Hyderabad: With an aim to reduce dependence on import, Pharmexcil, the pharma export promoting body set up under the Ministry of Commerce, is working with Indian laboratories that have capability to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredients that are being imported.
Speaking to reporters after its annual general meeting, Pharmexcil director general Ravi Uday Bhaskar and Chairman Madan Mohan Reddy said imports of APIs could be around $3.4 billion and if the key starting materials (KSMs) are also included, the import value could be about $4-5 billion.
“We are working to cut down the imports. This will cut the dependence on other nations as well as save the foreign exchange,” said Bhaskar.
For this purpose, it is selecting about 100 molecules to encourage local production. It is working with institutions like the IICT and others that have the technical capabilities to make such molecules. These will be commercialized and given to the industry. “We have identified certain molecules and the laboratories that can make them. Depending on the complexities, we expect the results in six to 18 months for some molecules, he said.
To encourage local development, drugs that will be made with import substitute molecules will be not be under the Drug Price Control Order for five years. Pharmexcil will seek Government’s support in creating entry barriers for these molecules to ensure that domestic molecules are preferred to imported ones, the director general said.
“We need to create a level playing field for the local manufacturers. We need to design appropriate financial packages for this to be successful. All these have to be taken up in a cluster approach, “ the official said.
While imports are meeting the current requirement, the present effort to increase the domestic production is a step to ensure business continuity in case the supply from some countries is stopped or becomes uncertain due to various reasons, Bhaskar said.
“India was a net importer of APIs earlier. It took four decades or more to reach the current stage mainly on its strong chemistry skills. About 90 per cent of the research is by the academia. India should now focus on innovation as well,” said Pharmexcil vice-chairman Dinesh Dua.
Source: telanganatoday.com