‘India’s pharma sector is of proven global quality’

With recent reports questioning the quality of drugs made in India, the commerce ministry today came out in defence of the country’s pharmaceutical industry.

“All concerned organisations in the government are constantly interacting to ensure that India’s image as a safe exporter is protected from all angles,” a statement issued by the ministry said. The statement comes against the backdrop of recent actions taken by US drug controller against top Indian companies including Ranbaxy. Last month, Ranbaxy was fined $500 million by the US Food and Drugs Administration for selling adulterated drugs in the country. The agency had also issued an import alert against Wockhardt for violating manufacturing processes at its Aurangabad plant. This was followed by a warning letter to Hospira on concerns over contamination of drugs at its plant in Tamil Nadu.

The commerce ministry statement said that the “government has strong reason to believe that some of the spurious drugs detected in the international markets, alleged to be exported from India, are desperate attempts by other countries getting affected by the strength of Indian pharma industry”. It added that India has proven global quality standard capabilities as measured by number of Abbreviated New Drug Application approvals, DMF filings, USFDA/UK MHRA approved manufacturing facilities/ bio equivalence centres.