Drugs and Pharmaceutical Industry

Contents: Preface. 1. Growth of drugs and pharmaceutical industry. 2. Profitability of drugs and pharmaceutical industry. 3. Performance of public sector chemicals and pharmaceuticals. 4. Performance of individual enterprises in public sector. 5. Pricing of drugs and pharmaceuticals appendix to chapter 5. Representation from drug companies. 6. DPCO 1987--an evaluation appendices to chapter 6 : i. Composition of standing Committee and Expert Groups on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals. ii. Proposed new drug policy. iii. Proposed list of controlled and decontrolled drugs. Reports/orders: 1. Measures for rationalisation, quality control and growth of drugs and pharmaceutical industry in India, Govt. of India, Ministry of Industry, New Delhi, Dec. 1986 (Excerpts). 2. Report of the Committee on Category II Drugs, New Delhi, Aug. 1987 (Excerpts). 3. Drugs (Prices control) order 1987. 4. Drugs distribution policy for canalised drugs literature on drugs and pharmaceuticals.

"Growth of Drugs and Pharmaceutical Industry is crucial to the health care of people in a country where despite high incidence of disease the per capita expenditure on drugs is less than 5 per cent of that in many developed countries. The basic thrust of Drugs and pharmaceuticals policy in India is, therefore, to make adequate quantity of quality drugs available to the poor masses at affordable prices.

Despite the rigid control by the government in respect of product-mix, pricing of bulk drugs and formulations and profitability of producing enterprises, the Indian drugs and pharmaceutical industry has grown significantly, though not sufficiently, since independence. Production of formulations increased from a mere Rs. 35 crore in 1952 to Rs. 3600 crore in 1990-91 and that of bulk drugs increased from Rs. 15 crore in 1962 to Rs. 700 core in 1990-91. Even then, with 15 per cent of world population, India is producing only 2 per cent of world drug production. Production generally lagged behind the plan targets mainly due to rigid controls on the industry.

Preventing profiteering in an industry which produces for basic health care of the people is unobjectionable, but simultaneously the price of essential drugs required on a large scale should be remunerative enough, so that consumer protection is ensured all round in terms of availability, quality and price. An attempt to keep control prices of drugs low has sharply eroded the industry's earnings even below the level prescribed by the government and drove many companies to diversify into non-pharma activities. In the process, several critical drugs needed by the common man could not be indigenously produced in sufficient quantities. The shortages emerged and large scale imports were resorted to. The present study relating to production, consumption, import/export, R & D, pricing and profitability of the public and private sector drugs and pharmaceutical industry has been supplemented with 50 tables and official reports/orders such as Kelkar Committee Reports, DPCO 1987 etc." (jacket)