The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the Orphan Drug Designation to a unique drug for children suffering from Ewing’s Sarcoma cancer developed by the Cure Our Children Foundation. The non profit and charitable organization was successful in development of this drug because of the generous volunteers, doctors in industry and researchers at two universities. The approval facilitates the development of the drug by providing fee waivers, FDA’s assistance for review and other benefits. The new drug is a combination of biotechnology and nanotechnology. Cell matter is modified to have the genetic code of tumor cells. When the cancer cells uptake this matter, they stop reproducing and die.

The joint venture of Biocon in Abu Dhabi, NeoBiocon has launched Abraxane, the drug for breast cancer, based on nanotechnology, in the UAE. Developed by Abraxis BioScience, Inc., Abraxane will be marketed in South Asia and West Asia by Biocon,  as per the agreement they signed in 2007. The drug will be effective for patients who did not benefit from combination therapy. A chemotherapy agent, the drug combines paclitaxel with a naturally occurring human protein, albumin. The drug can be delivered without the use of solvents, allowing for a higher dosage. Also, the time to administer is 6 times lesser.