News
2012
June 2012
Save the Date: Amrita's Susan Finston will be a featured speaker on latest developments relating to Intellectual Property (IP) protection for pharmaceuticals at the Pharma IP Protection in Asia (PIIPA 2012) taking place in New Jersey, U.S. (7 – 8 June 2012).
Save the Date: Amrita Therapeutics will present an International Case Study, "Cross-Cultural Drug Development: Leveraging European R&D and Tech Transfer Strengths with Emerging Market Bio-Discovery for Innovative, Affordable Therapies and Devices," at the 2012 BIO International Convention, Boston, MA, at 9:30 am, 21 June 2012. Full details on this interactive panel discussion are available here.
March 2012
Amrita Therapeutic filed its second full utility patent application for an Antiviral Compositions and Methods Therefor (March 2012).
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty is a featured speaker at Biotechnologia Habana 2012: Medical Applications of Biotechnology, Havana International Conference Center, Havana, Cuba (5 – 8 March 2012), and the program may be downloaded here. Media coverage of his remarks is available here.
February 2012
Latest research on novel therapeutics approaches effective against Glioblastoma, including Amrita's latest research, has been highlighted in the ISRN Neurology (2012) and is available here.
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty is a special guest at the Honorable William C. Conner Inn of Court program entitled: "Patentable Subject Matter: A Conversation with Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty," held in New York (16 February 2012).
January 2012
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty's latest article: "Bacterial Proteins: A New Class of Cancer Therapeutics," has been published in the prestigious Journal of Commercial Biotechnology (JCB), described as the Harvard Business Review for biotechology companies. The abstract is available here.
2011
December 2011
An updated non-confidential overview of Amrita Therapeutics' market-disturbing research program is available for download here.
November 2011
BIOWorld Today (10 Nov 2011) highlights key issues relating to biotechnology development in China and India featuring views of Amrita CEO/MD Susan Finston.
October 2011
Amrita's Susan Finston shares latest trends and developments in India's burgeoning biotechnology sector as part of the BIOWorld webinar: "International Biotechnology: Emerging Trends from China and India, 27 October 2011. Her presentation is available to view as slides or in handout form. More information on how to view the BIOWorld webinar is available here.
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty is a guest speaker at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum on "Science and Technology for the Future of Humankind," held 2 – 4 October 2011 in Kyoto, Japan.
September 2011
Amrita Therapeutics files its first full utility patent with the Indian Patent Office (IPO) and internationally under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for an anti-cancer agent, 30 September 2011.
Recent interview with Amrita Therapeutics' Co-Founder and Science Advisor Ananda M. Chakrabarty, PhD., on recent research progress, is available here.
August 2011
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty leads panel discussion on the role of IP protection in fueling life sciences innovation at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Life Sciences Conclave 2011: Enabling Growth through Collaborative R&D and Technology Transfer, on 30 August in New Delhi, India. The detailed CII Life Sciences Conclave 2011 program is available here.
Amrita's Susan Finston participates as a guest lecturer for: "Genetic Resources & Traditional Knowledge: An Intellectual Property (IP) Primer," at the WIPO/US Summer School, hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on 10 August in Alexandria, VA. Her presentation is available for download here.
June 2011
Amrita Therupeutics Voted as Buzz of BIO for the 2011 Annual International Convention! 
Please join us for Amrita's BIO Business Forum presentation: Wednesday, 29 June 2011,
10:00 am in the Adams Morgan Room, Walter E.Washington Convention Center, at the BIO 2011 Convention. Watch Amrita Therapeutics' BIO Business Forum:
Amrita's Ananda Chakrabarty is a featured speaker at the Biotechnology Industry Organization – U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) Event: Celebrating 30 Years of Biotechnology Innovation:From Diamond v. Chakrabarty To Today, held in conjunction with the BIO 2011 Annual Convention on 30 June 2011,9:00 –11:00 a.m. at the Walter E.Washington Convention Center, Room 102AB.
Amrita Therapeutics Co-Founders Ananda M. Chakrabarty, PhD and Susan K. Finston, JD/MPP lead dicussion of innovative programs for bio-pharmaceutical development in India: "Closing the Funding Gap in India for Commercialization of Biotechnology: Moving From Possibility to Opportunity," as part of an all-star panel at BIO 2011 at the Convention Center in Washington DC, 3:45 PM to 5:00 PM on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 in Room 152 B.
Watch Amrita Therapeutics Co-Founder and Science Advisor Ananda M. Chakrabarty, PhD. describe his creative process of innovative drug discovery and development for the India Biotechnology Delegation on 27 June 2011:
Amrita Therapeutics congratulates CDG Therapeutics, Ananda Chakrabarty's biotech start-up, co-founded with Dr. Tapas Das Gupta, on successful completion of its first-in-man Phase I Clinical Trial of lead candidate P28, presented at the ASCO 2011 Annual Meeting, 6 June 2011.
May 2011
Amrita Therapeutics appoints Saionton Basu, Penningtons Solicitors, LLC, as international legal counsel to advise the company on cross-border legal issues including joint-ventures, fund raisings, and technology collaborations.
April 2011
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder Ananda M. Chakrabarty, PhD, is Keynote Speaker at The John Marshall Law School's 2nd Annual Review of Intellectual Property Law Symposium, "Biotechnology and Health Issues in IP Law," in Chicago, Illinois on April 15, 2011. The full agenda and slate of speakers is available here.
Amrita Therapeutics files its latest Provisional Patent Application on methods of isolating protein drugs from microorganisms effective against HIV/AIDS.
In "Looking Back to Move Forward," (Biotech News, April 2011), Ananda Chakrabarty celebrates 25 years of shared biotechnology history on the occasion of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Silver Jubilee, including reflections on the past, present and future of biotechnology in India, and expressing appreciation for ongoing grant support for Amrita Therapeutics' path-breaking work on development of peptdie drugs with effectiveness against cancer and HIV.
March 2011
Amrita Therapeutics CEO and Managing Director Susan K. Finston is a speaker at the University of Baltimore Law School, the IP Law Journal (IPLJ) and IP Law Society (IPLS) Spring Symposium on "The Incentive to Invent: Intellectual Property Protection and the U.S. Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries," where she will address special issues affecting innovative biotech discovery companies in developing countries. The event will take place in Baltimore, MD on March 16, 2011.
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty, and CEO/MD Susan K. Finston are provide insights on U.S. Patent Legislation following its passage by the U.S. Senate, available online here.
February 2011
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty addresses the topic,"Looking at the Crystal Ball: Where will our Next Generation Drugs Come From?", duing the National Science Day Celebration organized by the Agharkar Research Institute in Pune on February 22, 2011. Coverage of his remarks is available here.
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty delivers an address entitled: "Anticancer potential of the newly chenically synthesized peptides," as chief guest at the International Symposium on 'Omics Approach to Microbes," organized by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur on February 17, 2011.
Amrita Therapeutics CEO and Managing Director Susan K. Finston serves as guest faculty for the National Institute of Health (NIH) Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) Spring 2011 Course, "Biotechnology Business Leadership & Management Strategies,' Rockville, MD on February 15, 2011.
Amrita Therapeutics files its Provisional Patent Application with the Indian Patent Office for methods of isolation of promiscuous protein drugs from microorganisms.
January 2011
Amrita Therapeutics files its Provisional Patent Application with the Indian Patent Office for a novel biomedical device for in situ cancer therapy.
Amrita Therapeutics CEO and Managing Director Susan K. Finston is serving as a Challenge Community Leader for the 2nd Phase GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home,
open for submission of new ideas to generate, utilize and conserve power in the home between 18 January and 1 March 2011.
2010
December 2010
Amrita Therapeutics Head of Research Dr. Prabhakar Salunkhe participates in the Gujarat Bio-Invest Seminar (December 22, 2010), organized by the Government of Gujarat together with the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) and the Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GBSTM) as a break-out event of Vibrant Gujarat 2011.
A narrative version of the Amrita presentation is available here.
For more information on the Gujarat Bio-Invest Seminar and the final Program click here and here.
Amrita Therapeutics Head of Research Dr. Prabhakar Salunkhe delivers an invited talk in the National Conference on Biotechnology for All (2010), organized by the North Maharashtra University Jalgoan (December 29 - 30, 2010).
November 2010
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder Ananda M. Chakrabarty, PhD., is an eminent invited speaker at the B. V. Patel PERD Centre's 6th International Symposia organized in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (26 – 28 November 2010). Dr. Charkabarty's presentation, "Bacterial Proteins as Potential Multi-Disease-Targeting Drugs," focused on new concepts and latest developments in novel peptide-drug and related delivery systems.
More information on the PERD Centre's 6th International Symposium is available here.
October 2010
Amrita Therapeutics Limited (ATL) welcomes Mr. Mohan Harshey, Director, Private Equity at Tata Capital Ltd., as a Independent Director of the Company.
Amrita Therapeutics initiates collaborative research with the Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), an apex research institute and an autonomous organization funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
Amrita Therapeutics files its first Provisional Patent Application with the Indian Patent Office for a broad spectrum cancer agent of microbial origin.
September 2010
Amrita Therapeutics' Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder, Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty, and CEO and Co-Founder Susan K. Finston are featured in Setpember 2010 Express Pharma and Express Biotech online publications. The Express Pharma OpEd highlights Amrita's as part of the paradigm shift for Indian life sciences innovation, available here. The second article in the current issue of Express Biotech outlines the company's proprietary science platform and recent research developments, available here.
On 21 - 22 September 2010, the University of Illinois honored Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty with a seminar honoring the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Diamond vs. Chakrabarty (1980), which for the first time permitted patent rights for genetically engineered organisms. More information on panel topics, eminent guests, expert speakers, and other details of the University of Illinois two-day program can be found here.
August 2010
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder, Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty, chairs a special session on Intellectual Property Rights and Technology Transfer at the 2010 Indo/U.S. Life Sciences Conclave, in New Delhi, on 18 - 19 August. The 2010 Life Sciences Conclave provides a forum for leading scientists and senior company officials to realize India's potential as a global centre for bio-pharmaceutical innovation, and to promote collaboration for commercialization of science and creation of social and economic value through development new products and services.
For more information or to register for the event, contact Ravikiran Veligeti, Executive Officer, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
July 2010
Amrita Therapeutics initiates collaborative research with the National Institute of Immunology, an autonomous research institute supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in New Delhi, India. The NII is a globally recognized center of excellence for advanced research relating to mechanisms to defend the human body from pathgens including cancers and other public health threats.
June 2010
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the pre-eminent global trade association for the innovative life sciences, recognizes the 30th Anniversary of Diamond vs. Chakrabarty, the seminal U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the core principle that genetically engineered organisms may be eligible for patent protection. The Statement released by BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood can be found here.
May 2010
Amrita Therapeutics welcomes Mr. Raghavendran Iyer, Bachelor of Commerce (B.com.), L. J. Commerce College, Ahmedabad, as Administration and Finance Manager, based in our offices at PERD Centre, Ahmedabad.
Amrita Therapeutics CEO, Mrs. Susan K. Finston provides a plenary presentation on development of innovative life sciences in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) markets for creation of social and economic value, at the MENA Women in Science and Technology Workshop, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 3 May 2010, organized by the National Science Foundation (NSF), together with the Univiersity of Michigan, Dearborn, and the U.S. Department of States, and with sponsorship by the Dow Chemical Company.
March 2010
Amrita Therapeutics has been awarded a two-year grant by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Biotechnology Industry Promotion Program (BIPP) to support collaborative research to identify and develop promiscuous anti-cancer compounds from microorganisms.
More information on the BIPP and current programs under development, including Amrita Therapeutics, is available here.
January 2010
Amrita Therapeutics has initiated a new program of early research to identify additional promising, innovative molecules at the B.V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education & Research Development (PERD) Centre, the first multidisciplinary, advanced pharmaceutical research institute in Ahmedabad, India. For more information on the PERD Centre, click here.
Amrita Therapeutics welcomes Mr. Pravin Kumar Jha, M.S. Degree (Pharmacy) with specialization in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) Ahmedabad, and Bachelor of Pharmacy from Poona College of Pharmacy, at Bharati Vidyapeeth University Pune, and Ms. Payal Bhatnagar, M.Sc. Biotechnology Degree from G.H. Raisoni Institute of Interdisciplinary Science, Nagpur University to support Amrita's early research program.
2009
October 2009
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty, CEO Susan K. Finston, and the Amrita Therapeutics senior management team participated in Focused Group Discussions convened by the the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Foundation (MSME Foundation) under the auspices of the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology program: Promoting Innovative Clusters (PIC), to identify action steps towards deveopment of innovative life sciences in the state of Gujarat, India. Susan K. Finston also provided copies of the latest BayhDole25 Biotechnology Toolkit addressing similar issues, namely the core elements of an enabling envirionment for the innovative life sciences. The Focused Group Discussion provided a number of practical action steps that the MSME Foundation will take up in coordination with DST in the coming weeks and months to support SME deveopment in four broad categories: pharmaceutical (new formulations and drug delivery systems), medical devices, biotechnology start-ups (like Amrita Therapeutics) and traditional medicines.
For background information on the MSME Foundation, visit: http://www.msmefoundation.org/
To download the BayhDole25 Biotechnology Toolkit, visit: www.bayhdole25.org
September 2009
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty, reviews his pioneering role in establishing patentiability of genetically engineered (GE) organisms as lead panelist at Tech Council of Maryland event: "IP Issues in Biotech following the U.S. Supreme Court Case Diamond v. Chakrabarty," held on 2 September 2009 in Rockville, Maryland. For more details, click here.
July 2009
In Memorium: Amrita Therapeutics mourns the loss of Mr. Vishnu Varshney, GVFL Founder and CEO Emeritus, who passed away after a brief illness on July 29, 2009.
April 2009
Amrita Therapeutics Senior Science Advisor and Co-Founder, Dr. Ananda M. Chakrabarty was the featured speaker that George Washington University Law School's Second Annual A. Sidney Katz Intellectual Property Law Speaker Event, held on 16 April at the Law School in Washington DC. In addition to providing insights into the original development of the first patented genetically engineered (GE) organisim, Dr. Chakrabarty discussed the science platform underlying Amrita Therapeutics' pioneering research in the area of multiple disease targetting (MDT) drugs. To learn more, click here.
Amrita Therapeutics CEO Susan K. Finston was a featured speaker at: "Equity and Commercial Rights for Genetic Resources," cosponsored by the DC Bar Associations and the Environmental Law Institute, held on 29 April 2009, in Washington DC, and considered key issues relating to sustainable commercial uses and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. Finston's presentation focused on key outstanding issues relating to the ongoing negotiation of operational text for the International Regime (IR) for Access and Benefit Sharing in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) likely to be presented to Ministers for adoption in October 2010.
For full details on the DC Bar/ELI event, click here.
To download Susan Finston's presentation (handout), click here.
February 2009
Amrita Therapeutics outlines immediate R&D goals and benchmarks for development of Multiple Disease Targeting (MDT) Drugs for prevention and treatment of cancer, and HIV, among other public health threats. To learn more, click here.
January 2009
Amrita Therapeutics participates in Vibrant Gujarat (12 - 13 January 2009) at Science City, Ahmedabad. (Image at left from the GVFL booth featuring Amrita Therapeutics at Vibrant Gujarat.)
Amrita Therapeutics welcomes Dr. Prabhakar Salunkhe, Ph. D. in Biochemistry from Medical Research Institute, Hannover, Germany; MS (Biochemistry), B.Sc (Chemistry), as Head of Research, based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat at PERD Centre.
2008
December 2008
Amrita Therapeutics welcomes Mr. Ruchir Shah, M.B.A., Pharmaceutical Business, from the University of the Sciences Philadelphia,
B.S., Pharmacy, as Operations Manager for Amrita Therapeutics, based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat at PERD Centre. To learn more about his background and training, click here.
October 2008
Amrita Therapeutics has initiated a research collaboration agreement with the B.V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education & Research Development (PERD) Centre, the first multidisciplinary, advanced pharmaceutical research institute in Ahmedabad, India. For more information on the PERD Centre, click here.
August 2008
GVFL, India’s leading venture capital company, has invested in Amrita Therapeutics. For more details, click here.
For Pharmabiz coverage of the GVFL's ongoing funding in the biotech space, including its investment in Amrita Therapeutics, click here.
For more information on GVFL, click here