Emcure hosts Lumen Summit in Colombo

Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd., together with the organisers of the LUMEN, based in Florida, USA and The Sri Lanka Heart Association hosted the ‘Lumen Summit – Colombo 2011’ at the Ceylon Continental Hotel.

The LUMEN Summit is one of the world’s premier meetings held on the latest developments in treatments of a heart attack. The annual meeting brings together some of the world’s most respected cardiologists to discuss new techniques and procedures for saving lives and effecting challenges associated with heart attack (STEMI). 

Over 200 eminent cardiologists and physicians from across the world attended the summit. Currently in Sri Lanka, according to Ministry of Health statistics, cardiovascular disease has the highest mortality in the country. 

Emcure Pharmaceuticals is one of the leading pharmaceutical organisations based in Pune, India. It has a global presence across the world and is one of the fastest growing companies in India. 

Emcure has made a very significant contribution to saving lives from heart attacks across the globe, by developing the only biosimilar product, tenecteplase. The product Elaxim has already saved more than 20,000 lives in India so far.

Emcure has brought together more than 160 doctors from India and other countries. These doctors were joined by the eminent doctors from Sri Lanka for this three day summit on cardiology.

This three day conference held from 21 to 23 January offered a comprehensive update on the management of STEMI (heart attack) patients.

The summit reviewed and applied the latest study results in determining the best available options of antithrombotic therapy, PCI and post heart attack management, within the clinical practice.

The summit has been held annually for the past nine years in Florida, USA. This year, the organisers decided to hold it in Colombo, a premier meeting in Asia for the first time.

Dr. Sameer Mehta, MD, FACC, MBA, an internationally acclaimed Interventional Consultant Cardiologist, who practices Cardiology in Florida, USA was the Chief Presenter and Course Director of The LUMEN Summit. 

Speaking about the importance of having a symposium of this nature, Dr. Mehta said: “At ‘Lumen Summit – Colombo 2011,’ we are committed to improving STEMI (heart attack) care in Sri Lanka. Through this powerful meeting, we provided attendees with the educational tools and knowledge that would help them improve both the STEMI process and the procedure at their respective institutions in Sri Lanka.” 

A. K. Khanna, COO of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, spoke on the importance of providing the best medicines to patients across the globe and the commitment of Emcure to provide the latest medical updates to doctors from specialists from across the globe.

Key topics under discussion at the symposium included ‘Understanding the Role of Thrombolytic Therapy for Management of Heart Attack,’ ‘Comprehending the benefits of TNK-Elaxim for Rapid Reperfusion in AMI Patients,’ ‘Review and Applying the Latest Study Results in Determining the Best Available Options of Antithrombotic Therapy,’ Mastering Drug Kinetics of TNK-Elaxim and Understanding Protocols for Rapid Perfusion with Thrombolytic Therapy’ and ‘Understanding the Role of Transfer of Patients after Successful Thrombolysis’. 

Reading material presented at the summit included ‘Efficacy and Safety of Tenecteplase in Indian Patients with ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction,’ ‘Efficacy and Safety of Tenecteplase in ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients from the Elaxim Indian Registry’ and ‘Tenecteplase in the Treatment of Acute Pulmonary Thrombo-Embolism’.

According to Gotabhaya Ranasinghe of the Sri Lanka Heart Association, “This meeting was a great opportunity for Sri Lankan cardiologists to get together with other cardiologists from different nations to discuss the latest treatment for heart attacks and we now need to go a further step in implementing a national framework for the optimal management of STEMI (heart attack) in the country.”

The speakers and faculty at the Summit included Dr. Mehta, Dr. Gotabhaya Ranasinghe, Dr. Shirish (M.S.) Hiremath, Dr. Harshawardhan Mardikar, Dr. P. Rajendra Kumar Jain, Dr. Tiny Nair and Dr. Mohan Jayatilleke.