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UP govt should support local cos to end dependence on other states for drugs: UPDMA president
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
December 17 , 2020
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Although Uttar Pradesh is a state that consumes huge quantities of medicines, even one percent of the total consumption is not manufactured in the state. For all kinds of medication requirements, the state depends on other states.
Pharma companies from northern and southern states market their products in UP, but the domestic manufacturers suffer a lot to survive and do business in the local markets.
Sharing information about the pharma sector in the state with Pharmabiz, Prashant Bhatia, president of the UP Drugs Manufacturers Association (UPDMA), said “Although the medicine market in UP is bigger than compared to other states, the products distributed, sold and consumed are manufactured in other parts of the country. Manufacturers of other states are supplying to UP government, whereas not all the domestic manufacturers are able to take part in government tenders due to various reasons and they are not supported.”
However, he said the state government is taking steps to bring out a separate Pharma Policy to boost the domestic pharma firms which are all small and medium sized ones (SMEs).
Hailing the government’s initiatives to the health sector, he said UP government is pulling out all the stops to ensure easy availability of medicines in urban and rural areas, but, if the state has to become self-sufficient in medication requirements, especially in the availability of essential drugs, it is necessary to establish a full-fledged pharma industrial park in a prime location near Lucknow. Once a pharma park is set up, the pharma industrial sector will flourish in UP,” says the president of the association.
In the state capital of Lucknow, many specialized research institutes are working, which are supportive to the pharma sector. But their services and benefits are not utilized for the growth of the pharmaceutical sector, Bhatia said by adding that this is an important area the government has to consider.
Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) is located in the state capital. Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Industrial Toxicology Research Centre (ITRC), Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Agricultural Research Institute, (ARI) and affiliated institutes of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are operating in Lucknow. In the major cities of UP like Agra, Noida and Kanpur several research laboratories were set up. The popular Central Pharmaceutical Research Institute (CPRI) is located in Agra. But the benefits of these institutes are enjoyed by other states, he said.
When Pharmabiz sought the response of the state drugs controller, A K Jain, the DC said the current position of pharmaceutical sector in Uttar Pradesh is not as bad as it is booming. In another few years, the pharma industry in UP will flourish like those of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Jain says, “In ease of doing business, the state of UP ranks second in India. The new amended UP Pharma Policy is going to be enacted soon. So, the future of pharma and medical devices industries will become bright.”
He said the department has given manufacturing licences to 560 units and licensed manufacturers of medical devices is 25. Licences given for bulk drugs and API manufacturing are 40. During the COVID pandemic, 151 companies were permitted to manufacture sanitizers and 36 companies were allowed to produce oxygen for medical use.
Evaluating the operations and services of the domestic companies, Prashant Bhatia said the COVID pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the pharma sector in UP. Although it has deepened the productivity crisis, production of the pandemic related products has not been affected. He said several companies have revived their production facilities to manufacture sanitizers, gloves and other disinfectants during this pandemic period. The production and supply chain were broken in the initial months, however, the situation has not much affected the major SSI units because they could concentrate on the Covid related products, he told Pharmabiz.
The state has the honor that it was one of the states in India where pharmaceutical manufacturing was first kicked off in the country along with Kolkatta in West Bengal. It was probably because of commencement of formal pharmacy education in Banaras Hindu University in the eastern part of UP in 1937 that a pharmacy education institution was established in our state. Together with education, production of medicines also began to develop. Lot of manufacturing units came up with a good number of firms in all the major districts. Major players were mainly located in Lucknow and Kanpur. By the end of 1990s, the number of pharmaceutical manufacturing units in Uttar Pradesh was 600. Within a short span of time, several units had to close down their factories due to introduction of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification norms and stringent regulatory policies. Some companies shifted to the excise free zones in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
“We fully trust the state government for all our long pending problems and we hope that the chief minister will take a favorable stand. CM is also interested to bring in more industrial units to the state and provide all support to the existing ones for their growth. Once the government addresses our issues, all the problems of the UP pharma industry will be solved. Till then the pharma industry will be in a terrible mess,” says Bhatia.
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