Highlighting the state’s solid pharma sector, Himachal’s industry leaders have dismissed the tariff’s influence on the production of generic medicines.
Under the circumstances of tariff that US has imposed on branded and patented medicines, the pharmaceutical factories in Himachal Pradesh have claimed that it will not make a huge difference to their work as the industry basically operates at a huge scale with generic drugs.
Highlighting the state’s solid pharma sector, Himachal’s industry leaders have dismissed the tariff’s influence on the production of generic medicines.
The tariff, announced by US President Donald Trump, will be implemented on October 1, and has sparked reactions from centres of world trade in the pharmaceutical field.
Sanjay Suri, who is the Vice-Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII Himachal) and the Executive Director of Morepen Laboratories in Solan, stated, “The pharmaceutical companies in Baddi, Nalagarh, Kala Amb, and Paonta Sahib have more than 95% among them producing generic drugs.” In addition to this, he mentioned that the industry will not incur any considerable interruptions as the tariffs apply only to the branded and patented drugs.
In one of the interviews, it came into light that “Generic medicines are the medicines whose patent protection has already expired, thus making them widely available and inexpensive.”
Likewise, Suri also added that the biggest factor driving India is the supply of inexpensive generic medicines to the world environment. “The United States must understand that India is one of the largest exporting countries of generic medicines. The American medical industry cannot afford to tax generics heavily because it would make the medicines more expensive and then the patients would suffer.”
Nevertheless, according to Rajesh Gupta, the chairman of the Himachal Drug Manufacturers’ Association, “The fact that generic medicines have not been imposed tariffs is absolutely correct, but the line between generic and branded or patented drugs is not always very clear.”
He specified that, even though some companies produce branded medicines beyond Himachal, in the state “these companies manufactured generic medicines”. Thus, Gupta said that it is essential to first study the notification in a clear manner before making any concrete decision.
In the state, there are almost 580 companies which make Himachal the’ almost’ 1_ of Asia’s medicine manufacturing hubs. The Solan Baddi-Nalagarh- barotiwala area acquires almost 79% of the units while the rest are set up in Karnal Sirmour’s Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib.
The sector also takes a huge part in the pharmaceutical exports in India with the annual turnover of the pharma industry in Himachal statewide at RS 40,000 crore approximately.
According to the industry pundits, the pharma sector in the region has become extremely resilient to the global uncertainties. The factor that has positively contributed to the sector is the presence of the major companies along with a solid number of small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, regular inflow of demand for generics has firmly aligned throughout the years.
