Tag: pharma exports

India monitoring pharma exports to China amid COVID surge: source

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s Ministry of Commerce has been asked to monitor exports of medicinal products and equipment to China to ensure domestic availability for any COVID-19 surges, according to a source familiar with the matter.

India’s Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, asked pharma companies and senior government officials to review availability of medicines, and monitor their stocks and prices in a meeting on Thursday, the source told Reuters.

The pharma companies were also asked to keep a close watch on the global supply chain scenario and ensure adequate stocks and availability of all drugs including COVID drugs, the source said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India to amp up fever drugs export to China amid COVID surge

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India, one of the world’s biggest drug makers, is ready to step up exports of fever medicines to China as it reels from a spike in COVID-19 cases, the chairperson of India’s drug export body said on Thursday.

China’s sudden easing of strict COVID-19 rules earlier this month triggered a surge in demand for fever medicines and virus test kits on the mainland, leading to shops imposing limits on how much customers can buy and drugmakers ramping up production.

“Marketing queries are coming to drugmakers asking for quotes on ibuprofen and paracetamol,” Sahil Munjal, chairperson of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), told Reuters.

“Ibuprofen and paracetamol are facing a shortage in China at the moment, they are high in demand.”

China’s embassy in New Delhi did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Also read: Nepal bans Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy, 15 other Indian pharma companies

The Ministry of External Affairs said the country, one of the biggest makers of generic medicines in the world, was ready to help China.

“We are keeping an eye on the COVID situation in China,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a regular news briefing. “We have always helped other countries as the pharmacy of the world.”

Also read: India’s pharma exports record exceptional performance in 2021-22 despite global trade disruptions

India’s pharma exports to China accounted for just 1.4% of its overall exports in 2021/22, according to Pharmexcil’s latest annual report. The United States remains India’s largest destination for drugs exports.

Shares of Indian pharmaceutical companies have risen over the past few days on worries of a COVID-19 resurgence.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nepal bans Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy, 15 other Indian pharma companies

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nepal’s drug regulatory authority has blacklisted 16 Indian pharmaceutical companies, including Divya Pharmacy, which manufactures Yoga practitioner-entrepreneur Ramdev’s Patanjali products, stating that they failed to comply with the drug manufacturing standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) 

The Department of Drug Administration, in a notice issued on December 18 asked the local agents in Nepal, which have been supplying these medicines, to immediately recall them. According to the notice issued by the department, the medicines manufactured by the listed companies cannot be imported or distributed in Nepal.

The list of the companies that do not comply with WHO standards were published after inspection of the manufacturing facilities of the pharmaceutical companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal, according to the department officials. In April and July, the department sent a team of drug inspectors to India to inspect the manufacturing facilities of pharmaceutical companies that had applied to supply their products to Nepal.

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Besides Divya Pharmacy, the list includes Radiant Parenterals Ltd, Mercury Laboratories Ltd, Alliance Biotech, Captab Biotec, Aglowmed Ltd, Zee Laboratories, Daffodils Pharmaceuticals, GLS Pharma, Unijules Life Science, Concept Pharmaceuticals, Shree Anand Life Sciences, IPCA Laboratories, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Dial Pharmaceuticals and Mackur Laboratories.

Similarly, the department in another notice issued on December 19 asked the distributors to recall 500-ml and 5-litre hand sanitisers manufactured by India’s Global Healthcare. The department has asked the organisations concerned not to use, sell or distribute the hand sanitiser. 

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s pharma exports record exceptional performance in 2021-22 despite global trade disruptions

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s pharma exports grew by 103 percent to Rs 1,83,422 crore since 2013-14, the commerce ministry said on Sunday, adding that 2021-22 had been the best export performance ever.

“It is a remarkable growth with exports growing by almost $10 billion in 8 years,” the statement said. The exports in 2021-22 sustained a positive growth despite the global trade disruptions and drop in demand for COVID related medicines, it added.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, in a tweet, highlighted that India has been serving as the ‘pharmacy of the world’.

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“Indian pharma companies enabled by their price competitiveness and good quality, have made a global mark, with 60 percent of the world’s vaccines and 20 percent of generic medicines coming from India,” the commerce ministry said.

India ranks third worldwide for production in terms of volume and 14th by value. The current market size of the domestic pharmaceutical industry is around $50 billion. The share of pharmaceuticals and drugs in global exports is 5.92 percent.

Formulations and biologicals continue to account for a major share of 73.31 percent of the country’s total exports, followed by bulk drugs and drug intermediates, according to the ministry. India’s top five pharma export destinations are the US, UK, South Africa, Russia and Nigeria.

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“Even in the financial year 2020-21, Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals had registered a sharp growth amid the COVID despair, achieving an export of $24.4 billion with a year-on-year growth of 18 percent,” it said.

With inputs from PTI

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow