and related
aspects” in 7 volumes were classics which had few
parallels in higher education in India.
A major achievement of Professor Singh was the key
role he played in the establishment of the National
Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research
in Chandigarh as an Institution of National
Importance. The model of NIPER has multiplied and
has admittedly had a major impact on pharmaceutical
education in India.
Professor Singh's love of historical research and
enquiry germinated in the soil of bibliophilia of
school years and grew steadily as suggested by his
keen interest In visiting Museums, libraries,
galleries etc., during his frequent visits abroad.
But the old love reasserted in full measure in 1980
when he began to withdraw from experimental work and
turn to studies in pharmaceutical history. This
scholarly Initiative received support from the UGC
and the Indian National Science Academy. He built a
large personal collection of archival material from
India and abroad, which involved numerous visits,
personal contacts and much correspondence. Among the
many honours, fellowships and other recognitions he
received from India and abroad, he has specially
cherished the Membership of the Academle
Internationale d'Histoire de Ia Pharmacie.
Professor Singh is deeply devoted to this parents,
wife, children and grandchildren. His endearing
references to them are a delightful feature of his
remarkable autobiography and an affirmation of the
family values which have always been the pride and
glory of the Indian society. A scientist, sage, and
scholar - extraordinary, full of years and honour,
Professor Singh lives among books and archives and
rejoices over "more of the archival material in my
possession than can keep me occupied for several
years". His life is a vindication of Simone de
Beauvoir's observation "If old age Is not to be an
absurd parody of our former life, it is essential to
go on pursuing ends that give our existence meaning,
such as devotion to other people, causes and
creative work. This Is the secret of enjoying life
at any age".
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Title |
: WITNESS TO AN ERA – AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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Author |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Publishers |
: Vallabh Prakashan,
Delhi |
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Reviewed By:- V. K. Kapoor
It was amazing to discover that a man of science can
be a man of letters too. It was a sheer delight to
read “Witness to an Era-An Autobiography” by
Professor Harkishan Singh. Written in simple English
language without using pompous or boisterous words,
the book is un-put-downable. Dr Singh has filled a
gap of an utterly sought after narrative of his
experiences of life, both personal and professional,
for the benefit of posterity. His old-time teacher
Professor Pritam Singh, whom Dr Singh specifically
met, also deserve a credit for coaxing him to write
his biography.
The portion of the book which impressed me most is
the description of his childhood and early period of
his life spent in village(s) of Punjab, both
un-partitioned and partitioned. Born in a humble
family his simplistic attitude of life is in
commensuration with the glorious words of wisdom
“mat uchchi, man neeva”. The narration brings to
fore a kaleidoscope of village life of Punjab. The
story-telling of his family tree with names of all
the members is a tribute to his memory. The
description of horrors of partition are moving. It
was revealing that the divide between the two major
communities existed in prepartition days as
indicated by the supply of drinking water at railway
stations as Hindu pani and Muslim pani; a practice
which thankfully is not existing in independent
India. The incident related to the times of prophet
Mohammad, where a person not destined to become a
scholar become so by the sheer dint of his hard work
and determination, seems to have been etched
permanently to the psyche of young Harkishan and has
been the guiding motto of his life. It also gives
credence to the couplet by Allama Iqbal “Khudi ko
kar buland itna, ke khuda bande se khud pooche bata
teri raza kya hai” (Endow your will with such a
power, that at every turn of fate it so be that God
himself asks of his slave, ‘what is it that pleases
thee’).
In the description of magnificence of Lahore, the
eruption of emotions of the poet Mohan Singh in the
form of a couplet at the desolate mausoleum of
Noorjahan, the pretty wife of emperor Jahangir, is
indeed touching.
Adolescent Harkishan Singh’s joining the chemist and
druggist Beli Ram and Brothers for a summer job
after his matriculation perhaps was a forebode to
his life-long career in Pharmacy, the start of which
was from Amritsar. His young mind was deeply
impressioned by such stalwarts as Sir Robert
Robinson, Madame Curie Joliot and later by Sir Ram
Nath Chopra, whom he had the occasions to see
personally. He was motivated by the qualities and
immaculateness of late G.P. Srivastava and late N.K.
Basu, his doctoral supervisor, when he moved to
Banares Hindu University. A picture of the two taken
by him on his personal Argus camera still decorates
his study in his home. The period 1956 to 1964,
spent at the University of Saugar (now Dr Hari Singh
Gour Vishwavidyalaya) gives a glimpse of his
entering teaching and research as his professional
career. The personality which again left a lasting
imprint on him was Professor M.L. Schroff whose
biography he has authored in 2005.
Professor Singh’s narration of his journey to USA
and the period (1958 to 1961) of stay there forms an
interesting part of his biography where events have
been described in minutest details. I was wonder
struck by his sense of preservation of documents by
seeing the reproduction of the Contract for Passage
Ticket for his journey towards America. How destiny
plays a part in one life is reflected in the episode
where a balance of 95 dollars saved from his foreign
exchange permit of 200 dollars (having got converted
105 dollars into cash which eventually he was not
permitted to travel with) saved his journey.
Professor Singh himself, however, never believed in
destiny but hard work only as revealed by him
several times. At the University of Maryland his
association with Dr Norman J. Doorenbos resulted in
the initiation of research on synthetic steroids
opening a vista for his life-long work on steroids
of medicinal interest culminating in the discovery
of chandonium iodide (candocuronium iodide), a drug.
Dr Singh’s joining the Department of Pharmacy (later
rechristened as Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, followed by University Institute of
Pharmaceutical Sciences) in May 1964 heralded an era
where he spent rest of his life contributing
enormously to scientific research, promoting
pharmaceutical education, attending un-ending
streams of official meetings and guiding the destiny
of pharmacy profession in the country. Later, he
developed a passion for writing history of pharmacy
in India for which has very pains-takingly collected
the literature which is a record in itself.
Professor Singh has been a globe trotter and his
travelogues are so vividly described that it takes
the reader to the places. His most beneficial visit
has been to the University of London where with the
dint of his hard work he was able to impress
Professor W.B. Whalley to the extent that the latter
agreed to extend the facilities of analyses of the
compounds his group synthesised at the Panjab
University till the death of Professor Whalley in
2002.
Professor Singh has meticulously kept a chronicle of
his research students and makes a mention of each of
them in the book with the appreciation they deserve.
It reflects the esteem and love he has for his
pupils.
Professor Harkishan Singh, who currently enjoys the
status of Professor Emeritus of Panjab University is
an iconic figure, and has been a cut above the rest.
His life itself has been an open book. The
autobiography documents the events of his life which
include both pleasant and some bitter but he always
remained unruffled. His long career with uncountable
contributions to the profession and his
thought-provoking articles have earned him
accolades. Some of his write-ups have provoked
criticism as well. Harkishan Singh accepted
accolades and criticism with the same sense of
dignity. It will not be an over statement that his
life is a model to others. The book is highly
recommend to be read by all the professionals to
draw inspiration.
The book is remarkably free from typographic
mistakes (I could detect only one). The mis-recognition
of a popular liquor band Vat69 as Vat1969 (page 191)
speaks of his total teetotalism and abhorrence for
alcoholic drinks.
*************************************************************************************************************************************
Reviewed By:- Dr. Saranjit Singh
I am not fond of reading biographies. But when a
commemorative volume was issued in honour of my
father, after reading the same, I realised how
interesting it can be to know the life journey of a
person you are so close, know so well or admire
greatly. Several years back, I expressed to
Professor Harkishan Singh, during one of my visits
to his library at home, that it will be very nice if
he could compile memoirs of his life as he is one of
the living legends of pharmacy profession. He showed
his reluctance, expressing that he had so much to
write on topics related to professional history, and
the same was his first priority. It was a surprise
for me, when during a recent visit to him in his
library, he showed me the manuscript of his memoirs
in its final form, telling me that it was already in
press and will be out soon. It was my great fortune
to receive a signed copy from him in my office soon
after.
I joined Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Panjab University, as a student in July 1974, and it
is for 40 years now that I have known Professor
Singh, first as an esteemed and most respected
teacher, and later as a mentor. I would not like to
miss to share here a life changing personal advice
by him to me: 'Society is a great leveler, you try
to raise your head above the crowd, you get a bang
and are forced to come to an equal level. It really
needs a whole lot of courage and efforts to keep
your head up above the rest and show to the world
that you are different.' I took this Gurmantra
seriously. After such a long association/
acquaintance, one can always say that I know this
person very well, but after reading autobiography of
Professor Singh word by word, I have no inhibition
in saying that how little I have known of my teacher
and revered Guru. The autobiography gives very
interesting details about his childhood, struggles
during his times and nice insight into his family
life. By reading his memoirs, one gets a very vivid
account of how this legend got to choose pharmacy as
a career and how he was influenced by stalwarts of
pharmacy profession in his formative years. Their
influence made Professor Singh not only a scientist,
researcher, educationist, pharmacy professional and
later a recognized historian, but also a most
disciplined person. It was a saying in our times
that you can set your watch by keeping track of
arrival and departure time of Professor Singh to the
Department at the Panjab University. These days
also, in capacity as a Professor Emeritus, he
reaches the department sharp at 7.30 am, also in
thick winter, at his advanced age of plus 85 years,
to the surprise of every body. After two decades of
his formal retirement, he keeps office-like timing
even while working in his library at home. No doubt
that he has been able to write so many volumes on
history, which would never have been possible,
otherwise, had he not maintained disciplined life. I
must add here that Professor Singh hardly rewrites a
sentence that he once pens down. May be one will
find only a few corrections in the whole manuscript
written by him in his hand. Such a nice God's gift.
As I was not his direct research student, I feel I
missed a great opportunity to learn perfection as an
experimentalist. Professor Singh has been a great
experimenter himself.
Many times, the actions of a person, provided they
are keenly observed, can leave a lifelong impression
on others. Even it can change the way the other
person lives the life. There is no preaching
involved in this case. Once, in full summer
afternoon, when the offices closed at 1.30 pm, by
chance I was in the department post lunch, and
happened to cross the office room of Professor
Singh. It was unlocked and I thought the security
person perhaps had forgotten to lock it. I took
courage to peep in. And to my surprise Professor
Singh was in his chair, with his shirt off, and also
his turban removed and placed on the work table. His
room had no room cooler or air conditioner and it
must have been 40ºC outside. I quietly came out,
without Professor Singh noticing my peeping, as he
was fully engrossed in his study. I felt like
saluting the person whose personal hard work had
been unparalleled and greatly helped bring the
department and Panjab University to such heights,
that is currently recognised as among top institutes
in the country. That kind of hard work by him
continues even till date. In that manner, Professor
Singh's way of life had been a silent lesson for me,
and I am sure it must have been for others who have
had a chance to interact with him.
What can be of interest to readers in Professor
Singh's autobiography, is how, other than scientific
pursuits leading to discovery of a new drug, a rare
feat from University's labs, he has in general
contributed in professional matters, and had shown
vision in establishment of Indian Pharmacopoeia
Commission, and National Institute of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research, the latter with easy
pronounceable Acronym ‘NIPER’, which was his idea.
Again, I had an opportunity to work with him closely
while planning for buildings of NIPER at its present
campus in S.A.S. Nagar, and I really learnt how much
deep and precise a person can be, when he guided
even the size and type of the doors, the size of
see-through glass on the doors, the type of knobs,
locks, etc. His pursuit for quality was well
highlighted from his insistence to select best and
worthy faculty at NIPER, otherwise to keep the posts
vacant. All such qualities of a person do not
normally come out in an autobiography, as
essentially the latter is a personal and factual
account of journey of a person and his/her
experiences during the lifetime.
That Professor Singh is a person with strong
convictions and firm views, on which he never
compromises, is well exemplified from reading
different sections of his autobiography. Another
salutation Professor Singh deserves is his
connection with International Scientists in his
research field and his zeal to visit the centres of
learning throughout the world. I duly admire the
great effort he made even at his personal cost in
searching and collecting valuable historical
material on pharmacy, which makes his collection a
priceless asset for the profession. Professor Singh
has covered all these aspects in detail in his
memoir.
I strongly recommend reading of this lucid account
of Professor Harkishan Singh's life journey by each
and every pharmacy professional in the country. I
suggest the readers not only to enjoy the narrative,
but list and imbibe the lessons ingrained in the
writing.
This book deserves to be on the shelves of libraries
all over.
Pages 332
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Title |
: Views And Reviews 2
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Author |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Publishers |
: Association of
Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, Bangalore |
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Professor Harkishan Singh, Professor Emeritus,
Panjab University, Chandigarh, is a prominent
medicinal chemist and a pharmaceutical historian of
international repute. He has explored the
pharmaceutical history of India covering the span of
last few centuries including the pharmaceutical
progress in independent India. He has published a
number of books on this subject which are highly
interesting to read.
For the past fifty years, Prof. Singh has continued
to give expression to his views that are both
informative and inspiring, at times nonconforming
and provocative, besides which he presented reviews
on assorted topics which were educative and always
directed towards the good of pharmacy profession. He
also wrote on the basis of his personal and social
experiences. The Association of Pharmaceutical
Teachers of India (APTI), Bangalore, undertook to
publish a collection of his 101 articles which have
appeared in different pharmaceuticals journals
during the period 1954-2007. This compilation is
published in the form of a book Views and Reviews,
now designated Views and Reviews 1, (2008). The
material presented largely pertained to
pharmaceutical education and research, pharmacy
practice, industry, trade, statutory control on
drugs and pharmacy, colonial medicine and pharmacy,
pharmaceutical journals and biographies of
pharmaceutical luminaries. There was also included
narration of sagas of several struggles by the
profession. The publication of this book has become
a tome of its own kind on historical perspectives.
There were many articles with direct focus on the
pharmaceutical history theme. Also worth noting were
the views when expressed during the preceding
decades were of topical interest but with time
became a part of the history of the respective
achievements of the profession in reaching projected
goals.
Favourable comments were given by competent
reviewers on Views and Reviews 1. This encouraged
Prof. Singh to continue to write on the subject and
further compile his writings, mostly published in
different journals in chronological order from 2008-
2011, which has now been published in the form of a
book Views and Reviews 2.
The author has covered in this book topics like
National Formulary of India (NFI), and its
publication as 1960, 1966 and 1979 editions and then
later there were no more editions. He emphasises the
importance of British National Formulary (BNF) in
British medical profession and suggests similar
standards for Indian pharmacy as well. Yet, in
another article, the author has given a detailed
account of the history of modern pharmacy in India
and mentions the works of leading pioneers of modern
pharmacy and pharmacy education in India.
In one another article Prof. Singh has given his
views of the platinum jubilee celebration of Indian
Pharmaceutical Association, should it be 1910 or
1915? He suggests 1910. Then he gives clear
historical perspective of pharmaceutical education
and pharmacy practice. In another articles he gives
a very interesting brief description on
pharmaceutical heritage. A short note in some
articles like “We and our Students” and”Guru and
Shishya, Schroff and Srivastav” and “My Country, My
Beloved” make interesting readings.
The last article in this book volume was an invited
lecture given by Prof. Singh at the workshop on
“Science in India in the 20th century„ sponsored by
Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 8 March 2011, where
interesting description of the pharmaceutical
developments during the British period and in
independent India was presented. The author covers
the beginning of the Portuguese medicine in India,
followed by British period of pharmacopoeias and
then pharmacopoeias of independent India and
mentions the formation of various Indian
Pharmacopoeia Committee.
Following Indian tradition Prof. Singh has been
devoted and loyal to his Gurus and contemporaries,
as well to scientists and educators and
industrialists who laid the foundation of pharmacy
education and drug industry in India. In
meticulously research articles, he has described the
life and works of Ram Nath Chopra( 1882-1973), Khem
Singh Grewal(1894-1965), Manohar Lal
Khorana(1909-1967), Ratilal Prabuhdas
Patel(1909-1978), Homi Ruttonji Nanji(1909-1967),
Bishnupada Mukerji(1903-1979), Mahadeva Lal
Schroff(1902-1971), Tribhovandas Kalyandas
Gajjar(1863-1920), Khwaja Abdul Hamied(1898-1972),
Charles W. White and Walter White(1862-1938), Harry
Cooper(1888-1935), Sankatha Prasad(1911-1986), Kidar
Nath Gaind(1911-1977), Upendra Nath Brahmachari,
Prafulla Chandra Ray( 1861-1944), Shridhar
Kotibhaskar, and Bhailal D. Amin. In another article
of this book, Prof Singh has described the life and
works of Professor William Basil Whalley((1916-2002)
with whom he had the honour to work in the School of
Pharmacy , University of London for an academic
year(1971-1972).
This book is nicely complied and contains a lot of
interesting documents with historical pictures.
Author has dedicated the book to his grandchildren,
a lovely coloured photograph of kids with
grandfather (1998). Prof. Singh has done a great
service to the profession of pharmacy in India by
compiling the articles from 2008-2011 and thus
completed the whole period of his writings from 1954
up to 2011. Views and Reviews 2 like Views and
Reviews 1 is an extraordinary contribution to
pharmaceutical history of India. It is a fascinating
story narrated by a learned and distinguished
teacher, researcher, historian whose statements are
backed by due references and data. This book is
highly recommended for students of pharmacy and
medicine, to all the pharmaceutical and drug
professionals in the universities and industries,
besides that, to all pharmaceutical and medical
authorities in India.
Book Reviewed by: Dr. Ravindernath Kaul, Germany
Price: Rs 550/- Pages 300
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Title |
: Memoirs: Distinguished
Alumni of SMS
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Author |
: Prof. P. C. Dandiya &
Dr. Rohit Dandiya |
Publishers |
: Jaipur printers Pvt.
Ltd. |
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Sir
Mirza Ismail, the Prime Minister of the princely
state of Jaipur conceived the idea of establishing a
medical college in the pink city of Jaipur in 1945.
Before it could become a reality two things
happened, firstly Sir Ismail moved to Hyderabad to
become Prime Minister under Nizam’s rule and
secondly, soon India was to become independent
nation. However, the idea was realized as the
Maharaja Sawai Man Singh, the ruler of the princely
state established the college in 1947 which was
named after him. The Sawai Man Singh (S.M.S.)
Medical College, Jaipur was to become the first
Medical College to be established in independent
India. Then it was one of the few medical colleges
in the country. As it stands today, the college is
67 year old. It has grown from just 5 departments
and 30 teachers and 180 students in 1947 to almost
50 departments (in almost all clinical specialty),
560 teachers (140 full professors) and nearly 1600 (UG
& PG) students. The outpatient attendance has gone
to a staggering number.
Growth of any institution and maintaining reputation
of quality teaching and clinical practice depended
on several factors, more so in government sector. As
the institutions grow old, the alumni become
important brand ambassadors for the institutions. It
is equally important for the alumni to pay back to
their alma mater in terms of sharing their rich
experiences and even reinforcing facilities in their
alma mater. The SMS Medical College proudly has all
these components in abundance. Its founding fathers
were stalwarts like Col. R.M. Kasliwal, Dr L.R.
Sarin, Sanghavi, P.K.Sethi, G.C.Sharma, Rameshwar
Sharma and many others. Dr Robert Heilig, a
physician who came to India from Austria and
dedicated his life in building the medical library.
Because of his monumental efforts that today the
college has an independent library in his name.
All this has happened in these 67 years and there is
one individual who is a witness to SMS history and
himself has immensely contributed to the glory of
the institution. He is none other than legendary and
charismatic Professor Prem Chand Dandiya, who joined
the institute in its infancy in 1949 and continues
to serve and teach (65 years!) even today as
Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology.
The book, ‘‘Memoirs: Distinguished alumni of SMS’ is
Professor Dandiya’s brain child. It covers the
memoirs of some 100 illustrious alumni who have
walked through corridors of this temple of medical
learning called ‘SMS’ and serving the society across
the globe in different capacities. Many serve as
physicians to the President and the Medical Council
of India. The list is long but to name a few are:
Cardiologist Professor B.K.Goyal, Dr Jagat Narula,
Dr L.Jain, Hepatologist Professor Shiv Sarin, Dr
Shridhar Sharma and many. The book has been
elegantly brought out as coffee table reader. The
efforts of both Professor Dandiya and Dr Rohit
Dandiya are commended. Many institutions may like to
emulate the idea. The book is recommended for the
institutional libraries. The classy publication by
Jaipur printers, Jaipur is praiseworthy.
Book Reviewed By: Prof. S. K. Kulkarni
Price: Rs.4995/-
Pages: 208
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Title |
: Sickle Cell Pain,
Second Edition
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Author |
: Samir K. Ballas |
Publishers |
: |
|
|
Sickle Cell Pain is a panoramic, in-depth
exploration of every scientific, human, and social
dimension of this cruel disease. This comprehensive,
definitive work is unique in that it is the only
book devoted to sickle cell pain, as opposed to
general aspects of the disease.
The 752 page book links sickle cell pain to basic,
clinical, and translational research, addressing
various aspects of sickle pain from molecular
biology to the psychosocial aspects of the disease.
Supplemented with patient narratives, case studies,
and visual art, Sickle Cell Pain’s scientific rigor
extends through its discussion of analgesic
pharmacology, including abuse-deterrent
formulations. The book also addresses in great
detail inequities in access to care, stereotyping
and stigmatization of patients, the implications of
rapidly evolving models of care, and recent
legislation and litigation and their consequences.
Price: $185.00
Pages: 752
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Witness to An Era: An
Autobiography of Professor Harkishan Singh |
|
New Delhi: Prof. S. N. Sharma hosted a lunch to
honor Prof. Harkishan Singh on his being awarded
Honorary Doctorate in Science by University of the
Science, Philadelphia, USA. The occasion was also
used to informally release the autobiography of
Prof. Harkishan Singh titled "Witness to an era".
Professor Harkishan Singh, presently Emeritus
Professor at the Punjab University (Chandigarh,
India), is a well recognized pharmaceutical
academic, medicinal chemistry researcher and a
science historian. He was born on 25th Nov, 1928 in
Lyallpur District of undivided Punjab, India. The
autobiography contains vivid account from Author's
humble beginning, education in pharmacy obtaining
Master's, Doctoral degrees from Banaras Hindu
University and Post-doctoral fellowship at
University of Maryland under Dr. Francis M. Miller
and Dr. Norman J Doorenbos, his work at premiere
Universities in India and equal number abroad and as
a scientist and researcher leading to discovery of
Chandonium Iodide, a heterosteroidal neuromuscular
blocking agent. An Important phase came after his
supperannuation when he chose to become a science
historian and trace history of pharmaceutical
development in India. Now, for more than two
decades, continuing his history research he has
authored 18 books in organic, basic and
pharmaceutical practical chemistry, medicinal
research and history of pharmacy in its various
facets. The autobiography also contains details of
his contributions, his friends, his archival work
and much more. The autobiography covers vivid
account of events as they occurred in his life. A
particular mention of his parents and poignant
moments with his wife Gian and children Tript and
Manjeet.
Prof. P. C. Dandiya's feeback on the book: "I feel
very complemented having received the "Witness to an
Era". You are a very prolific writer who has written
many books and now that you have written the story
of your life. I admire you immensely for this new
venture. I have only read the first 100 pages and
this I have done in two days time since the way you
have written about your childhood and have described
the village life in Punjab in the 1930s and 40s made
it very interesting and absorbing. Your capacity to
describe the intimate details of your family in such
a simple yet dignified manner is very admirable. For
me, the road you traveled through at the Banaras
Hindu University was a very familiar one and
therefore I have enjoyed reading every word of it
having done that a few years before you and again
almost after 30 years you did it. This I am writing
to you now but after having read the whole book I
hope to write to you more on what you write about
the Era."
The autobiography is a must read for all those
associated with the profession of pharmacy and
pharmaceutical research. The pharmaceutical faculty
is requested to have a copy of the autobiography
made available at the major libraries for the
benefit of the younger generation. I congratulate
Prof. Harkishan Singh and Vallabh Prakashan for this
invaluable publication.
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 |
|
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|
 |
Title |
: Sickle Cell Pain,
Second Edition
|
Author |
: Samir K. Ballas |
Publishers |
: |
|
|
Sickle Cell Pain is a panoramic, in-depth
exploration of every scientific, human, and social
dimension of this cruel disease. This comprehensive,
definitive work is unique in that it is the only
book devoted to sickle cell pain, as opposed to
general aspects of the disease.
The 752 page book links sickle cell pain to basic,
clinical, and translational research, addressing
various aspects of sickle pain from molecular
biology to the psychosocial aspects of the disease.
Supplemented with patient narratives, case studies,
and visual art, Sickle Cell Pain’s scientific rigor
extends through its discussion of analgesic
pharmacology, including abuse-deterrent
formulations. The book also addresses in great
detail inequities in access to care, stereotyping
and stigmatization of patients, the implications of
rapidly evolving models of care, and recent
legislation and litigation and their consequences.
Price: $185.00
Pages: 752
|
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
: WITNESS to an Era
|
Author |
: Professor Harkishan
Singh |
Publishers |
: Vallabh Prakashan,
Delhi |
|
|
Professor Harkishan Singh, Professor Emeritus,
Punjab University, Chandigarh, is a senior member of
the pharmaceutical fraternity, a distinguished
academic, an outstanding medicinal chemist, an
active participant in the growth and consolidation
of the pharmacy profession in India and a
pharmaceutical historian of international standing.
Reviews of his works and recognitions have been
published in many journals in India and abroad. The
latest honour was the conferment of the honorary
degree of Doctor of Science from the University of
Sciences in Philadelphia, PA (USA) on 20 February
2014. Recently, Prof. Singh has published his
autobiography Witness to an Era, describing the
events of his life from his childhood to the present
time (he is now 85 years of age), covered in detail
in 148 sections of this book.
Born in village Khara, district Tarn Taran (Punjab),
he narrates events from his early life, talks of his
parents, and above all, of life in villages in the
twenties of the last century. All in all, his
account makes very interesting reading not only for
today’s youth but also for future generations. He
had his schooling in Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran and
college education in Lahore till 1947. He describes
the glory of Lahore, which was a cultural and
education centre of Punjab. Due to the traumatic
event of the partition of India and Punjab he left
Lahore and continued his intermediate studies in
Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs. In spite of
the trauma of the partition which affected him
deeply, he was able to qualify for B. Pharm. in 1950
with top marks from the newly created East Panjab
University. This was followed by a period of
practical training at Drug Research Laboratories,
Jammu where Sir Ram Nath Chopra was the Director. He
then pursued his further studies, completing his M.
Pharm. in 1952 and his Ph. D in 1956 from Banaras
Hindu University (BHU). He mentions explicitly that
his life and career were guided by N.K. Basu und G.P.
Srivastava with both of whom he had a deep
association at BHU.
Prof. Singh describes his career as a member of the
faculty at BHU (1952-1956), later at the University
of Saugar (1956-1964), finally settling down at the
Panjab University, Chandigarh (1964-1988), where he
then rose to be a Professor in 1972, and also held
other important positions. He gives a detailed
account of his studies abroad as postdoctoral
research fellow and Visiting Professor at
Universities of Maryland (USA), Mississippi (USA)
and London (UK). He worked with Norman J. Doorenbos
(USA) and William B. Whalley (UK) about whom he
often speaks in different sections of this book. He
also mentions his association with John M. Midgley,
University of London (UK).
Prof. Singh writes in one of the sections about the
celebration of his marriage in 1958 at Amritsar. In
the next sections, he describes in detail his first
journey for research studies to USA by sea in 1958
with his wife soon after marriage, and speaks
especially of the difficulties which arose while
completing the formalities. However, the adventures
of this journey make for enjoyable reading,
especially the contacts he made while on board the
ship.
At the Panjab University, he built a successful
school of research on azasteroids, a prominent
highlight of the work of his research group being
the discovery of muscle relaxant Chandonium Iodide.
The development and the clinical tests of this drug
are detailed in many sections of this book,
describing collaborations with Ian G. Marshall,
University of Strathclyde (UK), Sandor Agoston,
University of Groningen (Netherlands), Rex A.
Palmer, University of London (UK) as well as with
Nitya Anand and B.N. Dhawan, of the Central Drug
Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow (India). In many
sections of the book, Prof. Singh writes gratefully
of the work of his research students, their
dedication, hard work and honesty, which also
contributed to his rise.
Prof. Singh has lectured extensively on azasteriods
and Chandonium Iodide in India, USA, Canada, UK,
China, Switzerland, and all itineraries of his
travel and lectures are mentioned in detail in this
book. In spite of his busy schedule in these
countries, he took time for sightseeing and visiting
museums and places of historical interest, of which
very interesting descriptions are given in the book.
He especially brings to the readers’ attention
scientific lectures, tours and trips, some of which
were also organised and planned by his students,
colleagues or friends from India who are now settled
in USA and Canada. He mentions with respect their
great hospitality, and the trouble they took to make
his stay comfortable at these places. Some even
organised get-togethers and parties, the accounts of
which he relates extensively.
In many sections of this book he writes about
research programmes and teachings of the Department
of Pharmacy, Chandigarh which has attained an
enviable reputation and was designated as University
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) and got
the status of Centre of Advanced Study. A number of
pharmaceutical congresses and seminars have been
held in the department for the last 40 years. Prof.
Singh has been associated with the working of
several professional and statutory organisations of
India.
Prof. Singh gives details regarding the creation of
the Central Institute of Pharmacy, the idea being
originally conceived by M.L. Schroff. It was a long
struggle which ultimately led to the establishment
of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research (NIPER) at Mohali (Punjab).
The engaging details of this journey, its
establishment and academic structuring are described
in many sections of this book, very interesting to
read.
Prof. Singh mentions in his autobiography, the
influence of his parents (to whom this book is
dedicated) on his life, especially that of his
father. But behind the success in his scientific
career, he warmly mentions, was his great and noble
wife Gian to whom he was happily married for 40
years. She accompanied him on many trips abroad but
often had to stay behind at home to take care of
their children and his parents. He dedicates two
sections to her and describes her wonderful
qualities, and writes about her health problems with
great feeling, finally speaking of her tragic death
at Ambala Cantt. Station, in 1998 which had a great
impact not only on him but also on their two
children Manjeet and Tript. In spite of this tragedy
he continued to work tirelessly on his lifelong
mission of exploring the history of pharmaceutical
developments in India during the last two centuries,
which work he had started after his superannuation
in 1988. All his work and archival collection, books
and book reviews are well covered in this
autobiography.
My personal association with Prof. Singh goes back
to 1961 at Saugar University and this contact
remains till today. As a humble scientist it is my
pleasure to write about the wonderful contributions
Prof. Singh has made to the history of Pharmacy,
which is a treasure not only for the future
generations but also to the country. My wife Durga
and I are overwhelmed by this great honour he has
given us by mentioning us in his memoir.
This book is extremely well-written and interesting
to read. Appendix at end of the book gives personal
particulars of Prof. Singh. The print and
compilation are excellent. It should be recommended
to all educational communities of India as an
eye-opener to the younger generations, who must know
how, as a young man Prof. Harkishan Singh started
from scratch, with little financial means and faced
with the trauma of partition of Punjab in 1947, but
with hard work and sheer honesty, he has set a
living example by achieving his leading position in
pharmacy profession in India. As an admirer of
President John F. Kennedy, whom he has quoted (p.
115) “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask
what you can do for your country”. Prof. Singh has
never asked, but has contributed tremendously to the
pharmacy profession of India of which we all should
be proud. This book is worthy of being a part of all
the big and important libraries of India.
Price: Rs.600
Pages: 322
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Title |
: Pharmaceutical Facility
Management
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Author |
: JPS Kohli |
Publishers |
: Business Horizons, New
Delhi |
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This
is the successor to an already well received and
pioneering book that has been completely brought
uptodate with the current international standards.
While the earlier edition was all about smooth and
trouble free working of a pharmaceutical facility,
the new second edition strives to achieve excellence
and set industry benchmarks for facilities of the
future. The pharmaceutical facilities of today must
reach out beyond the routine and strive for
excellence in all spheres of activity, to enable the
company retain its competitive edge in the
marketplace. To put the facility manager firmly in
control of the entire facility, a new chapter has
been created specifically to focus on facility
manager and the roles and responsibilities that
compose the job description of this position. The
contents of this section include Role of a Facility
Manager, Financial Management, Facilities Condition
Assessment (Audit), Pharmaceutical Facility
Validation, Facility Design Qualification, Facility
Installation Qualification, Facility Operational
Qualification, Utility Systems and Safety for
Facility Management.
Social responsibility towards the planet we inhabit
has been recognized as our unfailing duty and ways
to sustain the ecosystem are constantly being
evolved. Since pharmaceutical manufacturing
facilities impose lots of demands on the physical
environment in which they exist, innovative
companies are always trying to lessen their carbon
footprint through various methodologies being
evolved. What is today seen as innovation will
perhaps become mandatory in the near future and
hence a new chapter has been introduced called
‘Sustainable Facilities’ that suggests various means
by which a company can reduce its carbon footprint.
The contents of this section include Ecosystems,
Sustainable Manufacturing, Current Scenario, Green
Chemistry, Process Mass Intensity, Green Solvents,
Green Engineering, Sustainable Buildings,
Sustainable Energy Management, Cleanrooms (HVAC),
Facility Lighting, Electric Motors, Compressed Air,
Boilers and Sustainable Water Management.
The most exciting change however in the new edition
is the introduction of a new chapter, ‘Operational
Excellence in Pharma Manufacturing’ which focuses on
manufacturing efficiency for the first time,
focusing on actual shop floor strategies rather than
arcane management fuzzy logic formulas. While
current efficiency levels in the pharmaceutical
industry are examined, avenues for excellence are
explored that include continuous processing of
pharmaceuticals, automated manufacturing, optimizing
batch sizes and cycle times and overall equipment
effectiveness (OEE). A company can thus develop its
own corporate manufacturing strategy based on the
technology level it is willing to upgrade to, market
and business demands and the resources required for
such project. The contents of this section include
Focus on Manufacturing Efficiency, Current
Efficiency Levels, Continuous Processing of
Pharmaceuticals, Automated Manufacturing, Good
Automated Manufacturing Practices (GAMP), ASTM
E2500, Optimizing Batch Sizes and Cycle Times,
Overall Equipment Effectiveness and Corporate
Manufacturing Strategy.
All other chapters have been thoroughly overhauled,
outdated information removed and current and
up-to-date information included to transform the
existing chapters to cutting edge contemporary
standards.
The author JPS Kohli is a pharmacy graduate from
University of Delhi followed by Diploma in
Management of Technology Transfer, Patents and
Information Systems. He has wide ranging experience
in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked in a
pharmaceutical engineering company followed by
working in a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility
as Manager-Projects and Exports. He is a member of
Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA),
International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE),
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS),
Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Sciences Society (PHSS)
and International Federation of Pharmaceuticals (FIP).
He is included in Who’s Who in the field of Science
and Engineering. He has travelled extensively and
visited/audited the manufacturing plants of many
companies. He now heads the firm Business Horizons
that specializes in books on pharmaceuticals and
herbal medicines with an emphasis on technical and
quality aspects.
Over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical
industry, is easily reflected in this unique book.
These chapters give an unparalleled approach to
managing today’s pharmaceutical facilities. The high
standard of the chapters makes it an essential
reference guide that should be on the shelf of
everyone who is involved in managing modern
pharmaceutical facilities.
Price: Rs.3400
Pages: 424
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Title |
: Exploring
Nanotechnology in Healthcare
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Author |
: N Udupa |
Publishers |
: Manipal University
Press |
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Exploring Nanotechnology in Healthcare is a
reference book written with the intention of
providing information to the readers regarding
various facets of nanotechnology in healthcare.
There are a total of fifteen chapters in the book to
name a few Nanochemistry, Applications of
nanotechnology in healthcare, nanotherapy,
nanotechnology in infectious diseases, nanotoxicity,
impact of nanotechnology on Indian economy, Global
initiatives and regulations of nanotechnology based
products etc.,
Introduction chapter gives an overview of
nanotechnology perspectives. Characterization
methods chapter enlists and explain the various
techniques with their pros and cons for
characterizing physicochemical properties of
nanoparticles.
This book describes various materials used in the
development of nanoparticle drug delivery systems,
diverse types of nanoproducts that may be formulated
and used for effective therapy, their preparation
methods, as well as various frontiers of
applications. This book may be considered unique as
it incorporated aspects of nanochemistry which is a
documentation of discovering and understanding new
behavior exhibited by matter at nano dimensions and
to develop them into useful things such as efficient
drug delivery systems, ultrasensitive sensors,
ultra-lightweight structural materials, highly
efficient alternative energy sources or as new
materials for an entirely new application.
Nanochemistry utilizes synthetic and green chemistry
approaches to make nanosize materials of desirable
dimensions by controlled self-assembly of these
building blocks. Nanotechnology and environments
explicates the origin and distribution of natural
nanoparticles that influence our day to day life
causing useful as well as harmful effects. This
chapter also deal with using nanotechnology mediated
alternative energy systems for "green" manufacturing
processes and cautions the readers about the
requisite for proper measures to control and prevent
their release into environment. As the particle size
decreases, the increase in surface area lead to
increased reactivity in the cellular environment
leading to increased intrinsic toxicity. It is
detected that among the various biological systems,
intense toxicity of nano sized particles are more
evidenced in blood, CNS, GIT Respiratory and skin.
Hence, though a large quantum of research is
happening across the globe on potential use of
nanoparticles in medicine, a complete profile of its
pharmacokinetics and toxicity is lacking.
Nanotechnology is a potential tool in which
addresses various sectors like energy, water,
agriculture, health, environment etc.
Nanotechnology also has a significant influence on
world's economy and market volume. It is capable of
providing solutions to the existing problems,
without creating a new problem. The two major issues
are associated with research and development of
nanotechnology based products. First and most
important issue is potential threat that
nanotechnology may impose to human health and
environment. Second one is broader which includes
ethical, legal and social impacts of nanotechnology.
Hence, this book gives a complete profiling of
various areas improved and inflicted by
nanotechnology and highlights the necessity of
adopting nanotechnology based therapeutics for
improving the efficacy and patient compliance.
Reviewed By: Dr M Surlivel Rajan and Dr
Sreedharan Nair, Department of Pharmacy Practice,
Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Pages: 230
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Title |
:
Law Relating to Drugs and Cosmetics
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Author |
: Vijay Malik |
Publishers |
: Eastern Book Company,
Lucknow |
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The
Law Relating to Drugs and Cosmetics is continuously
evolving. This 23rd edition of the book is an
authentic and up-to-date source of information in
this very important field. It covers fully amended
Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs and
Cosmetics Rules, 1945 as amended upto the Third
Amendment Rules, 2013, along with new case-law
notes, allied Acts, Rules, Orders and Notifications.
To enhance the utility of this publication, fresh
new material has been added in this edition that
includes Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013;
Clinical Establishments (Central Government) Rules,
2012; National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy, 2012;
Cost Accounting Records (Pharmaceutical Industry)
Rules, 2011; Guidelines on Registration of Import of
Cosmetics and Important Circulars issued by CDSCO;
List of Drugs approved during January 2006 to April
2013 etc. Furthermore Elizabeth Verkey's chapter on
Patents and Pharmaceuticals has been updated to
incorporate the effect of the Novartis judgment of
the Supreme Court.
This new edition comes with free CD-ROM, featuring
regulations regarding clinical trials, IV Fluids,
Recall and Rapid Alert System for Drugs; directory
of Equipment Manufacturers, Phytochemicals; sources
of Medicinal Herbs in India etc. Additionally, free
online updates are available at
www.ebcwebstore.com/drugsandcosmetics only
to purchaser of the book.
Since, all practices of medicine such as Allopathic,
Ayurvedic, Unani and Siddha are covered under the
drug control law therefore this book is equally
important for all these disciplines. Overall, this
dependable and time-honored work is imperative and
much-needed resource for all pharmaceutical
manufacturers and sellers, foreign companies wanting
to invest in this sector in India, blood banks,
hospitals and medical practitioners, lawyers and law
firms. |
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Title |
:
Sethi's HPTLC - Quantitative Analysis of
Pharmaceutical Formulations
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Author |
: Dr. P. D. Sethi |
Publishers |
: CBS Publishers &
Distributors, New Delhi. |
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The three-volume set by
the author on quantitative analysis of
pharmaceutical formulations by HPTLC (2013) is
published in quick succession to a four-volume
enlarged and revised edition (2012) on quantitative
analysis of pharmaceutical formulations with
description of reaction mechanisms. This highlights
the continued zeal of the author to offer scientific
inputs and compilations to fellow pharmaceutical
analysts, ignoring his advancing age. A more so
admirable aspect is that he has been able to bring
such voluminous treatises even without the support
of computer, internet, e-mail, etc., unimaginable by
anyone in the modern times.
This fresh set contains 10 chapters in total, of
which first two cover general aspects (introduction
and validation of HPTLC methods) and the remaining
eight describe detailed HPTLC protocols and
densitograms for the separation of drugs used in
combinations for the therapy of diseases of
cardiovascular system; musculoskeletal system;
antibiotics; respiratory system and anti-allergics;
alimentary system; central nervous system,
preparations for external use, and miscellaneous.
The first chapter covering Introduction is 116 pages
long and covers basics of HPTLC techniques and
instrumentation, conduct of experiments, and even
provides practical tips. An elaborate second chapter
on validation of HPTLC methods is contributed by
team of Dr Nitin Dubey, Dr. Nidhi Dubey and Dr DK
Jain from Indore. Both these chapters are full of
information and must be read through by every
analyst working on HPTLC. I will advise their
reading even by those handling other techniques.
The next eight chapters give 528 protocols for the
effective separation of drugs in variety of
combinations and formulations. A very large number
of protocols are picked up from the literature, and
the author rightly advises the user to be vigilant
on their reproducibility and accuracy of validation
claims. The protocols developed/optimized at
Anchrom’s HPTLC Application Laboratory, Mumbai are
seemingly original and may not be reported
previously. So these add a real value to the
compilation.
On the whole, it is a great effort from the author.
This set will prove very valuable for analysts,
especially those involved in the analysis of drug
combinations in private and regulatory laboratories,
both in India and abroad.
Book Reviewed By:
Dr Saranjit Singh
Author:
Dr. P. D. Sethi
Published By:
CBS Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi. |
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Title |
:
A Professor Remembers Some more
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Author |
:
Professor P.C. Dandiya |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, New Delhi |
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Generally the memoirs are
written once in a life time. Perhaps in rare
individuals where life is so enriching that everyday
becomes an enduring event which calls for ‘some
more’ to share with others. That is so with the
iconic Professor, Dr Prem Chand Dandiya who has
penned his experiences of life (156 additional pages
more!) to his earlier autobiography. Eighteen new
chapters are about the events, individuals, places,
medicines and the teaching of them. The first
chapter, ‘The last letter’ addressed to his loving
wife, ‘Meena’ (who is no more) he talks about of his
life in her absence, growing up of granddaughter,
their love and affection. The events and the
narrations are natural and heart rendering. The
other descriptions on ‘The women I value’, ‘Sapna
and the Bengalis of Cooch Behar’, ‘Robert Heilig’,
‘why I love Jaipur’ and ‘The Jain Religion’ are life
experiences of the man and equally make absorbing
reading.
Dr Dandiya has extensively travelled across the
globe. He writes about his recent visits to two
neighbouring countries, namely China and Pakistan.
He cherishes his visit to China and the honour that
he received from the Chinese Pharmacological
Society. But his visit to Lahore and the experience
of meeting two schoolmates after 60 years tell how
ethos have changed the destiny of two countries
after the sad partition.
Professor Dandiya is associated with teaching of
Pharmacology to medical students for nearly 62 years
(almost 3 generation) which is very rare and
therefore, he makes a case for ‘Ten drugs that
changed our lives’. Looking back, the whole modern
drug industry has taken the present shape in these
years only. Being a voracious reader himself, he
advocates reading classics and biographies of
well-known individuals and how reading influences
one’s life. At a time when reading habit is
dwindling in our youngsters, he makes an important
case for good books.
The narrations in the book are very unique and
captivating. The volume is elegantly brought about.
The “A Professor Remembers-Some more” would make an
interesting reading companion and value addition to
your library.
Book Reviewed By:
Prof. S.K. Kulkarni
Author:
Professor P.C. Dandiya
Published By:
Vallabh Prakashan, New Delhi |
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Title |
:
Sethi's HPTLC - Quantitative Analysis of
Pharmaceutical Formulations
|
Author |
:
Dr. P. D. Sethi |
Publishers |
:
CBS Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi |
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|
Dr P. D. Sethi’s latest book titled “Sethi’s
High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography,
Quantitative Analysis of Pharmaceutical
Formulations” is beautifully presented in three
volumes containing close to 1300 pages of crisp,
practical and useful information on the topic.
The first volume provides a comprehensive
introduction to the technique, including details on
types of layers used, different types of support
surfaces and practical tips on preparing samples,
sample application, as well as various factors which
influence the performance of a HPTLC analysis. Dr
Sethi has shared a rare insight to his life and
professional career in the section titled “Making of
An Analyst and The Author” sharing details of his
journey on how he became an analyst and the author
of a number of bestselling books in the field of
pharmaceutical analysis. The take-home message from
this section for me is very clearly given as the
quote at the end of the section.
“No one is ever born talented nor talent obtained as
a gift or lucky coincidence. It is a resource
acquired through one’s own endeavor, in this
process, others may provide some help, inspiration
and guidance.” After the introduction, the first
volume provides a detailed coverage on validation of
HPTLC methods, including practical examples and
strategies for validation of HPTLC methods.
The book contains 528 protocols for the HPTLC
analysis of pharmaceutical formulations, putting to
rest any doubts or questions on the applicability of
HPTLC in the analysis of pharmaceutical formulation.
Each protocol provides the following details-
·
Preparation of samples,
·
preparation of standards,
·
the chromatographic
equipment used,
·
parameters for
densitometric evaluation, chromatographic
conditions, including stationary phase, mobile
phase, standard and sample application,
chamber
saturation, relative humidity, quantity of mobile
phase, temperature, migration distance and other
critical parameters,
·
references to the original
publication or source for the method,
·
comments on the extent of
validation or any comparative study which has been
carried out for the method,
·
a typical densitogram,
·
structures of the
compounds analysed,
·
overlaid UV spectra of
compounds analysed for selection of suitable
wavelength for densitrometric scanning.
The details provided for
each protocol are sufficient for reproducing the
methods in the laboratory.
The contents of the
introduction itself are of immense value to anyone
using HPTLC or simple TLC in the laboratory. Both
beginners and experienced practitioners of thin
layer chromatography stand to gain from the
practical information presented in the introduction.
The practical tips provided at the end of
introduction should help the analyst to be a better
chromatographer. I would highly recommend this book
to any individual or organisation currently using or
planning to use high-performance thin-layer
chromatography in the analysis of pharmaceutical
formulations.
Book Reviewed By:
Sourabh Arora, M.Pharm.,Ph.D.
Author:
Dr. P. D. Sethi
Published By:
CBS Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi. |
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Title |
:
How To Practice GLP
|
Author |
:
P. P. Sharma |
Publishers |
:
Vandana Publications Pvt. Ltd., Delhi. |
|
When the
first edition of this book was published, there was
no formal or informal text of Good Laboratory
Practice (GLP) from the regulatory authority in
India. Therefore, the guidelines appearing under the
US FDA GLP were the basis for the 3rd Edition
guidelines in the first edition of this book. Some
developments have taken place since then. A
sub-committee of the Drugs Consultative Committee
brought out the guidelines for GLP. These guidelines
were published by the Central Drug Standards Control
Organizations (CDSCO). Latter, the Government of
India published draft rules incorporating Schedule
L-1 under the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules. These drafts
rules were made the basis of discussion in the
second edition of this book along with OECD and US
FDA GLP.
The Government of India, Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare published final amendment to the drugs &
Cosmetics Rules in November 2008 with stipulation
that the provisions of the amendment will be
effective from 1st November, 2010. Since, these
amendments are now part of the Drugs & Cosmetics
Rules, the basis of discussion of GLP guidelines in
this edition is based on Schedule L-1. However,
wherever necessary, a reference to similarity or
otherwise has also been made to the OECD or US FDA
GLP guidelines.
At one time, it was being contemplated by the CDSCO
that NABL accreditation will be made mandatory to
the drug testing laboratories in India. But it has
not been done so far.
There are certain procurement agencies for drugs
which get their samples tested at drug testing
laboratories. These agencies insist that drug
testing laboratories should be NABL accredited.
Therefore, a chapter has been added on NABL
accreditation.
OECD countries require safety data on chemicals,
drugs, cosmetics, veterinary drugs, food additives
etc. from OECD GLP complaint testing laboratories,
if such items are imported into those countries. The
Government of India, Ministry of Science &
Technology, has established the National GLP
Compliance Monitoring Authority under the aegis of
Department of Sciences & Technology. This authority
issues GLP compliance certificate for the compliance
of OECD GLP principles. Therefore, a chapter has
been added on GLP certification. This will be useful
to those drug manufacturers which export drugs to
the OECD countries.
On technical side, calibration and qualification of
instruments is very important. Reliable and
consistent analytical data can not be obtained
without these activities. Therefore, a chapter has
been added on calibration and qualification of
analytical instruments.
The book will be useful to quality control chemists,
QA personnel, regulatory officers, pharmacy faculty,
students and consultants.
Book Review By: Dr. P. D. Sethi.
Author: P. P. Shrama
Publishers: Vandana Publications Pvt. Ltd.,
Delhi. |
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Title |
:
Pharmaceutical Anti – Counterfeiting
|
Author |
|
Publishers |
|
|
Drug
counterfeiting is not a new phenomenon for this
industry. The book Pharmaceutical Counterfeiting by
mark Division may not be the first one to examine
the menace of drug counterfeiting, but is the first
to provide a comprehensive guide on the currently
available anti – counterfeiting technologies and the
possible solutions to combat the problem. The
author, Mark Davisonis himself a renowned
pharmaceutical consultant and his currently the CEO
of Blue Sphere Health Ltd. Davison has a great deal
of industry experience in pharmaceutical as well as
product security and hence has written this book
after careful research and insight into the industry
and its problems. It is very likely for the industry
professionals to appreciate the author’s ability on
categorically addressing the issues like drug
counterfeiting, current authentication and taking
technologies, future approaches and examples on drug
counterfeiting from around the world. His
discussions on future policy / authentication
technologies hold a promise to be useful for policy
makers and drug companies as he emphases on the need
of integration of both digital and non – digital
(physical and sensory) authentication methods for
pharmaceutical companies. In the book he has also
suggested the policy makers to think on focusing
over health and patient protection rather than
handling and defining IP issues and legal
definitions. The book also examines the micro and
macro drives, government involvements, geographical
and regional issues, and consumer behavior along
with practices in some other industries. However, it
would have been even better if the author had
highlighted some of industry’s best practices
adopted by various pharmaceutical companies besides
giving a comparison of authentication technologies
in terms of their strengths, weakness, usages etc.
Perhaps a future edition on these pointers will do
even well with the readers. For those determined to
take an action against counterfeit pharmaceutical
and healthcare products, will find the book useful. |
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Title |
:
Editing Pharmacy
|
Author |
:
Professor Bhagwan Dass Miglani
|
Publishers |
: Association of
Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI);
Bangalore 2011. |
|
Professor
Bhagwan Dass Miglani can be truly called as Father
of Hospital Pharmacy in India. Perhaps no other
pharmaceutical professional in the country has done
so much of work for upgrading the discipline of
Hospital Pharmacy as Miglani Sahib. He is an
architect of the development of Hospital Pharmacy in
India.
As compared to Western countries, Pharmacy Practice
in general and Hospital Pharmacy in particular was
in a rather underdeveloped state before independence
and even in the initial years of independent India.
The tireless efforts and devotion of Dr. Miglani for
this profession in post- independence period are
praiseworthy and highly commendable. He founded the
Indian Hospital Pharmacists’ Association (IHPA) in
1963 at the Indian Pharmaceutical Conference in
Pilani, holding the positions of General Secretary
(1964 -1971) and President (1972 -1973) and is
rightly the Patron of the Association at present. He
founded the Indian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (IJHP)
in 1964 as a bi-monthly journal and continued to be
its editor for over four decades (1964 - 2007). Dr.
Miglani is also responsible for starting the
Post-Graduate course in Hospital Pharmacy at Delhi
College of Pharmacy, the only Post-Graduate course
of its kind in India even today, which is leading
the way for strengthening the branch of Pharmacy
Practice across the country. Professor Miglani is
thus the Founder and Father of not only the Indian
Pharmacists’ Association but also of Hospital
Pharmacy education in India. The introduction of
subjects like Hospital Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy
and Community Pharmacy in B.Pharm curriculum in
1980s; starting M.Pharm Pharmacy Practice course in
a number of institutions during the latter part of
1990s and subsequent years and the introduction of
Pharm. D in 2008 are considered milestones in the
development and popularisation of Pharmacy Practice
in India. Dr. Miglani’s standing as a leading
pharmacy professional was recognised by his election
as the General President of Indian Pharmaceutical
Congress (1987). He has been recipient of various
awards and prizes in India.
The Indian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (IJHP) which
Dr. Miglani founded in 1964 was single-handedly
edited by him for over four decades. He nourished
its growth and put in immense efforts to make this
journal one of the prominent pharmacy publications
in India. In Miglani’s hands, the editorial page of
IJHP became a powerful tool for championing the
cause of Hospital Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy,
Community Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice in general.
In the editorials of IJHP and in many lectures in
conferences across India, he constantly strove for
the improvement of service conditions-revision,
sanction and implementation of better emoluments for
hospital pharmacists; and other issues. The main aim
of the journal is to disseminate pharmaceutical and
scientific knowledge among hospital pharmacists all
over the country. The better status of hospital
pharmacists in India and the respect they enjoy
today is through hard work and dedication of Dr. B.
D. Miglani and through his writings in IJHP.
It is a matter of both pride and pleasure to note
that a book Editing Pharmacy written by Dr. Miglani
has been published. During his tenure as editor of
IJHP, he wrote two hundred lead articles
(Editorials) on various subjects and issues, the
compilation of which constitutes this volume. A few
editorials are also written by other professionals.
Dr. Miglani has given his views as well as the views
of the Association to create awareness about
professional issues pertaining to Hospital, Clinical
and Community Pharmacy in addition to suggesting
plausible solutions to the problematic issues. The
editorials which form this book also talk of the
constitution of various committees formed at central
and state levels: Study Group of Hospitals; Expert
Committee on Hospital Pharmacy for Mysore State;
Hospital Review Committee; Pay Commission Reports;
Hathi Committee Report; Kelkar Committee Report;
Lentin Commission Report; Mashelkar Committee
Report; Vadiyanathan Committee Report on Medical
Store Organizations, etc. A lot of memoranda were
sent by readers of IJHP, and Indian Hospital
Pharmacist’s Association also submitted memoranda to
these committees. The recommendations made by these
committees were published and commented upon in
subsequent editorials of IJHP, which are published
in this book. The establishment of the National
Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER),
autonomous Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, setting
up the fair shops in hospitals were also taken up
through editorials of IJHP. The issues pertaining to
the amendment to the Pharmacy Act, Drugs & Cosmetics
Act and implementation of Section 42 of the Pharmacy
Act were also highlighted in the editorials of IJHP,
which are now all published in this book. Strong
cases were made to Pay Commissions set up from time
to time, through editorials of IJHP for better
pay-scales for hospital pharmacists. The editorials
of IJHP also drew attention to topics pertaining to
academic, scientific and technical subjects, all
worth reading in this book. The editorials of IJHP
also persistently pleaded for upgrading the Diploma
in Pharmacy to Degree in Pharmacy as minimum
registration qualification under the Pharmacy Act.
The lives and works of a few pharmaceuticals
luminaries like M. L. Schroff, G. P. Srivastava, M.
K. Rangnekar, K. N. Gaind, K. K. Acharjee, G. B.
Ramasarma, and B. V. Patel, written in some
editorial pages of IJHP are also covered in this
book. Besides portrait photographs of some
historical political personalities like Jawahar Lal
Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Zakir Hussain, Indira Gandhi,
Rajiv Gandhi covered in some editorials of IJHP make
this book interesting.
Through his editorial writings in IJHP, Dr. Miglani
has made his valuable contribution as a promoter and
in some cases maker of policies for the uplift of
Hospital Pharmacy in particular and profession of
pharmacy in general. It is a matter of satisfaction
that the views expressed in the editorials of IJHP,
which are published in the book, contributed to
success in achieving the objectives: implementation
of Section 42 of Pharmacy Act; avoiding revalidation
of Rule 65(15) (c) of Drugs & Cosmetics Act; setting
up of NIPER; establishment of Indian Pharmacopoeia
Commission; implementation of ER 1991 and procuring
reasonable pay-scales for pharmacists through Pay
Commissions. The decisions on the other issues have
yet to come.
Written and presented in an excellent manner, this
book is very much recommended to all the
pharmaceutical and drug professionals in the
universities and industries, besides all
pharmaceutical and medical authorities dealing with
health problems of the Indian masses. It is equally
important that the younger generations of pharmacy
students should read this book so as to understand
as how pharmacy professionals struggled for over
four decades to uplift the grade of Hospital
Pharmacy in India and brought it to today’s
respectful standard. Professor B. D. Miglani has
done a great service to the profession of pharmacy
and pharmacy practice, in particular to the
profession of Hospital Pharmacy by publishing the
editorials of IJHP in the form of a book. This book
is convenient and a wonderful source of information
with regard to growth of Hospital Pharmacy in India
during the later decades of the twentieth century
and beginning of the twenty-first century. In years
to come, it shall be treated as an historical
document and a must – have for all pharmacy
professionals in this country.
Book Reviewed By: Dr. Ravindernath Kaul,
Germany |
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 |
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 |
Title |
:
Law Relating to Drugs and Cosmetics
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Format |
:
Hardcover
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Publishers |
:
Eastern Book Company |
|
“Law
Relating To Drugs and Cosmetics” by Vijay Mailk is
an excellent, most dependable, comprehensive and
up-to-date manual on Drugs & Cosmetics Act and the
Rules there under. This new edition provides amended
and updated text of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,
1940 (as amended by Amendment Act 26 of 2008 which
was enforced on August 10, 2009) and the Drugs and
Cosmetics Rules, 1945 (as amended upto the Second
Amendment Rules, 2011, along with case law notes,
allied Acts, Rules, Orders and Notifications). The
Drugs Price Control Order, 1995 has been amended
upto the Second Amendment Order of 2006.
Under each section of the book, concise and coherent
notes illustrative of the topic are given. As
Allopathic, Ayurvedic, Unani and Siddha systems have
been brought under the purview of the Drugs &
Cosmetics Act, this will book is a must for all
personnel involved in the drug and cosmetics
industry, manufacturers, distributors, libraries,
academic institutions, blood banks, hospitals and
practitioners, pharmacy / medicine students, central
and state governments, bar associations, government
departments, committees and others concerned with
the subject.
Concise and coherent notes have been provided under
important sections. The appendices provide several
allied and useful statutes. A very detailed subject
index and product index facilitate quick and easy
search. The publisher should be commended for
providing free updates to this edition on line. The
updates will be available at
www.ebcwebstore.com/drugsandcosmetics.
Book
Reviewed By: Raman Sehgal
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Instrumental Method in Pharmaceutical
Analysis
|
Author |
:
P. C. Kamboj
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan
|
|
“Instrumental method in Pharmaceutical Analysis” is
a very useful book for PG and UG students of
pharmacy. The book specially deals with the basic
theories of various spectroscopic and
electro-analytical techniques. Spectroscopic method
of analysis has been discussed very elaborately
starting from the basics of electromagnetic
radiations. Techniques like NMR, ESR, IR all have
been nicely covered in this book. The discussions on
electro-analytical techniques are quite informative.
The author has stressed on the basic theories before
going into detailed discussions, which is definitely
making the book special. The correlation between
chapters on electro-analytical techniques is
excellent.
Few improvements are suggested for future edition.
Some discussions on ICP MS or various ICP techniques
would have made the book more complete in the area
of atomic spectroscopy. More examples may be
included for NMR, ESR and Mass spectrometry part for
better understanding.
On the whole, the book offers excellent help to
students for developing a strong base on
pharmaceutical analytical techniques. The blend of
basic principles and application of various
spectroscopic and electro-analytical techniques has
made the book very unique. The author has presented
his view in a very brief, compact and comprehensive
manner in a very lucid language..
Book
Reviewed By: Arindam Basu
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Pioneers of Pharmaceutical Industry
|
Author |
:
Professor Harkishan Singh
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, Delhi |
|
Pioneers of Pharmaceutical Industry
Professor Harkishan Singh continues his painstaking
research to explore the subject “History of Pharmacy
in India and Related Aspects.” He has already
published a number of books on this topic:
Pharmacopoeias and Formularies; Pharmaceutical
Education; Pharmacy Practice; Builders and Awareness
Creators of Modern Pharmacy (4 Volumes); and
Pharmaceutical History of India. His latest book
Pioneers of Pharmaceutical Industry is now released
to the pharmacy world.
Professor Singh starts with the introduction about
the development of Indian pharmaceutical industry
during the 19th and 20th century. Then he writes the
biographies of the pioneers who laid the foundation
of the drug industry of the country. India’s
pharmaceutical industry has a long and a diverse
history. In 1797 the production of opium became a
monopoly of the Government of India and in 1820
opium factories were set up in different parts of
the country. Cinchona production started in 1860.
Another development of note was the setting of
Government Medical Stores Depots during 1870 at
Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Lahore. The
pharmaceutical companies started growing in the
country in a humble way. The industry received some
fillip during the First World War in 1914 as the
imports were almost completely cut off. The
manufacture of galenicals and production of caffeine
from tea dust and surgical dressings were
established. After the war, the manufacture of
biological products like sera and vaccines,
anaesthetics like ether and chloroform, and coal tar
distillation products such as naphthalene, cresol
etc. was undertaken by the industry. More of the
drug manufacturing firms started coming up since
1919 and the creation of manufacturing houses
continued during 1930s in spite of strong
competition as import of foreign products were
resumed again. The outbreak of Second World War in
1939 gave an impetus to drug industry and a number
of companies made beginnings during the war days and
there was severe competition from foreign producers
after the war was over. A significant development
was the setting of different committees by
Government of India to study the state of affairs
and progress and improvement of the drug industry of
the country, to name a few of them; Drugs Enquiry
Committee, 1930-31 (Chopra Committee); Panel on Fine
Chemicals, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, 1945 (Chopra
Panel); Health Survey and Development Committee,
1946 (Bhore Committee); Pharmaceutical Enquiry
Committee, 1953 (Bhatia Committee); Health Survey
and Planning Committee, 1959-61 (Mudaliar
Committee); Patents Enquiry Committee, 1948-50 (Tek
Chand Committee); Patents Law, 1959 (Ayyangar
Report); Committee on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals,
1974 (Hathi Committee). All these committees made
cogent recommendations with respect to scope and
development of pharmaceutical industry of the
country. The pharmaceutical industry started growing
rapidly and the country achieved self-sufficiency in
formulations and also in large number of bulk drugs.
From the colonial period we inherited drug industry
with annual production capacity of Rupees 10 crore
only. During the last six decades the pharmaceutical
industry has made tremendous progress. It is now
counted among the top producers of drugs and
pharmaceuticals of the world and has touched Rs
100,000 crore turnovers annually. Many
pharmaceutical luminaries have contributed to the
development of pharmaceutical industry in the
country of which a few mentioned here have played a
prominent role.
Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861-1944) was
instrumental in the start of the Bengal Chemical and
Pharmaceutical Works (BCPW), Calcutta and the credit
for ushering in the era of manufacture of drugs in
India goes to him. The small scale production began
in a humble way at his residence at Calcutta in 1892
with a capital of Rs 800 only. The enterprise became
a limited liability company in 1901. As time passed
the BCPW emerged to be a chemo-pharmaceutical
industrial giant. The principal lines of manufacture
of the company were chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
biological products, surgical dressings, tar
products, toilet preparations and scientific
instruments.
Tribhovandas Kalyandas Gajjar (1863-1920)
brought out the awakening on the western coast about
chemical technology and catalysed the spread of
chemical based industry; this had direct bearing on
pharmaceutical manufacture. Professor Gajjar and his
students A. S. Kotibhaskar and B.D.Amin started
Alembic Chemical Works at Baroda in 1907. The firm
which began with small scale manufacture of
tinctures and other galenicals, developed with
passage of time, into a major drug manufacturing
house with diverse activities. Gajjar also
established Kala Bhavan at Baroda and
Techno-Chemical Laboratory at Bombay.
Harry Cooper (1888-1935) an experienced
British pharmaceutical chemist had a significant
role in the development of pharmacy in colonial
India. He came to India in 1919 to serve the
Calcutta firm Smith, Stanistreet & Co. Ltd., which
started as apothecary shop in 1821. It became a
prominent European pharmacy, manufacturing and
wholesale chemists during the colonial period. Harry
Cooper took charge of the company in 1919 as the
Chief Chemist, later becoming the Works Manager and
Director. Under Cooper’s care the company became a
prominent drug industry at Calcutta. Cooper was also
a member of Drugs Enquiry Committee (1930-31) headed
by Sir Ram Nath Chopra.
Khwaja
Abdul Hamied ( 1898- 1972) founded the Chemical,
Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories (CIPLA)
in 1935 at Bombay. By 1972, the Cipla had two
manufacturing units, one for Pharmaceuticals and the
other for Fine Chemicals, Drug Intermediates,
Steroids and Hormones. Cipla Agricultural Division
was started at Bangalore for cultivation of
medicinal plants. The company continued to progress
and is today a leading drug industry in India.
Apostolos Raptakos (1889-1964) hailed from
Greece and made India his home professionally. He in
association with an Englishman W.H. Brett founded
the company The Raptakos, Brett & Co. Ltd., in 1930
in Calcutta and then shifted to Bombay in 1934.
Raptakos became its first Managing Director. New
factories were built at Madras in 1959 and Thane in
1963. They manufacture and process drugs,
pharmaceuticals and dietetic specialities mostly
from indigenous raw materials. Liver Extract (oral)
and Aluminium Hydroxide Gel are main drug
intermediates manufactured for captive consumption.
It is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of
the country.
Homi Ruttonji Nanji (1909-1967) played a
leading role in drug control, drug analysis and also
became a prominent figure in the promotion of drug
industry in the country. After his early role in
pharmaceutical education, statutory control of
drugs, pharmacy practice, and member of various
professional/statutory pharmacy organisations, Nanji
moved to accept assignment in drug industry of the
country and worked in various positions. He had an
active liaison with Indian Chemical Manufacturing
Association (ICMA), which made a beginning in 1938,
and he was founder of Organisation of Pharmaceutical
Producers of India (OPPI). He played a great role in
the development of drug industry and so created
awareness of this sector in India. He continued
membership of the statutory body the Development
Council of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals right from its
inception in 1955 and his becoming its Chairman for
two terms (1961-1965) confirmed the level of his
stature in the pharmaceutical industrial circles of
India.
Amrut Vithaldas Mody (1914-1999) was among
the eminent pharmaceutical professionals of the
twentieth century and contributed in the development
of drug industry in India. The Indian Pharmaceutical
Association (IPA) was largely the medium of his
professional activities as he held positions in the
organisation and contributed to its development in
various ways. Mody was founder of Unichem
Laboratories Ltd., Bombay in 1944 and also became
its Chairman and Managing Director. It became a
successful and progressive drug firm in the country
with various products like vitamin and hormone
preparations, haematinics, analgesics, and curative
medicines for tuberculosis, dysentery, diabetics and
also antispasmodic drugs and life saving drugs like
noradrenaline and mannitol. Mody also became
Chairman and Director of Uni-Sanyko Ltd., Hyderbad;
Uni-UCB Ltd., Bombay’s Uni-Drupha Pvt. Ltd., Aroor
Chemcials Pvt. Ltd., Cochin; Cochin Pam Pvt. Ltd.,
Cochin; and Viramrut Investment Pvt. Ltd., Bombay.
He was the Director of Nagpal Petrochem Ltd., Madras
and Pylos Packaging Pvt. Ltd., Bombay. Amrut
Vithaldas Mody was a great luminary of
pharmaceutical profession who gained prominent
position in the drug industry.
Professor Singh has given an excellent description
of the history of the development of pharmaceutical
and drug industry of India during the last two
centuries. Many pioneers contributed to the
development of drug industry. Their works and
achievements are worth reading in this book. The
names of many more professionals who were directly
or indirectly associated with the development of
drug industry also find a place in this book.
Besides this, the names of companies which made
their beginnings during the War days are also
mentioned. The speeches and addresses of these
pioneers of drug industry delivered at various
conferences held on different occasions are listed
in Appendix I-IV.
I feel this book is an eye opener to the present and
future pharmaceutical generations as how India’s
pharmaceutical industries through humble start,
stiff competition, hard work and dedication of these
brilliant pioneers have come to occupy one of the
leading positions in the world. Therefore, great
credit goes to Professor Harkishan Singh for the
precise collection of the background history which
ultimately reveals the building up and establishment
of the drug industry of India. Last but not least,
his brilliant, informative and interesting way of
narrating, keeps the readers spellbound up to the
last page.
Book
Reviewed By: Dr Ravindernath Kaul, Germany
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|
 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Sethi’s Quantitative Analysis of
Pharmaceutical Formulations
|
Author |
:
Dr. P.D. Sethi
|
Publishers |
:
CBS Publishers, New Delhi |
|
Dr. P. D.
Sethi, a natural product chemist turned
pharmaceutical analytical chemist has rendered a
yeoman’s service to pharmacy profession and
professionals since 1985 when he brought out his
first book “Quantitative analysis of pharmaceutical
formulations” - First edition followed by immensely
useful books on spectrophotometric analysis, TLC,
HPTLC and HPLC. All the books authored by Dr. Sethi
gained tremendous popularity among pharmaceutical
analysts working either in industry or in academics.
No analytical laboratory was complete without the
series on pharmaceutical analysis books written by
him.
The present book is the Fourth Edition of
“Quantitative Analysis of Pharmaceutical
Formulations” in four volumes. The book is an
improved version of earlier editions as it includes
reaction mechanism and the chemistry involved in the
analytical procedures. The contents of the book have
been arranged in thirteen main chapters each
containing different multi-component formulations.
Methods(s) of analysis for each ingredient in the
formulation have been given along with the probable
reaction mechanism. The whole matter is contained in
4 volumes. Volume 1 of the book contains
introductory account and very useful and informative
chapters on good laboratory practices; calibration
of analytical instruments; method development; SOP
on reference and working standards. All details of
these elementary processes have been minutely
discussed. Besides, this volume contains methods of
analysis of multi-ingredient formulations of
Cardiovascular Drugs (17 formulations) and
Anti-inflammatory Drugs (12 formulations).
Volume 2 embodies three chapters, the first one
contains methods of analysis for multi- ingredient
formulations of Analgesics and Antipyretics (39
formulations); Antibiotics (26 formulations);
Sedatives and Tranquillizers (13 formulation).
Likewise, contents of volume 3 are Expectorants,
Cough suppressants and Anti-allergies (41
formulations); Bronchospasm Relaxants (Anti-asthma)
(26 formulations); Alimentary Drugs (sic
Gastrointestinal Drugs) (56 formulations). Volume 4
of the books has chapters on Eye, Ear & Nose
Preparations (17 preparations); Topical Antifungal
and Anti-infective Preparations (22 preparations);
Rubefacients (8 formulations), Keratolytics and
Cleansers (10 formulations): and Miscellaneous
Vitamins, Minerals and Digestive Enzyme Preparations
(34 preparations).
To compile an account on methods of analysis,
procedure, probable reaction mechanism and
references of each of the ingredients of 321
formulations is an up-hill task. The author has
single handedly done this heroic task, which is
indeed commendable. The graphic representation of
chemical structures is excellent and so is the
printing of the whole text for which the publisher
has to be given credit. The contents of the books
have been adequately indexed.
Dr. Sethi, deserves our congratulations for bringing
out the highly valuable volumes beneficial for
pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical
educational institutions.
The book is highly recommended and is a must for
libraries, institutions and industry.
Book
Reviewed By: Prof. V. K. Kapoor
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
The Dream for Life
|
Author |
:
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Publishers |
:
|
|
This book
chronicles a heartrending collection of real life
stories of cancer patients & their care givers. Dr
PP Bapsy, through this book has tried to capture the
emotions of cancer patients and how they face the
crises related to this much feared disease. The
stories are all true incidents (the names have been
changed) from the lives of patients whom she came
across in her career spanning over three decades.
Dr. Bapsy, a well known oncologist, through the
narration of true life stories brings forth this
existing lack of awareness and at the same time
dispels these misconceptions about cancer beyond
doubt. The messages conveyed are that many cancers
are curable if detected early, are preventable by
avoiding hazardous habits like tobacco, practice of
genital hygiene, the need for annual health check
up, not to delay a consultation because of fear of
cancer. The stories have been narrated in simple
everyday language & reach out to patients suffering
from cancer, filling them with hope & equipping them
with courage to emerge victorious in this battle.
This book will serve as a guide to all its readers &
will be of significant value in Apollo Hospital’s
cancer control efforts.
Book
Reviewed By: T. N. Bazaz
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|
 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Sethi’s HPTLC Content Uniformity of
Pharmaceutical Formulations
|
Author |
:
Dr. P.D.Sethi
|
Publishers |
:
KONGPOSH Publication Pvt. Ltd. |
|
The book
entitled “Sethi’s HPTLC content uniformity of
pharmaceutical Formulations” is an author’s
successful attempt to use HPTLC technique for
content uniformity test as an alternate method over
HPLC, being the method of choice in all leading
pharmacopoeias i.e. IP, BP, USP, EP etc.
In this book Author has given detailed method of
analysis for content uniformity test by HPTLC. There
are 45 Protocol for different 45 pharmaceutical
formulations. The book consists mainly two parts.
Part-A from page number 1-60 , having 30
formulations containing one active substance and
Part-B from page number 62-121, having 15
formulations containing two active substances. Each
protocol has been described with Formulation, Drug
classification, Dosage form, sample/standard
preparation, chromatographic equipments, sample
application scheme, chromatographic condition,
densitometric evaluation and densitogram. RSD for
both standard and sample has been calculated. At the
end of the book a comparative Analytical data for
content uniformity Test by HPTLC and HPLC has been
given for (i) Mean assay (%) values of 10 individual
dosage (ii) Assay range (iii) RSD (%). Quite
comparable results support the Author’s claim for
use of HPTLC for content uniformity test as an
alternate technique.
As we know, in the content uniformity test by HPTLC
all the ten dosage forms of a sample and five
replicates of standards can be analyzed
simultaneously while in HPLC, we have to run one by
one. In this way both time and money could be saved.
In my personal opinion HPTLC is a versatile, simple,
fast and cost effective technique.
Dr. P.D. Sethi is well known Authority in the field
of pharmaceutical analysis. He is PhD from Madras
University in pharmacognosy and Former Director of
Central Drug testing laboratory Mumbai. He has
written a number of books in pharmaceutical Analysis
using different analytical techniques like UV-vis
spectrophotometry, TLC, HPTLC and HPLC.
I would like to congratulate, Dr. P.D. Sethi for
such an excellent attempt to compile this unique
book. The book would be helpful for Analyst working
in quality control of a Pharmaceutical Industry,
Drug testing Laboratory and R&D centers.
Book
Reviewed By: Dr. R.A. Singh, Director, Regional
Drugs Testing Laboratory, Chandigarh.
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 |
Title |
:
Polyvinylpyrrolidone Excipient For
Pharmaceuticals
|
Author |
:
Volker BÜhler
|
Publishers |
:
Springer (India) Private Limited |
|
This book
is a comprehensive coverage on polyvinylpyrrolidone
(Povidone) as a pharmaceutical excipients.
Pharmaceutical excipients is an important component
of pharmaceutical preparations, its role is to
ensure that drugs must selectively transported to
the target position the body with certain speed and
time of release. Therefore, for better efficacy of
the medicines, the selection of appropriate
excipients is very important during manufacturing of
the medicines.
For this purpose overall knowledge regarding physico-chemical
properties, pharmaceutical application and
toxicological information of different kinds of
excipients is very essential. As this book is a
outcome of exclusive informative collection about
the physico-chemical properties, qualitative and
quantitative analytical methods, pharmaceutical
applications and toxicological information of
soluble polyvinyl pyrrolidone (povidone), insoluble
polyvinyl pyrrolidone crospovidone) and
vinylpyrrolidone-vinylacetate copolymer copovidone),
it is very useful to those who are looking for the
book deals with the most valuable pharmaceutical
excipients like povidone.
The whole book is divided into six well chapters and
the author has very meticulously shared his
knowledge, experience and expertise in these
chapters. In this well written book the author has
documented all important information like general
synthesis, molecular structure, synonyms, product
properties, analytical methods, pharmaceutical
applications, and toxicological data of
polyvinylpyrrolidone and its copolymer.
Finally, this book which is a collection of very
useful information and outcome of enriched knowledge
and vast experience of the author is not only
beneficial to all the persons involved in the field
of pharmacy and health science for their academic
and research purposes but also equally important to
the other scientific persons interested in the
pharmacy.
It is believed that because of the enriched text and
good systematic presentation with impressive
language, this book will definitely finds its place
among all the book lovers and researchers who are
looking for a quality book dealing with the
excipients.
Book
Reviewed By: Dr. Dilip Kumar Panda, Central
Drugs Laboratory, Kolkata
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St. John's Wort or Hypericum
St. John's
Wort or Hypericum has become an important source for
phytotherapeutic preparation especially in North
America and Europe. It is particularly well known
for its uses in the treatment of mild forms of
depression and is a classic example of an indigenous
European medicinal plant transformed into a 'modern'
herbal remedy. Sales of preparations containing St.
John's Wort have soared in recent years. The book
covers all relevant aspects of this drug. Detailed
discussions on the plant's botanical and
pharmacognostical characteristics, the natural
product know from the species, quality control
aspects (including the standardisation of extracts),
pharmacological (pharmacodynamic and some
pharmacokinetic) studies in animals and humans and
clinical studies included is impressive. Some of
these use a very rigorous methodology, thus giving
good evidence for the species' clinical efficacy.
The continuing debate whether hypericin (a
naphtodinathrone) or hyoperforin (a complex
terpenoid) is more relevant for the clinically
observed effects is not discussed specifically, but
since the author provides numerous pharmacological
data on the various types of extracts and on the
pure compounds, the reader may well draw his/her own
conclusions.
The book provides a very good overview on all
pharmaceutical aspects of this important medicinal
plant. Obviously in a rapidly developing field new
important data come in constantly. The recent
finding of the risk of interactions between
hypericum extracts, and, for example,
anti-coagulants has not yet been included.
It is therefore to be hoped that the book will be
updated regularly. Because of the strong interest in
this 'herbal product' in English-speaking countries,
an edition in English would be very useful.
This book is part of a series on medicinal plants,
which have yielded important phytotherapeutic
preparations (e.g. Crataegus spp., Ginkgo biloba).
Hopefully this series will be expanded in order to
summarize basic scientific information about widely
used medicinal plants. From an ethnopharmacological
perspective, the book is of particular interest
since it shows the multitude of studies required to
transform a 'traditional' medicine into clinically
used phytotherapeutic preparations. But it also
clearly demonstrates that it is worth the effort.
This very good book is of relevance to anyone
interested in European phytotherapy, or in medicinal
plant research in general and, of course, it is a
'must' for all working on St. John's Wort.
|
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 |
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 |
Title |
:
Reflections, on life changes
|
Author |
:
VASUNDHARA RAMANUJAN, MOHAMMAD AKMAL, MD
|
Publishers |
|
|
Time had
stood still. Stunned into a silence, we felt our
lives suspended by a thin, fragile rope with
uncertainty looming large. Our fifteen and a half
year old son’s kidneys were nearly shut down.
“Chronic kidney failure,” was the words used by the
specialist. The suddenness had made us apprehensive
and we smelt danger, discomforted by the newness of
this disease that was supposedly associated with
adults. To regain our lost composure we needed to
find some good solutions.
Using analytical skills, armed with some courage and
understanding, we took baby steps in gaining
knowledge. It meant closely studying every aspect of
the disease. As we unraveled the mystery of kidney
failure, we learnt the gravity of the disease which
kept the patient involved with diet, medication,
blood pressure monitoring, and periodic check- ups.
Each of these was directly related to food and fluid
intake as a measure against urine outputs.
The family worked together, on a set goal of a
transplant option as soon as my son began dialysis.
I offered my kidney. It was a practical decision. My
husband was a diabetic and my elder son just
seventeen years. A few years later, after I finally
managed to donate my kidney against all odds of
fighting a breast cancer, the horrific chemotherapy
and radiation, I experienced many other feelings. It
was not joy, nor was it pride, but a completely new
sense of being me, myself.
Life had changed dramatically but I drew comfort of
having reached the safe zone.
I saw the whole world on the other side. They did
not see, know, or understand how and why our lives
had changed. I made it my responsibility of telling
how a young man faced the life threatening disease,
sought treatments and finally found joy in his life.
Importantly tell people why they should protect
themselves against a kidney failure by taking
preventive steps in certain health conditions.
I realized that managing life with the disease was
difficult, sometimes the huge treatment cost made it
unaffordable for some patients. Finding a willing
donor was a huge task, and many were unsuccessful in
even arranging a transplant. Above all a cancer
survivor qualifying for a kidney donation was
uncommon.
“Shades of Life” is an inspiring book that could
touch people in every walk of life. The protagonist
made it his mission to find joy and lead a
wonderful, near normal life. He lost his kidney
again in 2006. After many earth-shattering
experiences, his elder brother donated a kidney in
2009. In these 15 years, my son had graduated from
Mumbai’s Xavier’s College, did Masters in IIT, Powai,
graduated as a Doctorate in Physics from University
of Southern California and is now on a post
doctorate at University of Alberta, Canada.
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 |
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 |
Title |
:
PHARMACOKINETICS AND THERAPEUTIC DRUG
MONITORING
|
Author |
:
Dr. Nitin Mahurkar and O.S. Kamalapurkar
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, New Delhi |
|
Drug
research encompasses several diverse disciplines
united by a common goal, namely the development of
novel therapeutic agents. Pharmacokinetics and
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring has assumed a great
value in drug discovery. Many new combinations of
drugs are being invented and made available
frequently. The knowledge of pharmacokinetics is a
thrust area for optimizing safe and efficacious drug
therapy. Also, pharmacokinetics has now become a
formal course of study especially with introduction
of Pharm. D course by the Pharmacy Council of India.
In the initial few chapters of the book, the
fundamentals of rate kinetics, factors defining the
Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion
of a drug are discussed with suitable examples. The
chapters on compartment models of `Pharmacokinetics’
are discussed as one, two and three compartment
models based on route of administration of the
drugs. The model independent kinetics has also been
explained in detail. The chapter on dosage regimen
discusses the concept of various parameters that are
important in determining the quantum of dose and its
use. The concept of `Therapeutic Drug Monitoring’ (TDM)
of some selected drugs is also discussed.
To keep pace with the advances, the authors have
made a sincere effort towards elaborating the
comprehensive fundamental principles of
`Pharmacokinetics’ in a simple and easily
understandable approach. Overall the book presents
the subject in a simple and lucid manner and would
be a good reference resource for all pharmacy
students.
Book Reviewed by Mr. Raman Sehgal
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Pharmaceutical History of India
|
Author |
:
Professor Harkishan Singh
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, Delhi - 110 033 |
|
India
would have lost the history of pharmaceutical
developments, thanks to the painstaking efforts of
Professor Harkishan Singh that has given us a wealth
of literature on this subject. Since last 20 years,
he has been working to explore the history of modern
pharmacy in India covering the span of last few
centuries including the pharmaceutical progress in
independent India. He has collected a great deal of
historical material through his travels to different
libraries in India and abroad and by large and
scholarly correspondence. He has compiled his
research work in 22 chapters in his latest book
“Pharmaceutical History of India”.
Chapter 1 begins with the Introduction of the
arrival of European powers on the Indian
subcontinent with the coming of Portuguese Vasco da
Gama in 1498. Subsequently Dutch and French came
followed by British, who took control of the vast
land and East India Company was established.
Portuguese teacher and physician Garcia da Orta who
stayed in Goa for three decades (1534-1564) studied
Indian material medica and wrote extensively on this
subject.
Chapter 2 deals with Colonial Professions of
Medicine and Pharmacy. The Indian Medical Service (I.M.S.)
was founded in British India which led to the
establishment of medical education first in Calcutta
and then in Madras. Apothecaries and hospitals
assistants classes were also started. Pharmacy
profession stood neglected during the British rule
and overall situation with regard to drugs and
practice of pharmacy remained a grave concern.
Chapter 3 provides historical aspects of British
Period Pharmacies. One can know about M/s K.R.
Chandran, S.F. Ranji, B.K. Paul, I.G. Gajjar,
Jalbhai Billimoria, Lalchand Dodha, K. Venkatapathi
Naidu, R.B. Sen, Ratan Lal Gupta and Dr Shaib Singh
on one side and great pharmacies of yesteryears like
Smith, Stanistreet & Co (Calcutta), S.Brothers
(Bombay), Bill & Co (Bombay), Appah & Co (Madras),
Imperial Medical Hall / H.C. Sen & Co (Delhi) and
Beli Ram & Brothers (Bombay), to mention a few of
them.
Chapter 4 deals with Colonial Overseas Drug Trade
with special reference to foreign trade in general,
export of raw drugs and import of drugs and
medicines.
Chapter 5 describes Qualified Indian Chemists and
Druggists, which laid the process for the profession
of pharmacy. The chemists and druggists’ class
started in Madras in 1860. The contributions of
S.Rajagopal Naidu are recorded. For the uniform
system of education for qualification as
pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Society of India, the
oldest organisation of its type was founded in 1925
with such prominent architects and builders like
Wilfred Pereira and A.N. Lazarus.
Chapter 6 Compounders’ Community illustrates greatly
and traces the history in Bengal, Madras, Bombay and
other provinces in times as early as 1881. All India
Compounders’ and Dispensers’ Association was founded
in 1923 and All Bengal Compounders’ Association in
1929. The contributions of Raj Bahadur and K.K.
Acharjee are mentioned.
Chapter 7 Pharmacopoeias in Colonial Times gives a
historical account of the London Pharmacopoeia with
three Hindustani translations of 1824, 1843 and
1845. There follows a description of Bengal
Dispensatory (1841) and Bengal Pharmacopoeia (1844),
both works of W.B.O’Shaughnessy. Next the
forgotten–even in India–Pharmacopoeia of India
(1868) prepared by Edward John Waring which gave
special attention to indigenous Indian remedies and
its Supplement (1869) are described. In 1900, the
process of making Indian and Colonial Addendum to
British Pharmacopoeia of 1898 also started. The
Addendum was incorporated into British Pharmacopoeia
of 1914 that became recognised as first complete
“Imperial Pharmacopoeia”. A latent movement for the
national Indian pharmacopoeia succeeded in providing
the Indian Pharmacopoeial List 1946. An Indian
Pharmaceutical Codex appeared in 1953. A complete
description of the British Pharmacopoeias
(1864-1945) is also given
Chapter 8 gives information and background of Drugs
Enquiry Committee (1930-31) appointed by Government
of India to study the trade of drugs in Indian
market. Lt. Col. R.N. Chopra was appointed Chairman
of the Committee. Its history-making report in 1931
made cogent recommendations which paved the way for
drugs and pharmacy legislations, pharmacopoeial
publications and development of pharmacy profession
in the country.
Chapter 9
is a short review of the Health Survey and
Development Committee appointed by the Government of
India in 1943 to make a broad survey of the existing
position in regard to health conditions and to make
recommendations for future developments.
Chapter 10 is a narration of the historical
perspective of Drugs and Pharmacy Statutes
pertaining primarily to development in India. For
the sake of comparison attention is also drawn to
the scene in Britain of the time when India was
their colony. Described here is British Pharmacy
Legislations (1852-1933); Drugs Statutes in Britain
(1875-1928); Indian Drug Legislation; Anderson
Report (1937); Import of Drugs Bill (1937); Drugs
Act (1940). After independence Pharmacy Act (1948);
Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable
Advertisements) Act (1954); Drugs and Cosmetics Act
(1947) and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act (1985) were introduced.
Chapter 11 explains Pharmacopoeias and Formularies
and the influence of British Pharmacopoeia of 1948
and 1953 in the preparation of first Pharmacopoeia
of India (The Indian Pharmacopoeia) 1955. Their
follows descriptions of Indian Pharmacopoeias of
1966, 1985, 1996, 2007 and the National Formulary of
India that appeared in 1968 and was revised in 1966
and 1979. The composition of various Indian
Pharmacopoeial Committees and functions of India
Pharmacopoeia Commission is given.
Chapter 12 PC1 and Education for Pharmacy Practice
gives a detailed account of the role of Pharmacy
Council of India (PCI), constituted under Pharmacy
Council Act 1948, in making regulations called
Education Regulations prescribing the minimum
standard of education required for qualification as
pharmacist.
Chapter 13 titled Baccalaureate Educations portrays
a composite picture of the historical and
contemporary pharmaceutical instruction, expanding
upon the historical perspective of issues pertaining
to pharmaceutical education. Profiles of older and
new pharmaceutical institutions and numerous
portrait photographs are chronicled. Surveys of
changing patterns in the course of study and
curricula are also presented.
Chapter 14 narrates the development of Postgraduate
Studies and Research in India. History of various
institutions imparting Masters and Doctoral degrees
in pharmacy is given. Reports of various Committees
(Thacker, Nayudamma) for admission to postgraduate
studies and its course of study are also mentioned.
Doctoral studies, research and recognitions in
Indian institutions are as well covered. A brief
description of National Intuitions of Pharmaceutical
Education and Research (NIPER) in Mohali (Punjab) is
also given.
Chapter 15 deals with AICTE and Pharmaceutical
Education. After independence pharmaceutical
education in general got drawn into the ambit of All
India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). A
survey of pertinent developments in this context is
the subject of this chapter.
Chapter 16 Pharmacy Faculties covers the history of
creation of pharmacy faculties in the country.
Chapter 17 illustrates the code of Pharmacy Ethics.
With the advent of Pharmacy Act 1948, slowly the
pharmacy practice started taking shape as a
profession. The prerequisites for one’s entry into
the profession and necessary registration for the
purpose were defined. The pharmacy ethics are
covered in its entirety of how the thought came up,
got developed, adopted including the recent
happenings.
Chapter 18 gives the development of Hospital
Pharmacy in India, its forerunners, and
tribulations, the struggles etc. The development of
properly organised hospital pharmacy and its
management, the role played by pharmacists who
worked in hospitals like M/s S.H. Merchant, Dr B.D.
Miglani, V.K. Osterling, J.S. Walia, K.K. Kaistha
and Miss N.S. Gayatonde is notably recorded. The
recent developments in concept of Clinical Pharmacy
Practice; Drug Information Centre and Didactics are
also appropriately covered.
Chapter 19 gives the description of Retail and
Community Pharmacy. The pharmacy profession started
getting systematised only in the post-colonial era.
The contributions of S.N. Biswas and A. Raptakos are
mentioned. Also covered are Trade Related Issues;
Dispensing, Retailing and Community Care; Over the
Counter Drugs; Pharmacist as Health Educator; Role
in Family Planning Programmes and Professional
Emblem.
Chapter 20 Rural Pharmacy aptly records the dilemmas
related to delivery of health care at rural levels
adequately in a vast and a diverse country like
India, and seemingly simplistic solutions
recommended at different time periods.
Chapter 21 covers the history of Pharmaceutical
Industry under the subtitles: Colonial Drug Industry
and Related Developments; Towards Building of a
Formidable Base on the Country becoming Independent
and Domestic Self-sufficiency and Making to a
Globally Competitive Status. The roles of some
pioneers of pharmaceutical industry like Ray, Gajjar,
Kotibhaskar, Amin, Cooper and Hamied are mentioned.
List of 25 top pharmaceutical companies in India is
also mentioned.
Chapter 22 covers the Biographies of pharmaceutical
professionals of yore who contributed to pharmacy
education, pharmaceutical profession and industrial
developments in India both during the colonial
period and after the independence of the country.
Prof. M.L. Schroff (to whom 2011this book is
dedicated) laid the foundation of pharmacy education
at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1932. N.K. Basu,
D.N. Majumdar, G.P. Srivastava and S. Prasad were
other prominent educationists of BHU. R.P. Patel and
M.L. Khorna also contributed to pharmacy education
and pharmacy profession in general. K.C. Chatterjee,
H.R. Nanji and B.V. Patel played a great role in the
development of industry, statutory control of drugs
and pharmacy practice. S.N. Biswas, J.C. Ghosh and
B.N. Vyas were other prominent pharmacy professional
of the last century. Several medico pharmaceutical
professionals like R.N. Chopra, K.S. Grewal and B.
Mukerji have contributed a lot to the pharmaceutical
developments in India.
Prof. Singh has done a great service to the
profession of pharmacy by writing this book. The
book is excellently written and it is a treasure for
the pharmacy profession, not only in India but for
the pharmacy world. Pharmacy profession in Western
countries means practice in community and
institutional pharmacies. A pharmaceutical history
book covering various aspects of pharmacy
disciplines has been written for the first time. The
author has explored in various chapters the
developments of pharmacy practice in India covering
over 150 years of history and thus provided a
valuable informative data on this subject. The
author has further given a brilliant account of the
British Indian pharmacopoeial history and thus made
a new original addition to the subject of history of
pharmacopoeias. The development of pharmacy
education in a large country like India was a
complex process and the author puts it together into
a clear understandable essay. Biographies of persons
who helped in the development of pharmacy profession
in the country makes the book interesting to read.
Numerous pictures of pharmacies, pharmacopoeias,
institutions and portrait photographs sprinkled
throughout the book help break up the text. An
appendix of the supplementary readings at the end of
the book gives a complete bibliographical list of
the publications of the author. The cover picture of
the book shows the front view of the University
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab
University, Chandigarh. This book should serve as a
standard text book in the Indian Universities and a
reference on the subject of history of Indian
pharmacy. Prof. Singh has produced an excellent
record of the pharmaceutical history of India and
the subject pharmacy in general, which could be a
valuable resource for understanding one of the most
important professional fields in India today.
Book
Reviewed By: Dr Ravindernath Kaul, Germany
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Life – An Odyssey
|
Author |
:
Dr. Manish Maladkar
|
Publishers |
:
Pustak Mahal |
|
Under the
title of Life – An Odyssey: Time Tested Mantras
Providing Solutions to Life’s Problems, the author
has compiled selective 35 mussing which throws light
on the hurdles in the journey of human life and the
ways to brings about happiness from these hurdles in
ourselves and spreading it to others. Incorporation
of heart touching short stories and beautiful quotes
makes this literature more interesting and worth
reading.
This book encompasses the deep desire of
completeness within the soul, which drives a man
from the seen to the unseen, to philosophy and
ultimately to the divine. This book is intended for
those capable of knowing their own good. As a
thinker, the author just wishes to awaken the reader
to his own self. We receive from life not what we
want, but what we need. So it is with wisdom that,
it requires wisdom to understand wisdom. That
inherent wisdom, ‘Life-An Odyssey’ intends to touch,
an effort to affect eternity.
The author quotes Buddha’s view on life’s journey:
Faith is nourishment, Virtuous deeds are a shelter,
Wisdom is the light by day and Right mindfulness is
the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life,
nothing can destroy him. If he has conquered greed,
nothing can limit his freedom. Life is a mystery for
those who keep on running behind their expectations,
ignoring the need of exploring their soul and
happiness therein. The changing culture of an
individual and the society towards unhealthy social
environment makes it necessary to find the right
path for the journey of life. The idea behind Life –
An Odyssey is to explore the different aspects of
life, which everybody experiences in their
day-to-day living, though of importance, these are
largely ignored due to our so called ‘busy
schedules’.
Life-An Odyssey: Time-tested Mantras Providing
Solutions to Life’s Problems arouses the dormant
conscience buried deep within each person due to our
hectic lifestyles. Hence, this book can be a pocket
guide for students, and professionals who would love
to bring stability into their lives in this
fast-paced world.
Book Reviewed by: T. N. Bazaz
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
Textbook of Biopharmaceutics and
Pharmacokinetics – Concepts and Applications
|
Author |
:
C.V.S. Subrahmanyam
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, Delhi - 110 033 |
|
The
science and technology associated with pharmacy has
progressed immensely over the last few decades.
Significant advances have been made in understanding
the pathophysiology of the disease. This has
necessitated the need to optimize the drug therapy.
The aim of the drug formulator is to develop dosage
forms that ensures optimum amount of drug reaches
the target site; at an optimal rate and its
concentration is maintained throughout the entire
duration of therapy. Therefore, it is essential that
we understand the fate of drug after its
administration; the rate processes to which it is
subjected in the body and its behavior after
biotransformation. The twin disciplines of
Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics have,
therefore, been developed with the objective of
learning how drugs can be utilized optimally in the
treatment of diseases–through design and development
of new and better therapeutic moieties, new dosage
forms and appropriate dosage regimens.
This book consists of 15 chapters. The chapter on
Absorption of Drugs has been dealt with
comprehensively as most of its principles also form
the basis of drug distribution and elimination.
Elaborate treatment of text on Biotransformation of
Drugs in chapter 5 is justified since a pharmacy
student is well versed with the basic chemistry and
enzymology. A brief mention about Bioactivation and
Tissue Toxicity has been included at the end of this
chapter so that after understanding the mechanisms
of drug metabolism, a student will be better placed
to appreciate their significance. Prodrugs discussed
in chapter 6 give insight into the manner in which
chemical formulation techniques can be utilized to
overcome some of the inherent biopharmaceutic and
pharmacokinetic problems of the active principles.
Mathematical treatment of chapters on
pharmacokinetics has been kept to at modest level in
order not to overburden the students with the
complexities of equations and formulae.
A brief description of methods usually employed to
enhance the bioavailability of a drug from its
formulation has been included at the end of chapter
12. In addition to covering various aspects of
design of dosage regimens and application of
pharmacokinetic principles in clinical situations,
the text contains a final chapter on Controlled
Release Medication to familiarize the students with
the principles involved in the design of innovative
formulations.
Though several books are available on the subject,
the material in most of them is presented in a
diffused form or is highly specialized and
discernible to those proficient in the field. The
textbook presents the information in a lucid,
condensed and cohesive form, to cater specifically
the needs of undergraduate and graduate students of
pharmacy.
Book Reviewed by: Raman Sehgal, Associate
Editor, The Pharma Review, New Delhi, India (MSc;
Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences).
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 |
Title |
:
Optimization in Drug Concepts – InVitro
Methods
|
Author |
:
Zhengyin Yan and Gary Caldwell
|
Publishers |
:
Humana Press |
|
Recent
analysis of drug attrition rate shows that a
significant number of potential drug candidates fail
in the later stages of clinical development either
due to faulty ADME or due to systemic toxicity /
safety issues. Lead optimization in drug discovery
thus plays an important role in attempting to
uncover the defects in so called drug candidates.
The book Optimization in Drug Concepts – InVitro
Methods is compilation of detailed experimental
protocols necessary for assaying compounds under
evaluation. The book has 25 chapters and each
chapter is contributed by subject matter expert and
covers a wide spectrum of topics that include
physiochemical properties, drug absorption, plasma
protein binding, metabolism, drug toxicity and drug
interactions. Chapter 1 provides experimental
methods measuring fundamental physiochemical
properties (pka solubility and lipophilicity).
CACO-2 model is described in Chapter 2. Chapter 3
covers PAMPA (parallel artificial membrane
permeability) in detail. The perfused rat intestinal
model, which is considered as a gold standard for
evaluation of drug absorption is outlined in Chapter
4.
Chapters 5 and 6 discusses about screening compounds
targeting CNS disease and anti cancer molecules
respectively. Chapter 7 outlines a different
approach to investigate the involvement of drug
transporters using oocytes injected with cRNAs.
Chapters 8 and 9 present several different methods
evaluating plasma protein binding, which include
equilibrium dialysis, ultrafiltration and isothermal
titration calorimetry. The metabolic stability of
drug candidates can be determined from in vitro
incubations with either hepatocytes or microsomes as
described in Chapter 10.
Chapter 11 outlines methods for identifying
oxidative metabolites using microsomes or S9
fractions. Chapter 12 describes a general approach
identifying UGTs responsible for metabolizing a
given drug candidate. CYP induction using human
hepatocytes is described in Chapter 13.
Chapter 14 describes a high throughput approach
screening for 13 individual CYPs by using
fluorescent substrates and cDNA-expresed enzymes,
and Chapter 15 presents a traditional method
assessing the inhibition of those major CYPs in
human liver microsomes. A systematic approach is
given in Chapter 16 to identify mechanism –based CYP
inhibitors.
In Chapter 17, detection of DNA adducts is described
using 32P-postlabeling combining with PAGE or HPLC
radioactive analysis; analysis of CYP-mediagted
covalent DNA adducts is presented in Chapter 18.
Two methods detecting DNA damage at the level of
individual eukaryotes induced by xenobiotics are
provided including a traditional COMET (Chapter 19)
and a rapid cell-based reporter system (Chapter 20).
Although the Ames test has long been used to detect
mutagens and possible carcinogens, an improved
version assay given in Chapter 21 significantly
reduces background resulting from contamination in
S9 fractions. Also a modified mouse lymphoma assay
(MLA) is outlined in Chapter 22, because this assay
has been recommended as one of core toxicology
tests.
As QT prolongation caused by interaction of drug
molecules with HERG channels remains to be a common
concern in drug discovery, a high throughput in
vitro assay is devised in Chapter 23 to screen
compounds for interaction with HERG. Reactive
metabolites generated by CYPs can be trapped by the
addition of glutathione to in vitro incubations and
structurally characterized using mass spectrometry
(Chapter 24). The last chapter presents a new in
vitro assay assessing the reactivity of
acylglucuronides (Chapter 25).
Each chapter contains introduction, materials,
methods and notes sections. The introduction
contains important background information. The
materials section lists all the equipment and
reagents necessary to carry out the assay, while
step-by-step protocols are outlines in the methods
section. The book is intended to serve a wide
audience that includes all professionals involved in
drug development.
Book Reviewed by: Raman Sehgal (M.S;
Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences).
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 |
Title |
:
Drug Metabolism - Current Concepts
|
Author |
:
Cornia Ionescu and Mino R. Caira
|
Publishers |
:
Springer India Pvt. Ltd. |
|
The book
Drug Metabolism - Current Concepts is intended to
serve a wide audience that includes undergraduate
and postgraduate students of pharmacy, pharmacology,
medicine, biochemistry, chemistry and related fields
as well as other healthcare professionals and
medicinal chemists.
In the first chapter, the principles underlying drug
absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination
are described in detail. Chapter 2 and 3 deals with
the chemistry of the biotransformation reactions and
includes both Phase 1 and Phase 2 reactions. Further
details of the structural features, mechanism of
action in biotransformation and enzyme regulation
appear in Chapter 4. Enzyme induction, enzyme
inhibition with special reference to Cytochrome P450
enzyme system is explained meticulously in chapter
5. This is followed, in Chapter 6, by a discussion
of the factors affecting drug biotransformation. The
authors have discussed influences of age, sex,
hormonal status, diseased state. An introduction to
relatively new discipline of Pharmacogenetics,
probing the effect of gene variability on drug
biotransformation is discussed in Chapter 7. This
chapter covers implications of genetic variations
for future drug dispensing. Chapter 8 discusses two
important topics that have significant clinical
implications namely drug interactions and adverse
drug reactions. Finally chapter 9 attempts to
demonstrate how principles of drug metabolism can be
incorporated into the drug designing process to
maximize the therapeutic efficacy of the molecule.
This can be of paramount interest to the medicinal
chemist for designing safe and efficacious
candidates.
The text is supported extensively throughout by
pertinent example to illustrate the principles and a
special effort has been made to to include
literature references of the recent studies and
reviews which very well justifies the term ‘current’
in the title of this work.
Book Reviewed by: Raman Sehgal (M.Sc;
Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences).
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 |
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|
 |
Title |
:
A Textbook of Pharmacy Practice
|
Author |
:
K. G. Revikumar and B. D. Miglani
|
Publishers |
:
Career Publications, Nashik |
|
The origin
of the medical education in India is attributable
almost entirely to Indian Medical Service (IMS).
Close to the independence of the country (1947),
there were 19 colleges granting medical degrees.
Every care was taken to put the Western system of
medicine on strong footing, however, no serious
government effort was made to produce pharmaceutical
manpower of adequate quantity. There were chemists
and druggists’ class run in medical colleges in
Madras and Vishakapatnam, this being the only course
in colonial India that was geared to provide
qualified manpower for pharmacy practice. The course
was run along with the lines of instructions
imparted by Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
There was also a class of “compounders”, who were
low-level practitioners of pharmacy and in some
places the term dispenser was used for them. They
had no formalized training until the process of
education started in Bengal in 1881. The compounders
were ill-paid and disparaged as professionals. In
colonial days, the drugs and related items required
to sustain the new medical systems had to be
imported from overseas; the drug industry of India
was at a rudimentary stage. Big pharmacy houses
emerged that were generally managed by British
pharmacists. Their customers were by and large
Europeans. Many other chemists’ shops run by Indians
sprang up for common man who could not afford higher
prices. They were run by unqualified personals.
Government hospitals did not have organised hospital
pharmacies. The lowly paid compounders were engaged
for dispensing and those who styled themselves as
chemists and druggists were not formally trained.
The apothecaries and hospital assistants had
medico-pharmaceutical functions. As compared to
Western countries like USA, England, Germany,
pharmacy practice in India was in a very
underdeveloped state. There was a desperate shortage
of professional pharmacists. Such was India’s
pharmaceutical inheritance from the colonial era.
The Pharmacy Act of 1948 finally provided for the
regulation and practice of pharmacy. The Pharmacy
Council of India was constituted for the purpose of
correcting the deplorable situation regarding the
pharmacy practice.
Since 1960s, the Indian Hospital Pharmacists
Association and its official mouthpiece, the Indian
Journal of Hospital Pharmacy struggled hard to
popularise and develop the hospital pharmacy,
clinical pharmacy , community pharmacy and pharmacy
practice in general. The efforts and the tireless
devotion of Dr. B.D.Miglani are highly commendable
and praiseworthy. He lectured on the subject of
hospital pharmacy endlessly in many conferences in
India and started M.Pharm course in hospital
pharmacy in Delhi University in 1982. The
introduction of subjects like hospital pharmacy,
clinical pharmacy and community pharmacy in the
B.Pharm curriculum (in 1980s), then starting of
M.Pharm pharmacy practice course in a number of
institutions during the latter part of 1990s and in
the subsequent years and introduction of Pharm. D in
2008 are considered as milestones in the development
and popularisation of pharmacy practice in India.
Till now not much reading material was available on
pharmacy practice for the undergraduate and graduate
students in India. The publication of this book “A
Textbook of Pharmacy Practice” by Revikumar and
Miglani is a great enrichment to the subject of
pharmacy practice. A complete book devoted to all
the aspects of pharmacy practice has been published
in India for the first time. The book is divided in
12 Chapters: (1)Hospitals (2) Hospital Pharmacy (3)
Community Pharmacy Services (4) Clinical Pharmacy
(5) Medical Errors (6) Pharmacovigilance and Adverse
Drug Reactions (7) Procurement, Storage, Inventory
Control and Distribution of Medicines (8) Patient
Counselling and Patient Compliance (9)
Pharmacoepidemiology (10) Pharmacoeconomics and
Quality of Life (11) Principles and Concepts of
Research in Health Science and Pharmacy Practice
(12) Professional Ethics in Pharmacy Practice.
Each Chapter is divided in subtitles and enriched
with required, relevant and related information from
the perspective of a pharmacy practice student. The
authors have tried to link the various aspects of
the hospital and clinical pharmacy into a reasonably
coherent text. While writing this book and
discussing the relevant and related issues, the
authors have tried to give sufficient Indian
orientation and wherever needed touched the
situations in other countries so as to make the
reader aware of the global and local situations.
This textbook is well written giving details in each
chapter, which makes the subject more
understandable. Each chapter is supplemented with
tables, illustrations and examples, which gives the
reader clearer review of the text. At the end of
each chapter a list of references is also quoted so
that one gets an additional view of the literature.
A glossary at the end of the book provides an
excellent explanation of the scientific words and
abbreviations used in this book which is an
additional supplement to the knowledge of pharmacy
practice. A few pictures make this book livelier.
This book is a great enrichment to the profession of
pharmacy in general and to pharmacy practice in
particular. It should be recommended to all pharmacy
professionals in the country and should become a
part of the libraries in the pharmaceutical
institutions, pharmaceutical industry, hospitals and
other health institutions. It shall be of particular
use, interest and applications to the pharmacy
degree, postgraduate research, doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D)
students in India and to the profession of pharmacy.
I am convinced that this book will be accepted by
pharmacy professionals and students as a worthwhile
contribution to the subject pharmacy practice in
India.
Book Reviewed by: Dr. Ravindernath Kaul,
Germany
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
"Fundamentals of Clinical Research -
Bridging medicine, statistics and
operations"
|
Author |
:
A Bacchieri and G.D. Cioppa
|
Publishers |
:
Career Publications, Nashik, India |
|
As India
has been considered a destination point for
off-shoring of clinical trials, clinical research,
more so, the training of man-power has taken a
driver`s seat in pharmaceutical development. A large
number of academies have mushroomed recently for
this purpose. Great many experts are involved in the
training programmes. But only few have the real
flavour of the intricacies of the subject of
clinical research, least the fundamentals of
Clinical Research.
The present book, describes the three basic pillars
of clinical research namely, medicine, statistics
and operations (the logistics of research). The real
issues such as the choice of subjects, treatments,
randomization and blinding, statistical analysis and
inferences are very core to any clinical trial. The
distinctive features of biomedical studies are the
study protocol, sample size, characteristics of
patients to be enrolled, treatment choice, reducing
bias, cross-over design, parametric and
non-parametric inferences. The book has indepth
description on drug development process and various
phases of clinical trials. While dealing with the
subject matter, the authors have made a practical
approach, in that they describe with examples and
analyse which would help the beginners in biomedical
research to understand and appreciate the importance
of statistics in clinical research.
The book is divided into twelve chapters and each
chapter is further divided in to several sections
which makes the reader to understand the matter in
an organised fashion.
The authors, one of them being a statistician (AB)
and the other (GDC) is a physician, who come from
diverse background and academic interest make an
invincible `combo` in addressing a very complex
subject of clinical research. They are one of the
few scientists who have prepared numerous regulatory
dossiers for pharmaceutical companies. The book is
well organised and written in a user-friendly
manners which will serve both the students and
faculty of clinical research. It is recommended for
all institutions/academies who are running such
courses. It is also for the first time an Indian
publishers (Career Publications) has the rights to
distribute in India the publications of Springer, a
global approach like the clinical research.
Book Reviewed by:
S.K. Kulkarni, Professor of Pharmacology |
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
ELEMENTS OF PHARMACOVIGILANCE
|
Author |
:
Raman Sehgal, Dr. Rajat Sethi & Dr. Shobha
Rani R Hiremath
|
Publishers |
:
KONGPOSH Publications Pvt. Ltd.
kongposhpub@gmail.com |
|
India is
now considered a hub for global clinical research.
With increase in number of global clinical studies
being carried out, there is also a need for
developing an equally efficient and strong
Pharmacovigilance system. The molecule undergoing
clinical development has to demonstrate both safety
and efficacy not only in clinical trials, but over a
period of time. After the Vioxx tragedy and other
recent high profile drug withdrawals, there is an
elevated public concern regarding product safety
post marketing. It is thus becoming imperative to
proactively recognize the importance of risk
identification and risk assessment in early in drug
development process.
Pharmacovigilance, the last phase in the drug
development, is critical to the protection of public
health and involves continuous monitoring of the
safe use of medicinal products. It is the science
relating to the detection, assessment, understanding
and prevention of the adverse effects of medicines.
According to the World Health Organization, any
Phamacovigilance programme should improve patient
care and safety, encourage the safe and rational use
of drugs and should assess the risk / benefit ratio.
The book entitled “Elements of Pharmacovigilance”
gives a comprehensive view on various aspects of
Pharmacovigilance. The individual authors have
meticulously discussed some of the newer
perspectives like Pharmacovigilance in Unani
Medicine, dental products, over the counter (OTC)
drugs, vaccines and the current scenario of herbal
drug safety.
It should serve a comprehensive guide for all health
care professionals, researchers, academicians and
regulators. The authors and the publishers are to be
commended for producing an excellent and timely
resource for researchers and practitioners with an
interest in this subject.
Book Reviewed by Dr. Nilima A Kshirsagar
Dr. Nilima
A Kshirsagar, Acting Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra
Univrsity of Health Sciences, Nashik, Dean, ESIC,
PGIMSR, Mumbai Emeritus Professor of Clinical
Pharmacology G. S. Medical College, KEM Hospital
Parel, Mumbai
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
SIR RAM NATH CHOPRA - Work, Vision and
Legacy
|
Author |
:
Prof. Harkishan Singh
|
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan
Email:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
|
History
of Pharmacy in India and Related Aspects, Volume 7
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy 4
Professor Harkishan Singh chose several years ago to
explore the history of modern pharmacy in India,
covering the span of the last few centuries,
including the pharmaceutical progress in independent
India. He has collected a great deal of historical
material through his travels to different libraries
in India and abroad and through considerable
scholarly correspondence. I have visited his home in
Chandigarh and seen the collection, which occupies
two rooms in the upper floor of his house. In my
opinion, it is the largest collection of literature
on the pharmaceutical history of India under one
roof, and Prof. Singh continues to expand the
collection. With hard work and tireless devotion,
Prof. Singh has contributed significantly to the
field of the “History of Pharmacy in India and
Related Aspects.” His standing as a science
historian has been recognised in his election to the
prestigious Académie International d’Historie de la
Pharmacie. He has published six books so far on this
subject: Volume 1: Pharmacopoeias and Formularies
(1994); Volume 2: Pharmaceutical Education (1998);
Volume 3: Pharmacy Practice (2002); Volume 4:
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy 1
Mahadeva Lal Schroff and the Making of Modern
Pharmacy (2005); Volume 5: Builders and Awareness
Creators of Modern Pharmacy 2 (2008); Volume 6:
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy 3
Medico-Pharmaceutical Professionals (2009).
Prof. Singh now presents his latest book in this
series Volume 7: Builders and Awareness Creators of
Modern Pharmacy 4. This monograph is devoted to Sir
Ram Nath Chopra, his work, vision and legacy. In the
earlier Volume 6, the author has described the life
and contributions of R.N.Chopra. Volume 7 is mainly
a compilation, reproducing as in original the
historical addresses delivered and writings on
scientific and professional topics of Chopra. A part
of pioneering research paper on Rauwolfia by Chopra
and his work on drug addiction is reproduced in this
book. An article written by Chopra about problems
and prospects of pharmacology career in India with
his own experiences in life is also reprinted here.
Articles by his disciple Dr. B. Mukerji (to whom
this book is dedicated) on his preceptor’s role as
crusader of pharmacology and promoter of pharmacy as
well as a consolidated list of Chopra’s publications
is also appended in this book. Among the men who
have adorned the Indian medical profession in the
20th century, Sir Ram Nath Chopra occupies the
foremost position. He was pioneer in the study of
indigenous drugs in India and an outstanding
luminary in the field of medical education and
research. He is widely acclaimed as the Father of
Indian Pharmacology. His glory was that of a pioneer
and a crusader blazing the trial in a so far
untrodden field, full of potentialities. Chopra was
elected as a Fellow of practically all the
scientific bodies and educational organisations in
India, including National Academy of Sciences. In
1925, he was elected President of the Medical and
Veterinary Research Section of Indian Science
Congress and again in 1938 the President of the
Physiology Section during the jubilee session. He
was President of Indian Science Congress held in
Patna in 1948.
Prof. Singh has compiled in this book 10 addresses
delivered by Chopra on various occasions at the
scientific Congresses. Chopra lectured on various
subjects and gave expressions to his view and
experiences on the subjects of pharmacology and
related sciences, indigenous drugs, Indian systems
of medicine, pharmaceutical developments and other
varied topics. In his addresses, he referred also to
Drugs Enquiry Committee (1930-31), which he chaired.
The report of this committee made cogent
recommendations, which paved the way for the drugs
and pharmacy legislations, pharmacopoeial
publications and development of the pharmacy
profession. After going through these lectures
delivered by Chopra and his writings, one gets an
impression of his deep knowledge, his vision and the
concepts he presented for the development of the
medical and pharmaceutical profession in India. He
wanted the utilisation of the local resources for
the indigenous production of drugs so as to reach
the masses of India at lower prices and, thus reduce
the cost of treatment of diseases.
The pioneer work done by Chopra and associates on
Rauwolfia serpentine, Benth referred in one chapter
of this book, gained prominence two decades later as
a source of reserpine. In 1933, it was reported by
his group that an alkaloid obtained from the plant
on experimental studies in animals showed central
depressant properties and lowered the blood
pressure.
The works of Chopra on drug addiction and wide
spread abuse of such drugs as opium, cannabis,
cocaine and alcohol which was prevalent in many
parts of India, attracted international attention.
He produced a wealth of material to combat and treat
their deleterious effects, all worth reading
material in this book.
Another chapter in this book volume is the
description by Chopra about the problems and
prospects of pharmacological career in India with
his own experiences in life. He writes about his
studies in England and his work in pharmacology with
Walter E. Dixon, the first Professor of Pharmacology
in the newly established Chair in Cambridge. His
enthusiasm to work on this subject on his return
back to India came after a decade when he got the
first Chair of the Pharmacology in the newly opened
School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta. His pioneer
work on indigenous drugs and the disease problems in
India which he later carried in Drug Research
laboratory, Jammu are of educative value and worth
reading in this book. Prof. Singh has presented in
appendices I and II, the original writings of
B.Mukerji about Sir Ram Nath Chopra and the growth
and development of pharmacology and pharmacy in
India; all very excellent tutorial material. The
author has also given a complete list of
publications of Chopra (more than 400) in appendix
III, a very impressive record of Chopra’s work.
This volume written by Prof. Singh like others in
the series is rigorously researched and meticulously
referred. This book is very well written and the
lectures and other great works of Chopra are nicely
complied. By reading this book and the lectures of
Chopra, one gets a fairly good impression as how
much problems India faced both in the medical and
pharmaceutical fields in the first half of the 20th
century. The contributions of Chopra and other
builders and awareness creators of modern pharmacy
have created that illumination, the fruits of which
we are enjoying today in the medical and the
pharmaceutical progress of India. This book should
be very much recommended to the pharmaceutical and
drug professional in the universities and the
industries as well as to all the pharmaceutical and
drug authorities in India and abroad. This book
volume also teaches us that the great works and
dreams of Sir Ram Nath Chopra are still to be
realized so as to make India self sufficient in
health sector.
Book Reviewed by Dr. Ravindernath Kaul,
Germany
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
HOW TO PRACTICE - GLP
|
Author |
:
P.P. Sharma
|
Publishers |
:
Vandana Publications Pvt. Ltd. LU-56,
Vishakha Enclave, Delhi-110 088 |
|
Good
Laboratory Practice (GLP) is a quality system
concerned with the organizational process and
conditions under which non-clinical health and
environmental safety studies are conducted. This
system, which has been evolved by the member
countries of Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), helps to ensure the quality
of data produced by laboratories by harmonizing the
practices and provides international acceptance to
safety data generated in GLP-certified test
facilities.
The book, ‘How to Practice GLP’ authored by Sh. P.
P. Sharma, former Dy. Drugs Controller, Delhi is a
comprehensive volume on different aspects of GLP.
The book starts with a good introduction which talks
about the evolution of GLP. The book has 7 well
written chapters and the author has very
meticulously shared his expertise. In this book the
author has described all concepts, terminologies,
guidelines and different approaches in GLP. Chapter
1 deals with basic concepts in Quality. In Chapter
2, the author talks in detail about inspection and
its planning. Chapter 3 goes deep into the sampling
and sampling plans. Chapter 4 describes an important
area of Statistical Quality control. Chapter 5
explains the quality of analytical methodologies and
analytical method validation. Chapter 6 deals with
concepts in safety planning and management and
bio-safety and related emergency procedures and
Chapter 7 is all about the practice of GLP in
general that also includes premises, personnel,
equipment SOPs etc.
Some of the highlights of the book are:
-
Texts
of several GLPs are reproduced including draft
Indian GLP (Schedule L-1), OECD GLP and USFDA
GLP.
-
List
of OECD publications on principles of GLP
-
“How
to” guidelines for GLP implementation.
-
Information on National GLP Compliance
Monitoring Authority.
-
Chapters on basic concepts like Quality,
Inspection, Sampling and statistical quality
control (SQC)
-
Appendices also include list of hazardous and
toxic chemicals as laid down in the Chemical and
Accidents (Emergency Planning Preparedness and
Response) Rules, 1996 – Schedule I, Text of
Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control
and Supervision) Rules, 1998
The
patient will always want to have a drug that is of
good quality, pure, safe and efficacious. The author
has done a commendable job by writing a book on an
area that is so vital to the consumer. He deserves
all appreciation and congratulations. This book will
be useful for professionals involved in drug testing
labs, Quality control, faculty and students of
pharmacy, drug regulatory officers and other
consultants.
Book Reviewed by Raman Sehgal, Associate
Editor, The Pharma Review, New Delhi, India (MSc;
Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences).
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
MODERN DISPENSING PHARMACY
|
Author |
:
Atmaram Pawar, R.S. Gaud
|
Publishers |
:
Career Publications Website:
www.careerandyou.com
|
|
Modern
Dispensing Pharmacy
The
authors of the book entitled “Modern Dispensing
Pharmacy” (3rd Edition) published by Career
Publications, Hyderabad has discussed the subject in
20 chapters (articles) covered in 430 pages and also
contains an appendix. The overall presentation of
the book is very good. Objective of the book is to
preserve the basics of the art of compounding while
adding modern concepts of dispensing pharmacy. In
the revised third edition, book covers development
of pharmacy, role of pharmacist as health care
provider, prescription writing & prescription
handling, art of compounding, concepts of dispensing
pharmacy, compounding & dispensing of different
pharmaceutical dosage forms etc. Wherever required,
pictograms, tables and graphics have been provided
for better understanding of the subject. In addition
to point wise and schematic presentation, the
description of every point is summarized under
Concept Clear, which facilitates the subject
understanding. Though rich by content, the overall
presentation of the book is not quite impressive. At
page 15 and from page 129 to 132, the prescriptions
in boxes are not readable. Figure 18.6 at P. 374 was
shady. Despite these little drawbacks, this book is
expected to be useful for budding pharmacists as
well as educators and practicing pharmacists.
Book reviewed by Mr. R. K. Rishi
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Concepts on Chronopharmacology
Metabolic fate of drug is a function of time. The
importance of 'Chronopharmacology' is now being felt
in almost all branches of pharmaceutical sciences
including drug design, drug development,
bioavailability, efficacy, toxicology and
administration. In Ayurveda, the importance of
circadian rhythm was well recognized since ancient
times and the medicines were prescribed to a patient
with due consideration to time. Recently,
pharmacologists have discovered that drugs when
given with body rhythms showed not only synergistic
effects but also caused fewer side effects. We all
know sleeping pills should be taken at night for
maximum effects.
The book
entitled "Concepts in Chronopharmacolgy" is a well
written book with an aim to impress upon the
importance of 'time' in pharmaceutical sciences. In
Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 the author talks about the
importance of Chronopharmacokinetics and
Chronopharmacodynamics of the drugs. Different
contributing authors have very interestingly
discussed the role of biological clock in Infectious
diseases, human reproduction, cardiovascular
disorders, respiratory disorders, diabetes, cancer,
psychiatric disorders. A chapter each on
Chronotherapy and Chronotoxicology is very
interesting. The seasonal rhythms are very well
exhibited in figures throughout the book. After
reading the book, one can easily conclude the
message given to the readers 'receiving an apt
medication at right form, at right dose and also at
the right TIME'. I would like to congratulate both
the editors and senior researchers Dr. N. Udupa and
Dr. P. D Gupta for bringing out such a wonderful
compilation on a rare but interesting topic.
I sincerely hope it will be very useful to all
pharmaceutical professionals.
Book reviewed by Dr. Rajat Sethi, Assistant
Professor, Texas A &M Health Science Center, College
of Pharmacy, Kingsville, Texas and Raman Sehgal, MS
Pharmacology (AIIMS, India)
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry Volume-I
Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry - volume 1
book is an updated version of First edition and is
much improved both in qualitative and quantitative
aspects. This book provides deep information and
understanding of the subject Pharmacognosy and
various drugs of Natural origin. The book is divided
into 21 chapters dealing with introduction of
Phannacognosy, its linkage with Pharmaceutical
botany and details of commercial and quality control
aspects of herbals which are well desired these
days. The book provides sufficient knowledge for the
microscopical analysis and processing of crude
drugs. Further, the book has a chapter on Extraction
and isolation of phytoconstituents where the
information is found less sufficient and some latest
isolation and purification techniques can be added
in detail. However, the chapters on Biosynthetic
pathways and elucidation techniques and remaining
chapters on Fixed oils and fats, carbohydrates,
Glycosides, Tannins, volatile oils, Resins,
Alkaloids, Enzymes, Drugs of mineral origin, Natural
fibres are very well written giving the most
relevant information on classification,
biosynthesis, chemical tests, production, quality
control aspects and related individual drugs
details. One chapter on Drugs from marine sources
should also have been included.
The printing and binding of book, presentation of
chapters and design of cover page is very
impressive. Figures, sketches and chemical
structures are suitably and sufficiently
incorporated. Language of the book is simple,
understandable and with comparatively less
topographic mistakes.
Moreover, author of the book, Prof. Vinod D. Rangari,
Principal, J. L. Chaturvedi College of Pharmacy,
Nagpur, has a good reputation in the field of herbal
research. His vast experience in the field of herbal
standardisation has been reflected well in the
presentation of this book which has made it
different from all other text books written on this
subject.
This book will be more useful and will serve as the
text book for the students of undergraduate level.
Students can find sufficient and updated information
on the topics they need in their curriculum. Few
chapters like Commerce and quality control,
Production of crude drugs, General Biosynthetic
pathways and techniques for elucidation
ofbiosynthetic pathways will also be useful for
postgraduate students.
Overall, the book Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry -
volume 1 is well written with sufficient information
which will be of great use for undergraduate
students of Pharmacy.
Book reviewed by Prof. S.H. Ansari, Dean,
Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Dictionary of Pharmaceuticals and
Biotechnology
|
Author |
:
Mr. J.P.S. Kohli |
Publishers |
:
Business Horizons Pharmaceutical Publishers Website:
www.businesshorizons.com
|
|
Pharmaceutical Science is fast evolving entity and
encompasses diverse fields like anatomy, physiology,
biochemistry, microbiology, botany, chemistry,
formulation, engineering, marketing etc. More
recently, biotechnology too has become an undeniable
part of pharmaceutical industry.
We come across new words on a daily basis and are
frequently in need of a resource that we can refer
in times of need.
The author has very meticulously used his experience
in the pharmaceutical industry and has presented
latest technological terms that are often
encountered today. The author has aptly given more
thrust on current and contemporary knowledge rather
than history and origin of pharmaceutical sciences.
The "Dictionary of Pharmaceuticals and
Biotechnology" would be of immense help to
undergraduate and post graduate students of
pharmacy, biotechnology, medicine, nursing and
allied health sciences. In addition, it will also
serve as a reference material for pharmaceutical and
biotech industry.
I congratulate Dr. Kohli, a senior member of the
Indian pharmaceutical industry for coming out with
an updated dictionary that combines the intertwined
fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
Dictionary reviewed by: Dr Rajat Sethi
(Assistant Professor, Irma Lerma Rangel College of
Pharmacy, A&M Health Science Center, Texas)
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Bioharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics A
Treatise |
Author |
:
Dr. D. M. Brahmankar and Dr. Sunil B.
Jaiswal |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, E-mail:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
|
Over a
period of time, pharmaceutical science has evolved
from mere compounding and dispensing of drugs.
Recent advances in understanding disease and genetic
make-up have necessitated the need to optimize and
individualize drug therapy. The concern today is to
produce a dosage form which is not only
pharmaceutically elegant, but releases the drug at
the target site at a desired rate and uniformly
maintains the extent of absorption. Thus, the twin
disciplines of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics
play a critical role in drug development.
This textbook "Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics
– A Treatise" by Dr. Brahmankar and Dr Jaiswal has
15 very well written chapters. The chapter on
Absorption of Drugs has been dealt with
comprehensively as most of its principles also form
the basis of drug distribution and elimination.
Elaborate treatment of text on Biotransformation of
Drugs in Chapter 5 is justified since a pharmacy
student is well versed with the basic chemistry and
enzymology. A brief mention about Bioactivation and
Tissue Toxicity has been included at the end of this
chapter so that after understanding the mechanisms
of drug metabolism, a student will be better placed
to appreciate their significance. Prodrugs discussed
in chapter 6 give insight into the manner in which
chemical formulation techniques can be utilized to
overcome some of the inherent Biopharmaceutics and
pharmacokinetic problems of the active principles.
Mathematical treatment of chapter on
pharmacokinetics has been kept to at modest level in
order not to overburden the students with the
complexities of equations and formulae. A brief
description of methods usually employed to enhance
the bioavailability of a drug from its formulation
has been included at the end of chapter 12. In
addition to covering various aspects of design and
dosage regimens and application of pharmacokinetic
principles in clinical situations, the text contains
a final chapter on Controlled Release Medication to
familiarize the students with the principles
involved in the design of innovative formulations.
The authors have used very simple language for easy
grasp of the subject. Also, simple figures and
tables are liberally used throughout the book for
better understanding. In addition, revision
questions including numericals at the end of each
chapter are designed strategically to complement the
text of the chapter.
The book would be of immense help to B. Pharm, M.
Pharm and PhD students.
I would like to congratulate the authors for an
excellent attempt to address one of the dynamic
areas of drug research.
Book Reviewed by: by Raman Sehgal,
Senior Clinical Research Scientist; ICON Clinical
Research Pvt. Ltd., M.S. (Pharmacology); All India
Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
History of Pharmacy in India and Related
Aspects, Volume 5
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy 2 |
Author |
:
Prof. Harkishan Singh |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, E-mail:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
|
As
compared to western countries, we in India are
hardly aware of our history of pharmacy, development
of our institutions and of builders and creators of
these temples of learning. The fact is that not much
literature was available to the pharmacy
professionals in our country. Professor Harkishan
Singh, a prominent medicinal chemist and a
pharmaceutical historian of international repute has
done pioneer work by doing intensive research on the
pharmaceutical history both in pre- and
post-independence period of India. With tremendous
zeal, hard work and tireless devotion, the author
has given birth to a new topic "History of Pharmacy
in India and Related Aspects". He has summarised his
efforts with his archival collections (bound into
more than 1200 volumes) in various monographs:
Volume 1 Pharmacopoeias and Formularies, Volume 2
Pharmaceutical Education, Volume 3 Pharmacy
Practice. These books have revolutionized
understanding the history of pharmacy in India of
last 200 hundred years and given Indian science
valuable documents untraced or unknown so far.
The present progress of pharmacy education,
pharmaceutical profession and industrial
developments in India is the concentrated efforts of
many intellectuals and visionaries of the country.
Prof. Singh has not missed to write the biographies
and achievements of these great men, whom he
describes as "Builders and Awareness Creators of
Modern Pharmacy". In the book History of Pharmacy
and Related Aspects Volume 4, Series1 (2005), he has
published the biography of Mahedeva Lal Schroff, the
father of modern pharmaceutical education in India.
Prof. Schroff laid the foundation of pharmacy
education from 1932 -1943 at Banaras Hindu
University (BHU). Besides this, he took active part
in various pharmaceutical professional bodies in the
Govt. of India and in the pharmaceutical industry as
well as in the promotion of pharmaceutical
journalism.
Prof. Singh has done biographical studies of many
more prominent pharmaceutical luminaries, who worked
tirelessly for the profession of pharmacy in the
country. He has now published Volume 5, Series 2 of
the builders and awareness creators of modern
pharmacy. 12 luminaries have been selected and a
chapter is dedicated to each of them. Each one of
them made significant contributions for organisation
of the profession, development of the pharmaceutical
education and sciences, industry, statutory control
on drugs and pharmacy, pharmacy practice and other
aspects of pharmacy.
The responsibility of guiding the pharmacy
department at BHU was given in 1943 to Nitai Krishna
Basu, who further organised the pharmaceutical
education and laid the firm foundation of the
pharmacy studies in the country. He was assisted in
his mission by three other devoted faculty members,
Dhirendra Nath Majumdar, Gurakh Prasad Srivastava
and Sankatha Prasad. They all worked together to
make BHU the first temple of learning and a place of
pilgrimage for pharmacist. With spirited zeal and
devotion, these four missionaries of Indian pharmacy
continued to serve the cause of education and
profession and stayed in the department till
superannuation. During this period the department of
pharmaceutics at BHU attained the status of world
level institution of pharmaceutical education and
research. The author has written the life and works
of these four great pioneers of pharmacy and
sacrifices they made for the profession in 4
separate chapters. No other person can better
describe their contribution than Prof Singh, since
he himself was a student and a faculty member at
BHU.
The most significant contribution of Ratilal
Prabhudas Patel has been the creation and building
of Lallabhai Motilal College of Pharmacy at
Ahmedabad, the growth and destiny of which he guided
for 17 years. He was professionally very active and
served the cause through the medium of Indian
Pharmaceutical Association and Pharmacy Council of
India. All these constitute an impressive set of
credentials but, in spite of that, he did not get an
appropriate place in the history of Indian pharmacy.
The author has paid rich tributes to him and
mentioned at the end of the chapter, "The name of
this prominent pioneer of pharmacy deserves to be
rehabilitated".
Manohar Lal Khorana was an academician, a complete
pharmaceutical scientist, associated with
professional and statutory bodies. His works and
achievements in promoting pharmacy journalism and
his other contributions to the pharmacy profession
in India are worth reading in this book.
The life works and efforts of Surendra Nath Biswas,
an enlightened Calcutta based chemist and druggist
and a well-read and well-informed professional of
India is briefly but precisely described. Biswas
expressed about the lack of education of chemists
and druggists and formalised education for the
pharmacists. He struggled for upgrading the pharmacy
profession and working conditions of pharmacists in
the country and wrote endlessly on the subject.
Keshab Chandra Chatterjee distinguished himself as a
prominent pharmacy leader. His role in the
pharmaceutical industry and allied aspects,
consolidating the Indian Pharmaceutical Association,
Pharmacy Act and Pharmaceutical Services are highly
recognised. He was an educationist and a man of many
parts.
Homi Ruttonji Nanajee was an educationist, worked in
professional and statutory bodies and contributed to
pharmacy practice and worked in professional forums.
His leading role in drugs control, in drug analysis
as analyst, and promotion of drug industry are well
known and recognised. Prof. Singh has given a
realistic contribution of this great son of pharmacy
in 32 pages with 7 historical pictures.
Bhupendra Vallabhbhai Patel left deep impression in
building modern pharmacy in India. His role in
pioneering the development and consolidation of the
pharmacy profession has been applauded. He graduated
in pharmacy and became an accomplished
pharmacologist. Prof. Singh has described in detail
the role B.V. Patel played in pharmaceutical forums,
statutory bodies and pharmacy practice, structuring
the drugs control and promotion of pharmaceutical
education. He left a deep impact in the building of
modern pharmacy in India. His accomplishments are so
great that the author has dedicated 34 pages on him
in his book.
The contribution of Baij Nath Vyas, a pharmacologist
by profession as the first president of the United
Provinces Pharmaceutical Association and later named
as Indian Pharmaceutical Association are briefly but
well recorded. India lost in him one of the foremost
physicians of the country, first President of Indian
Pharmaceutical Association and its promoter, an
ardent supporter of pharmaceutical education and
profession.
Prof. Singh has dedicated this book to the memory of
Jyotish Chandra Ghosh, "the forgotten and unsung
pioneer of pharmacy" and written one chapter on him.
Very little was known of this man in the pharmacy
history of India and he practically faded away
quickly from the memory of the profession. J.C.Ghosh
made significant contributions toward pharmaceutical
and allied fields. His contributions include the
areas of pharmaceutical and technological education,
indigenous drugs, pharmaceutical and chemical
industry and drugs and pharmaceutical legislations.
The author has made great efforts to trace the life
and works of this man from different archives in
India and abroad and rediscovered this great
luminary of Indian pharmacy.
The author has done great service to the profession
of pharmacy by publishing this volume. The book is
excellently written and it is a treasure for the
pharmacy profession of India. It is a rigorously
researched book volume. Prof. Singh is known to be
very thorough in writing detail and each chapter is
well referenced. In the appendices the speeches of
some luminaries are also recorded, which makes the
reader understand the problems of the pharmacy
professions in the initial years of India's
independence. This book should be very much
recommended to the pharmaceutical and drug
professionals in the universities and the industries
as well as to all the pharmaceutical and drug
authorities in the country. This book also teaches
us that a few great men have made pharmacy in India.
Book Reviewed by: Dr Ravindernath Kaul,
Germany
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|
 |
Title |
:
History of Pharmacy in India and Related
Aspects, Volume 6
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern
Pharmacy 3 |
Author |
:
Prof. Harkishan Singh |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, E-mail:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
|
Professor
Harkishan Singh has continued his research on
profiling the lives and contributions of the
pharmaceutical luminaries who laid the foundation of
pharmacy education and profession in the country. He
now presents his latest book on History of Pharmacy
in India and Related Aspects Volume 6, Builders and
Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy 3 under
subtitle: Medico-Pharmaceutical Professionals.
Several medico-pharmaceutical professionals have
contributed to pharmaceutical developments in India.
Brevet Colonel Sir Ram Nath Chopra and his onetime
associates Professor Khem Singh Grewal and Dr
Bhishnupada Mukerji stand for their direct
involvement in the building of modern pharmacy in
India. Not only did they distinguish themselves as
pharmacologists, their role in making of modern
pharmacy was equally important. Prof. Singh has
profiled the lives and achievements of these
medico-pharmaceutical professionals in this volume
and devoted one chapter to each of them. This book
is dedicated to the memory of Brevet Col. Sir Ram
Nath Chopra, "parent of pharmacology, pioneer of
systematic studies of indigenous drugs, promoter of
Indian systems of medicine and patron of pharmacy".
The major field of Col. Chopra´s research were
general pharmacology, chemotherapy, indigenous
drugs, drug addiction and drug assays. Brevet Col.
Sir Ram Nath Chopra, a legendary
medico-pharmaceutical professional has left behind a
rich legacy. Prof. Singh has paid rich tributes to
this titan of Indian medical sciences.
Professor Khem Singh Grewal was an accomplished
pharmacologist of his time. He had varied research
interests including the study of medicinal plants.
He participated in carrying out comprehensive survey
on incidence of cancer in India. His most
conspicuous pharmaceutical contribution is the
founding of pharmaceutical education at the
University of Panjab, Lahore. A continuum of Lahore
centre is now the famous University Institute of
Pharmaceutical Science, Panjab University,
Chandigarh, which stands as a living memorial to the
pioneering Grewal. The author has highly commended
the sacrifices and achievements of Prof. Khem Singh
Grewal in the development of pharmacy in India
during the difficult pre- and post- independence
period of Punjab.
Dr Bishnupada Mukerji was the builder of the
Biochemical Standardisation Laboratory and the
statutory Central Drugs Laboratory, Calcutta. He
conceptualized the creation of a national institute
of drug research, which led to the establishment of
the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, the
development of which Dr Mukerji guided for a number
of years as the director. Dr Mukerji significantly
helped the developments of pharmacology and there is
no part of the pharmaceutical activity in which he
did not leave an enduring impact. Prof. Singh writes
at the end of the chapter "Looking to his role in
building pharmacology and pharmacy, undeniably Dr
Bishnupada Mukerji stands tall as a
medico-pharmaceutical professional of great merit of
our land.”
This book like the previous volumes in the series is
rigorously researched and meticulously referred. The
chapters are well documented with subtitles
describing the phases of education, academic
achievements and the contributions of these
luminaries in the pharmaceutical developments of
India. Some historical pictures make this book very
interesting to read. In the appendices, important
speeches of B.Mukerjee and R.N. Chopra at various
conferences are well recorded. Unluckily there is no
record of K.S.Grewals`s papers, as most of the
documents seem to have been left behind in Lahore at
the time of partition. This volume book should be a
part of the libraries of pharmaceutical and medical
institutions and should be very much recommended to
the pharmaceutical and medical professionals in
India and abroad. This book is also meant for health
politicians as reference background to understand as
how medical and pharmacy professionals have to work
together to solve the health problems of our masses.
The great contributions of these three
medico-pharmaceutical professional souls and other
builders and awareness creators of modern pharmacy
have created that illumination, the fruits of which
we are enjoying today in the pharmaceutical progress
of India.
Book Reviewed by: Dr Ravindernath Kaul,
Germany
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 |
Title |
:
Dispensing Pharmacy |
Author |
:
Mr. R. M. Mehta |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, LU-56, Vishakha Enclave,
Delhi-110 088 |
|
Academicians around the world have a professional
obligation to ensure that dispensing chemists /
pharmacy assistants are competent enough in the
areas in which they are working to a minimum
prescribed standard.
Thus, the demand for a simple, standard and a
complete textbook on Dispensing pharmacy for
pharmacy students at diploma / degree level has been
felt for a long time.
This textbook “Dispensing Pharmacy” by R. M. Mehta
has various well written chapters on General
dispensing procedures, labeling of dispensed
products, containers and closures used for various
dosage forms and Posology.
Chapter 7 in the textbook discusses various Solid
dosage forms (Tablets, Capsules, Pills, Lozenges,
Powders etc) in detail. Chapter 8, 9 and 10 deals
with Monophasic (both preparations for internal and
external use) and Biphasic liquid dosage forms
(Suspensions and emulsions).
Chapter on Semi-solid dosage forms (ointments,
pastes, jellies, creams etc) gives an overview of
the method of preparation, differences amongst
various semi solid dosage forms, additives used in
formulation, applications, their merits and demerits
and incorporates formula for some of the official
pharmacopoeial preparations.
Chapter on Ophthalmic and Sterile dosage forms
discusses eye preparations like eye drops, eye
ointments, eye lotions, eye suspensions, essential
characteristics of these dosage forms, types of
parenteral solutions, their formulation etc in
detail. The chapter also enlists the various
sterility tests carried out as per the pharmacopeia.
Also, this book can also serve as a manual for
practical for dispensing pharmacy for both Diploma
and B. Pharma students.
In addition, the chapter on Pharmaceutical
calculations, incompatibilities in prescriptions and
additives is an additional feature of the book.
Following the chapters, the book also incorporates
some useful appendices. Appendix 1 and 2 discusses
the human and veterinary doses of drugs
respectively; their uses and preferred route of
administrations. Appendix 3 of the book contains a
list of references recommended for further reading.
Some of
the salient features of the book include:
-
Very
simple language for easy grasp of the subject.
-
Vivid
diagrams and illustrations for better
understanding of the subject.
-
Revision questions at the end of each chapter.
The book
would be of immense help to undergraduate and post
graduate pharmacy students and related disciplines
of medicine and nursing.
I would like to congratulate the author for an
excellent compilation on Dispensing Pharmacy.
Book Reviewed by: Raman Sehgal, Senior
Clinical Research Scientist; ICON Clinical Research
Pvt. Ltd.
M.S. (Pharmacology); All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, New Delhi
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|
 |
Title |
:
Looking into Living Things... Through MRI |
Author |
:
Dr R S Chaughule, Dr S S Ranade |
Publishers |
:
Prism Publications, 15/4, Shivpuri, Near
Chembur Naka, S.T. Road, Chembur,
Mumbai-400 071.E-mail:
ajitn@vsnl.com
|
|
MRI
Spectroscopy was discovered by Felix Bloch (Stanford
University) and Edward Mills Purcell (Harvard
University) way back in 1946. Since the 1980s, MRI
has grown to be an indispensable tool in the medical
diagnosis of many maladies especially of soft
tissue, such as the brain and spine. Its application
to biomedical sciences and subsequently in the field
of life sciences, agriculture, geological sciences,
food technology is noteworthy.
The book “Looking into living things through MRI”
covers a very wide range of systems and phenomena,
and will not only inform the reader about the less
familiar areas, but will suggest new ideas useful in
human medicine.
The chapter on Wood discusses the process of drying
of young wood, giving an account of water movement
from central vascular tissue elements and exit route
by capillary process, resulting in final product
wood. This is immensely readable scientific account
of wood structure as seen by MRI.
The book has well written chapters on applications
of MRI in various fields like food science where the
authors have meticulously described how this
technique can be used in a simple and efficient way
to monitor the quality of apples, citrus fruit and
wine grapes. Other applications discussed in the
book include providing new possibilities of
exploring seafood, meat structure and ripening
process of Iberian Ham by MRI.
Chapter 8 provides an insight into Bread making
process from dough stage to baked product. The
chapter also reviews 'croissants' and 'sandwich'
structure. One is also taken to cellular level of
organization of living things by MR Spectroscopy.
Chapter on MRCP (Magnetic Resonance Cholangio
Pancreatography) shows MRI in clinical scenario;
chapter on new MRI pulse sequences provides research
angle. Likewise, Lithium in mammalian systems
explores possibilities with other magnetic nuclei
amenable to MRI.
Chapter on MR study of implantology illustrates new
application of MRI in the field of dentistry. A
chapter on clinical application of MRI discusses the
use of this technique in oncology, lungs. The
difficulties faced in respect of proton imagine such
as motional artifacts are reduced with the help of
asymmetric imaging and rapid line scan and the study
of lung diseases like pulmonary edema and emphysema
are also presented.
The book also has a well written MRI on
Nanotechnology on which discusses nanomagnetic
probes for bioimaging. The authors have provided
extensive examples, rich bibliography, scans,
illustrations and graphs where ever required.
This is an informative, admirable and much overdue
book that provides insights into diverse life forms.
The book for the first time provides a glimpse of
the clinical and non-clinical applications. I would
like to congratulate the author and the experts for
an excellent compilation.
Book Reviewed by: Dr. Anshu Rohatgi, Senior
Consultant Neurologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New
Delhi
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 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Views & Reviews |
Author |
:
Prof. Harkishan Singh |
Publishers |
:
APTI, Bangalore, Tel.: 080-22234619 Fax:
22225834,
E-mail:
aptialerts@yahoo.com |
|
Last year
when I went to Banaras University campus to attend
the 59th IPC In December 2007, I was most happy to
meet Prof Harkishan Singh " A Mine of Information on
Pharmaceutical Sciences and History". He was
introduced to me by another master of pharmaceutical
education, Dr. B.D. Miglani whom I have known for
many years through our interaction in the journal -
Eastern Pharmacist which closed down some years ago.
The contents of Prof. Harkishan Singh's book Views
and Reviews is a compilation of over 100 articles
which he has written, from the article titled
"Research in Pharmacy" published in Pharma student
(BHU) in 1954 to"Education at Punjab University"
published in the souvenir of the 12th APTI
Convention at Chandigarh in 2007.
These
articles provide you with the story of the rise and
transformation of the Indian Pharma Industry /
Academia in the last 50 years, including the various
associations / Organisations / Committees formed
during this period and where they stand today.
But the best part of this " Mine of Information" are
the chapters dealing with Who's Who's of the
Pharmaceutical Academia in India, pharmacists who
have contributed and helped the industry to reach
where it stands today, an industry of Global
Standing. If not for Prof. Harkishan Singh's
articles on them, most of these stalwarts would have
been forgotten. This well documented book form Prof.
Harkishan Singh must not only find a place in all
Pharmaceutical College libraries in India as well as
abroad but also as a reference book in all other
libraries where people want to know about the India
Pharma Academia.
Book Reviewed by: Mr. Triloki Bazaz,
Consultant, The Pharma Review
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|
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 |
Title |
:
Cosmetics-Formulation, Mfg. & Quality
Control |
Author |
:
P.P. Sharma |
Publishers |
:
Vandana Publications Pvt. Ltd. LU-56,
Vishakha Enclave, Delhi-110 088 |
|
Cosmetics
are so extensively used articles that their use
begins with rising from the bed in the morning (e.g.
toothpaste/ toothpowder) till late in the evening
while going to bed (e.g. night creams). This calls
for them to be of good quality. Books help in
improving quality of the products.
The book,
Cosmetics-Formulation, Mfg. & Quality Control
authored by Sh. P. P. Sharma, former Dy. Drugs
Controller, Delhi is a comprehensive volume on
different aspects of cosmetics. Besides introduction
which contains history of development of cosmetics,
the book has eight parts. Part one deals with
regulatory provisions, plant layout for cosmetics
manufacture, theoretical aspects of processes used
in the manufacture of cosmetics, commonly used raw
materials and an important chapter on minimization
of microbial contamination in cosmetics. Part two
deals with cosmetics for skin. Part three deals with
cosmetics for hair. Part four deals with cosmetics
for the eyes. Part five deals with the cosmetics for
the nails. Part six deals with the cosmetics for the
teeth. Part seven deals with miscellaneous cosmetics
like fragrances, aerosols, toilet soaps, baby
cosmetics and now a days sought after
cosmetics-herbal cosmetics. Part eight deals with
quality control of cosmetics. This part is very
important from the point of view of safety of
consumers.
The author
has aptly written chapters giving general
information about a cosmetic category, formulation
considerations including likely characteristics of
finished cosmetics by using ingredients which have
functional uses like moisturizer, emollient,
cleansing etc., general methods of manufacture of
cosmetics and also specific methods of manufacture
if the method has intricacies of chemical reaction
or safety problems. Some of the highlights of the
book are:
-
a
chapter on herbal cosmetics including list of
herbs, methods of decoction, extracts flower
waters etc.;
-
a
chapter on baby cosmetics; l a chapter on
fragrances including essential oils, synthetic
aromatic chemicals, fixation, compounding,
maturing etc.;
-
a
chapter on toilet soap including methods of
manufacture of soaps, characteristics of soaps
and different types of soaps;
-
a
chapter on hypoallergenic cosmetics;
-
a
chapter on quality control of cosmetics citing
Indian standards for cosmetics;
-
a
chapter on stability of cosmetics including
parameters for tests and methodology;
-
appendices listing names of some machinery
manufacturers and trade names of chemicals of
some indigenous and some foreign manufacturers.
The author
has done a commendable job by writing a book on
cosmetics right from plant layout to formulation to
manufacture to quality control and stability
studies. He deserves appreciation and
congratulations. With a wide area of information on
cosmetics, this book will be useful for cosmetic
chemists, faculty and students of pharmacy, drug
regulatory officers and consultants.
Book Reviewed by: Dr. P.D. Sethi, Pharma
Analyst
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 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Oral Lipid-Based Formulations: Enhancing the
Bioavailability of Poorly Water-Soluble
Drugs |
Author |
:
David J. Hauss |
Publishers |
:
Informa Healthcare Inc., New Yourk, NY 10017,
Website:
www.informahealthcare.com |
|
Oral
delivery of nearly one-half of the drug compounds
gets thwarted owing to their high lipophilicity and
consequently poor aqueous solubility. Oral
bioavailability of such drugs, being function of
their aqueous solubility and dissolution, tends to
exhibit low magnitude and high intra- and
inter-subject variability.
Oral lipid-based drug delivery systems have proved
their immense potential in ameliorating the poor and
inconsistent gastrointestinal absorption of poorly
soluble drugs. Of late, an alarmingly high spurt of
various literature instances and marketed products
of such lipid-based formulations has been witnessed
across the global pharma world. Despite the immense
utilities of the lipid-based drug formulations, only
limited reviews have been published dedicated to
this specialized topic till date. The information on
their diverse vistas lies mostly scattered in
various texts and journals. Accordingly, the maiden
attempt to bring forth the pertinent facts and
figures in the form of an integrated volume is
indeed a commendable and timely endeavor.
Written in lucid style, the book covers myriad
aspects of lipid-based formulations and their usage
in enhancing the bioavailability of poorly
water-soluble drugs. The book has been divided into
various chapters, each encompassing a sizable
account on their design and development, in vitro
characterization, in vivo animal studies, and
eventually, establishment of IVIVC and IVIVR
relationships. Besides, the mechanistic influence of
various lipidic constituents and of such
formulations during fasted and non-fasted states,
and the ultimate fate of lipidic drug products in
gastrointestinal milieu have been explicitly
elaborated. Amongst the diverse types of
self-emulsifying formulations dealt with in the
book, important types include liquid SEDDS and
SMEDDS, lipid-based isotropic solutions and solid
dispersions, hard-capsule formats and supersaturable
SEDDS. The remarkable highlight of this book is its
industrial outlook that exclusively brings forth the
current market status of these lipidic delivery
systems, selection of various GRAS-listed excipients
for their formulation development, and scaling up
the prototype formulations to Phase I/II clinical
trial batches.
Based on the famous adage, “a picture is worth one
thousand words”, a diversity of illustrations have
been immaculately presented as explicative graphs,
photographs, methodology flow charts, apparatus
outlines, tables, bar charts, etc. that make the
book an interesting reading. Each chapter is
adequately referenced to the pertinent and updated
literature. Most book chapters have been contributed
by a galaxy of authors, acclaimed in their
respective domains of pharmaceutical technology,
analytical research, pharmaceutics, process
development, pathology, etc. Special inputs from
industry experts tend to enrich the researchers on
technical know-how of large scale production of such
formulations.
The authors, however, have focused primarily on the
conventional self-emulsifying formulations, missing
due emphasis on the updates like positively-charged
self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS),
solid SEDDS and SEDDS of traditional herbal
medicines, ample information on which is currently
available from literature. It would be much more
pragmatic if the newer and expanded edition of the
book covers other relevant precepts like federal
issues and toxicity concerns (especially when the
particle/globule size falls in nano or sub-nano
range), application of DoE optimization of such
lipidic systems, technology for modification of
liquid based systems into solid ones, integration of
these methodologies with controlled release ones,
and work examples on these novel drug delivery
technologies. Another minor peccadillo of the book
is that the authors explain the prevalent global
perspective of these lipid-based formulations taking
instances solely from developed nations representing
various continents like USA, UK and Japan. It would
be more holistic and pragmatic if the current
scenario in the developing nations is also taken
into apt consideration.
In nutshell, as already mentioned, the book is
likely to serve the acute need of the hour. It can
be a pleasure to the product development scientists,
pharmacy students and researchers to familiarize
themselves with the principles and methodology of
lipid-based drug delivery systems. The book can be
an excellent addition to the library shelves of drug
manufacturing houses and pharmaceutical institutes.
Reviewed by: Prof. Bhupinder Singh Bhoop -
University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Punjab University
S. Bandyopadhyay - UGC Meritorious Doctoral
Research Fellow (Pharmaceutics), Panjab University,
Chandigarh
E-mail:
bsbhoop@yahoo.com
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|
 |
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Pharmaceutical Packaging Technology |
Author |
:
U K Jain, D C Goupale, S Nayak |
Publishers |
:
PharmaMed Press, E-mail:
info@pharmamedpress.com |
|
The
packaging of Pharmaceuticals is as much important as
the medicine or drug, which is being packed. The
quality to any medicine cannot only be imparted by
imparting quality in its contents but it is of
immense importance how this quality is being
protected with continuously changing atmospheric
conditions. Proper packaging is the only way to give
desired shelf-life to pharmaceuticals.
It has been seen that a large number of medicines do
not give the desired therapeutic effect due to
faulty packaging. Packaging technology has become a
separate subject in pharmaceutical sciences due to
its vital applications in preserving therapeutic
efficacy of drugs. Before starting the book writing
on this subject, we noticed that the subject was
less understood and it has been compiled with few
chapters in some books. This inspired us to present
detailed account in the form of a specialized book
on the subject. Also the Packaging Technology has
emerged as separate subject among specialized
subjects of Pharmacy curriculum of almost all
Universities.
Present book comprises of 16 chapters. The starting
page of each chapter consists of chapter summary,
which will help the teachers, students and other
co-readers in revision of contents of whole chapter
in only few minutes. Further the content of each
chapter is arranged to facilitate the effortless
flow of information in simple, motivating, and
commonsensical approach. Detailed physico-chemical
information on raw material e.g., glass, plastic,
polymers, metals etc., used in Pharmaceutical
packaging is presented to facilitate conceptual use
of raw material for a particular type of medicinal
preparation. Since the raw materials are common for
packaging of other products, the scientific
information may further be helpful to allied persons
who deal with any kind of packaging.
A positive effort has been made to cover up all
individual and specialized aspects of Pharmaceutical
packaging sciences. More information is provided on
Pharmaceutical packaging design, based on
characteristic properties of material used in
packaging. Blister and strips packaging are of
growing importance and so a chapter is included on
this topic which would be of great value to our
readers. Parenteral and ophthalmic products need
sterilized packaging; therefore a chapter on
sterilization, covering unique features for
sterilizing packaging materials, has been included.
Because of rising role of European Union as a world
center for Pharmaceutical regulation and because of
the significance of international harmonization of
drug standards, a new chapter on regulatory aspects
of Pharmaceutical packaging has been added. Chapters
on quality control and stability testing of packages
would explain the shelf-life concern aspects of the
active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) packed.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Title |
:
Builders and Awareness Creators of Modern
Pharmacy |
Author |
:
Prof. Harkishan Singh |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Prakashan, E-mail:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
|
This book
of Prof. Harkishan Singh is part 2 of part 1, Volume
4 written by him in the series “History of Pharmacy
and Related Aspects” now designated as “Builders and
Awareness Creators of Modem Pharmacy”. The book is
Volume 5 in the series.
The book for the purpose of review can be broadly
divided in two important sections. Section 1
“Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, and
Index”. And Section-2 “Profiles of twelve prominent
pharmaceutical personages of yesteryears detailing
their contributions and lives and presidential
addresses of six of them”. To satisfy
inquisitiveness of readers, it may be pointed out
that Prof. Singh, in part 1, Vol. 4 of the series,
has honored Prof. M.L. Shroff by projecting him as
titan and icon of Modern Pharmacy. He sees him as
the maker of modern pharmacy of India. His profile
does not appear in the volume under review except
reference wherever necessary.
In the acknowledgement the author has expressed his
gratitude to the management of archives and
libraries of institutions in India and abroad,
numbering about one dozen wherefrom he got valuable
data for his write-up. The author also contacted
individuals and organizations numbering nearly four
hundred for same purpose. He has gracefully
acknowledged their cooperation by their mention in
index and text at appropriate places.
In preface and introduction, Prof. Singh gives
reason for deviation in his original plan, namely
concentration on three subject oriented plan to
biographies of prominent individuals who contributed
to building of modern pharmacy in India. In preface
and introduction the author has made mention of
development of western medical systems. As against
this, the author observed that the pharmacy
component remained largely neglected. It is perhaps,
Prof. Singh's this contention that made him change
the title. Maintaining his this line of thought, he
states “unfortunately pharmacy stood neglected
during the British period” that is in
pre-independence era. The profession of pharmacy,
the author states remained in unorganized and very
poor state. The condition according to him was such
that to modernize the profession was an uphill task.
Its solution is also suggested by the author in the
introduction. He states “I had available with me
introductory information on many of the
professionals who had worked for the building and
awareness creation of modern pharmacy, which was a
new discipline for us and it required a lot of
struggle for getting pharmacy accepted as a partner
in the modern health care system”. The way to
tread above referred uphill task, Prof. Singh
mentions the professionals of yore, who gained
prominence during the colonial period and continued
to be professionally active in early decades of
independent India, could be short listed for
profiling”. For this, he had in mind, as could be
seen from mid part of Introduction, two stalwarts
fulfilling such requirement (i) Jyotish Chandra
Ghosh and (ii) Surendra Nath Biswas. In fact,
for his regard and respect, Prof. Singh has
dedicated the book to J.C. Ghosh stating
“Dedicated to the memory of Jyotish Chandra Ghosh,
the forgotten and unsung pioneer of Pharmacy”.
It seems the author had in mind a shortlist of one
dozen stalwarts. For other ten Prof. Singh turned
his attention to pharmaceutical forums through which
these ten stalwarts jointly sow seeds of modern
pharmacy. These seeds broke the ground and the
profession has grown to its present state say
pillars of modern pharmacy. Most of the pioneers had
active professional life ranging from 25 35 years.
In the initial stage, they being from different
disciplines, there was possibility of difference in
their approach. Perhaps in view of this, he has
arranged chapters / titled in their name, in
alphabetical order.
In reference to profiles of twelve pharmaceutical
personages, Prof. Singh states “it is done in a
way that composite personality of each one is
projected properly” This is followed by
presidential address at Pharmaceutical Congress of
six presidents, by way of seven appendices. The
profiles are paragraphed under more or less similar
titles, as early life and background; professional
study and education, choice of discipline;
contribution and achievements etc. Period of
activity is stated wherever it is necessary. As
stated earlier, it ranges between end of colonial
period to early decade of independent India. This
period-a wide spanning period of 19 - 20 years, has
no sharp cut off line i.e. formation of The Drug
Enquiry Committee of 1930 - 31 to enactment of two
important professional legislations viz: Drugs Act
1940 and Pharmacy Act 1948. Former sowing the seeds
of modern pharmacy and later seeds breaking ground
as seedings of modern pharmacy. Former at the foot
of uphill task and the latter at the top of it 'dawn
of modern pharmacy'. Growth and development took
place from these seedings till 1986 when the last
luminary Shri Sanktha Prasad breathed his last a
period of about 40 years. Prof. Harkishan Singh
choice of title for both the volumes is based on
this background.
While some thought of pursuing their professional
activity in the field of education, others preferred
research, quality control, industry etc. There were
some who apart from their field of choice shared
their professional competence by serving as visiting
faculty in teaching institutions, consultants in
industries and likewise. In the earlier years, their
contribution in the field was published in foreign
journals and publications. Later with formation of
forums they got it published in national journals
like Pharma Times; Indian Journal of Pharmacy and
similar other publications of pharmaceutical
associations and organizations. The stalwarts were
however united in the areas like professional
education, growth and development of profession of
pharmacy and importance of forums for common
platforms to achieve such aims and objectives. It is
in view of such approach that we have made
phenomenal progress towards the goal of the modern
pharmacy. It is for this reason, Prof. Singh has
rightly projected the luminaries as “Builders and
Awareness Creators of Modern Pharmacy.”
What is modern or current today would be past by the
next decade. New entrants and beginners in the
profession will have to shoulder the burden of
progress ahead. The profiles provide help and
guidance which can be of immense use to shoulder
such responsibility. The details of text of
appendices can also go a long way in this regard.
The text of addresses gives data of progress made,
difficulties encountered and possible solutions.
Some have forecasted problems and likely
difficulties in progress ahead. They have also
suggested possible solutions, Quality and importance
of details of profiles and addresses can be
appreciated only by going through the details.
The path of growth and development is thorny and
very demanding. Qualitative transformation can be
brought by blending of interest, involvement and
integrity throughout the journey. Contents of the
book provide necessary details and guidance to tread
the path for targeted growth and development.
I extent my heartiest congratulations to the author
Prof. Harkishan Singh for this zealous and untiring
effort to archive the pharmaceutical history of
India in a prolific, precise and lucid manner. I
strongly recommend that educational institutes and
pharma organizations keep this publication in their
library and promote extensive reading. This book can
be a useful orientation programme menu for new
entrants and aspirants to acquaint them with
historical perspective of our profession.
Book Reviewed by Mr. M.R. Shastri, Director
(Retired), Drugs Control Administration, Gujarat
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Title |
:
Foundations In Pharmaceutical Biotechnology |
Author |
:
B.P. Nagori, Roshan Issarani |
Publishers |
:
Pharma Syndicate, Tel.: 040-23445666,
23445622, E-mail:
info@pharmabooksyndicate.com |
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The field
of Biotechnology, in particular, Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology has evolved very rapidly since the
discovery of INSULIN by Banting and Best in 1922.
Currently, hundred of biotechnology based products
have hit the market and numerous others are in
various phases of clinical development. This
textbook “Foundations in Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology” has various well compiled chapters on
principles of genetic engineering and its
applications, bioinformatics, plant tissue culture,
animal cell / tissue / organ culture, enzyme
immobilization, cell immobilization and their
applications etc. The fundamental concepts in all
the chapters serve as a good foundation to
understand and interpret the latest research and
development going in the field of biotechnology.
Chapter 4 deals with fermentation technology and its
applications in the field of pharmaceutical
biotechnology. Chapter 7 is entirely devoted to
hybridoma technology and discusses various methods
for the production of Monoclonal antibodies. In
chapter 14, covers legal and social issues
concerning the use of biotechnology and a profile of
various regulatory agencies. In addition, the
chapter on halometabolites (halogenated organic
compounds) is quite informative.
In the
end, the authors have added a brief section on
useful websites and a photo gallery which has some
vivid diagrams and illustrations. The book would be
of immense help to undergraduate and post graduate
pharmacy, science and engineering students. We would
like to congratulate the authors for such an
excellent attempt to compile a book on a young
discipline like Pharmaceutical biotechnology that
faces a dearth of quality publications.
Book
reviewed by: Dr. Rajat Sethi, Texas A&M
University, USA and Raman Sehgal, (GVK Biosciences
Pvt. Ltd.) |
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Title |
:
Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Inorganic
Chemistry |
Author |
:
P. Gundu Rao |
Publishers |
:
Vallabh Publications, Tel.: 011-27342048,
E-mail:
mail@vallabhprakashan.com |
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Inorganic
Pharmaceutical chemistry has not received adequate
attention over the years even when many inorganic
substances are being used as important medicinal /
diagnostic agents and also serves as pharmaceutical
aids in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry.
This textbook on “Pharmaceutical and Medicinal
Inorganic Chemistry” by Prof. (Dr.) Gundu Rao
consists of 18 well complied chapters. Chapter on
Elements presents the reader with essential facts on
elements which find application in medicine,
analysis including quality control. The chapter on
inorganic toxicology is a welcome addition and
enables the readers to learn about hazards of
improper use of inorganic salts and their possible
treatment by specific antidotes. New approaches in
chapters like Water as a pharmaceutical raw
material, Homeopathic and Veterinary products are
highly appreciated.
The author had very meticulously given information
on various pharmacopeias including the IP, USP,
International Pharmacopeia, British Pharmacopeia and
Japanese Pharmacopeia through which an effort has
been made to introduce some of the basic
characteristics of the expectation from “global
pharmacist”. Newer perspectives have been added to
traditional topics on diagnostic agents,
radiopharmaceuticals and quality control. The
innovative approach in this book would receive ready
acceptance by fellow academicians and students.
Following the chapters, the book also incorporates
various useful appendices. Appendix 1 is a
compilation of commonly used Greek / Latin prefixes
and suffixes. Appendix II is a compilation of
Medical terms used in the text book. Appendix III is
the listing of inorganic pharmaceuticals according
to their application. Appendix IV has important
references and it also has a novel section on
websites consulted by the authors.
The author
has very aptly used his experience and his close
association with the pharmaceutical industry,
regulatory bodies, institutions and other fellow
healthcare professionals and academicians. I would
like to congratulate Prof. Gundu Rao for such an
excellent compilation. The book would be of immense
help to pharmacy student and related disciplines of
medicine, nursing, nutrition, dentistry, etc.
Reviewed by: Dr. P. D. Sethi, Pharmaceutical
Analyst |
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Title |
:
Validation in Pharmaceutical Industry -
Concept, Approaches & guidelines |
Author |
:
Shri P.P. Sharma |
Publishers |
:
Vandana Publications Pvt. Ltd., LU-56, Vishakha Enclave, Delhi- 110088. |
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In the
present scenario of Pharmaceuticals industries,
where at every step the analyst has to deal with
regulatory compliance, the book titled “Validation
in Pharmaceutical Industry” Concepts, Approaches &
Guidelines, written by Shri. P. P. Sharma, former Dy.
Drugs Controller, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, will
definitely be a helpful tool for the technocrats
working in the Pharmaceuticals Industries.
In this
book the author has described all concepts,
terminologies, guidelines and different approaches
for validation: The book is divided in eleven
different chapters. Chapter-1 deals with principles
& terminology used in validation. In Chapter 2,
definition, concept & options of validation has been
defined. Chapter 3 goes deep into the Validation
Master Plan (VMP), validation protocol & reports.
Chapter 4 describes, organizational structure for
validation process. Chapter 5 explains the
qualification of premises and validation of HV AC
System. Chapter 6 defines the validation of
utilities. Chapter 7 & 8 deal with cleaning
validation and process validation respectively.
Chapter 9 is entirely devoted to validation of some
special processes i.e. Aseptic and Lyophilization
processes. In Chapter 10, analytical method
validation is defined in detail, covering all
parameters of validation as per USP & ICH guidelines
and Chapter 11 is devoted to computer system
validation.
I would
like to congratulate Shri. P. P .Sharma for such
excellent attempt to compile this unique book. The
book would be helpful for analysts, production
chemist/managers and pharmacy students. I would like
to convey my appreciation and best regards to the
Author.
About
the Author: Shri P. P. Sharma is a well known
authority in the pharmaceutical field. He is a
M.Pharm. (Gold Medallist) from Punjab University and
former Deputy. Drugs Controller & Licensing
authority; Drugs Control Department, Govt. of N.C.T.
Delhi. He was awarded “Best Drug Control Officer
Award” at the IPC in 2004. He is a member of the
Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and Chairman, Law
Committee, PC I. Shri P. P .Sharma has authored many
books in pharmaceuticals fields like. How to
practice GMPs, How to practice GLP and cosmetic
Formulations, Mfg. & Quality Control.
Book
Reviewed by Dr. R.A. Singh, Director Technical,
Arbro Pharmaceuticals Ltd. New Delhi. Member Indian
Pharmacopoeia Commission Committee. (IPC) |
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