India Defends Its Pharmaceutical Industry After Tainted Drug Scandal
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India on Monday defended its lucrative and booming generic drugs industry as “safe” and “highly regulated”, after the country’s largest drug maker Ranbaxy pleaded guilty last month to U.S. criminal charges of making adulterated medicines.
In a bid to defend its generic drugs export sector, the Indian government also suggested that “vested interests” may be making up the “isolated reports” of spurious generic drugs found in global markets allegedly from India.
India on Monday defended its lucrative and booming generic drugs industry as “safe” and “highly regulated”, after the country’s largest drug maker Ranbaxy pleaded guilty last month to U.S. criminal charges of making adulterated medicines.
In a bid to defend its generic drugs export sector, the Indian government also suggested that “vested interests” may be making up the “isolated reports” of spurious generic drugs found in global markets allegedly from India.
In a statement, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said India’s “pharmaceutical sector is highly regulated” and its exports “heavily guided by various regulatory regimes of the importing countries”.
The South Asian economic giant has a reputation as the “pharmacy to the world” for its production of life-saving generic drugs that are sold at a fraction of the price of branded drugs.
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India’s drug exports reached $14.6 billion in the 2012 financial year, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the previous year.
However, analysts warned that Indian drug manufacturers may find it tough to win new contracts in their key U.S. market, after New Delhi-based Ranbaxy Laboratories – India’s largest drug company by sales, pleaded guilty in May to U.S. criminal charges of making adulterated medicines and agreed to a $500 million settlement to settle claims that it sold subpar drugs and made false statements to the influential U.S. Food and Drug Administration about it manufacturing practices at two factories in India.
The settlement is the largest in history involving a generic manufacturer and drug safety, according to the U.S. Justice Department, and industry experts warn that Ranbaxy case might inflict long-lasting damage to the image and reputation of the Indian pharmaceuticals industry.
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On Monday, the Indian government invited global importers to visit Indian factories to “satisfy themselves of the quality of production of drugs”.
India enjoys “a unique position of low-cost manufacturing and the highest quality medicine, the best of both the worlds”, said the government, adding that the country “has proven international quality standard capabilities”.
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