India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has failed to outline norms for discharge standards for effluents from bulk drugs and pharmaceutical industries, due to a lack of ‘necessary information’. Home to one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical industries, India has long faced calls for regulation on effluents and runoff which have both an […]
Indian pharma
Indian pharma to get US$1.3 billion boon
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, a US$1.3 billion fund will be established to bolster Indian pharma and promote domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependency. The report, published in BloombergQuint, identifies “supply chain disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic” as the rationale behind the decision, noting that Indian pharma’s reliance on China […]
Jan Aushadhi: Government eyes expansion
The Union Government has announced a planned expansion of its Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pari Yojana Kendra (PMBJPK) initiative, as Jan Aushadhi Diwas celebrations took place in recent days to celebrate efforts to increase access to medicines for the population. The scheme’s vision is to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare through the provision of […]
APIs: No shortages yet, but pharma still has misgivings
The Union Government has sought to quell concerns over an imminent shortage of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and medicines in the country due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. However, individuals from the pharmaceutical sector are still disconcerted. The outbreak has had a kn0ck-on effect on multiple industries in India. As well as pharma, chemicals, […]
Paracetamol prices spike amidst COVID-19 outbreak
The COVID-19 outbreak that originated China and has since mushroomed to several countries worldwide – including India – has had a knock-on effect on multiple industries including the pharmaceutical industry. This ripple effect has manifested in a spike in paracetamol prices. At the time of writing, COVID-19 has infected in excess of 73,000 and resulted […]
Essential medicines export ban on the cards?
The Government of India is contemplating imposing a ban on the exports of twelve essential medicines amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which has infected tens of thousands of people worldwide. The twelve essential medicines that could be affected include antibiotics, hormone drugs, and vitamins. A report is planned to be submitted to […]
‘In a digital world’ – Experts call for digital pharma
Multiple stakeholders from the Indian pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are calling for increased digitisation, arguing that a trend towards ‘digital pharma’ is fuelling the sector’s growth. “To understand how the digital transformation is occurring in pharma marketing, we would need to look at both the patient’s side and the healthcare professional’s side,” asserted Atul Sharma, […]
Cyberattacks: A crisis in Indian pharma?
The pharmaceutical sector in India is the sixth most-affected industry of its kind in the world in terms of cyberattacks. Attempted malicious attacks hit almost 45 percent of the sector’s devices in India last year, an increase from 44 percent the year before. Only the pharmaceutical industries in Pakistan, Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain were […]
Cybersecurity: How does Indian pharma fare?
As little as five percent of pharmaceutical companies have secure cybersecurity systems, an expert in the field said at a recent forum. Sal Krishna, chairperson of the Global Cybersecurity Forum, said between five and ten percent of pharmaceutical companies in India possess the security systems needed to protect data from hackers. Many, he added, do […]
China reforms laws on generic medicines
Relaxed drug legislation in China comes as a boon for patients, who will now be able to use generic medicines made in other countries such as India. Generic medicines unapproved in China were hitherto classified as counterfeit drugs, making their use illegal. Now, however, a session of the national legislature has relaxed this stipulation. Patients […]