Takeda’s Trintellix (vortioxetine hydrobromide) 5mg, 10mg and 20mg tablets lose their US new chemical entity (NCE) data exclusivity at the end of September 2018. Trintellix, first approved in September 2013 as Brintellix for treating acute major depressive disorder (MDD) in the US, is the first treatment for MDD approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The brand-name change to Trintellix came into effect in May 2016 to decrease the risk of prescribing and dispensing errors due to name confusion with AstraZeneca’s antiplatelet drug Brilinta (ticagrelor).

Merck & Co. executive outlines how the company could sustain a “compliant supply performance” amid the pandemic, while senior officials from Sun Pharma, Cipla, Zydus Cadila and Biocon shared insights on coping with supply chain turbulence and moving away from over-dependence on China for starting materials.

Novartis counters speculation around pandemic-related staff cutbacks in India, saying that it actually upped the number of hires across its operations since January 2020. A senior executive separately provides a buoyant outlook for the Swiss firm’s global services operations in Hyderabad, which has added a significant number of new roles.