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Australia — Australia Ends Ban on Embryo Cloning for Research.

Australia — Australia Government Allocates A$500 million for Science.

Australia — Gardasil Immunization Program in Australia from Next Year.

China — AIDS Patients to be Compensated for Blood Infection.

China — New AIDS Therapy More Effective.

China — Changzhou National Hi-Tech District Creates Alliance with Samara Province in Russia For Joint Construction Of Science & Technology Park.

Hong Kong — New CRO in Hong Kong to Feed China.

Hong Kong — Botanical Medicine Company Chi-Med Collaborates with Merck.

India — Indian Pharmaceuticals Agree to Supply Cheaper Drugs for Children with AIDS.

India — British Pharmacopoeia Officials to Hold Talks with Indian officials.

India — Indian Government to Set Up Five Institutes to Boost Pharma R&D.

South Korea — South Korea Reports on its Second Outbreak of Bird Flu.

Singapore — Scientists will Perform Research Work on New Stem Cell Bank.

Singapore — Scientists Discover New Path for Malaria Drug.

Singapore — Singapore's Fusionopolis Phase 2A Sells Out.

Singapore — Singapore Ministries to Tackle Rise in AIDS Number.

Singapore — A*STAR-Karolinska Symposium on Immunology.

Singapore — Singapore to Set Up Two Biomed R&D Centers.

Singapore — Human Embroynic Stem Cells Research in Singapore.

Thailand — Thai Health Ministry To Issue Compulsory License For Merck's HIV/AIDS Drug Efavirenz.

Others — Gardisil Research in Britain.

Others — World Bank Says More Funding Needed to Fight Bird Flu.

Efavirenz (EFV) suffers from poor aqueous solubility which results in low bioavailability of the drug. Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems offer a suitable alternative for improving the physico-chemical properties of the drug and hence its efficacy. Nanosuspension (NS) of EFV was formulated by solvent-anti solvent precipitation method using PVP K-30 as stabilizer and sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) as the wetting agent. Multi-level factorial design was applied to select the optimal formulation which was further characterized. The optimal batch exhibited mean particle size of 305nm and polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.345. Solid-state characterization studies of the NS conducted using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed compatibility between the drug and the excipients and modest alteration in the crystallinity of the drug. There was progressive increase in the solubility of the drug when incorporated in NS from 17.39$\mu$g/ml to 256$\mu$g/ml. Further, drug release studies showed significantly better and controlled drug release pattern in comparison to the free drug due to the presence of nanosized particles in the formulation.