After making big-ticket acquisitions abroad, leading Indian pharmaceutical companies like Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy Laboratories, and Aurobindo Pharma are rapidly shifting production to their Indian facilities.
Voveran, Novartis India's flagship pain killer medicine, has become the largest selling domestic drug with sales of more than Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) in March 2008, displacing Pfizer India's cough and cold syrup Corex, which had sales of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). Cipla, on the other hand, maintained its leadership position as the largest domestic pharmaceutical company edging out Ranbaxy Laboratories with a market share of 5.24 per cent.
At least 150 of the 205 employees at Lotus India Mutual Fund may lose their jobs.
The move brings an additional 15 per cent of the retail medicine market worth over Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) under direct price control. All domestic companies, including drug majors like Ranbaxy, Cipla, Lupin and Dr Reddy's, have syrups and tonics in their product portfolio.
Ranbaxy Laboratories, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Sun Pharma's US subsidiary Caraco Pharmaceuticals are among the 13 generic manufacturers to get first generic approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market generic versi
An International Policy Network report in 2010 found that seven per cent of drugs bought from wholesale traders were substandard, and 3.6 per cent of the drugs from traders contained no active ingredient whatsoever.
Over 30 domestic pharmaceutical companies, including Ranbaxy, Cipla, Nicholas Piramal, Zydus Cadila and Torrent, face a possible ban on the sale of the generic version of Merck's pain management drug in the Indian market.
And when an inspector asked about the contents of unlabelled vials in the laboratory glassware washing area, a plant worker dumped them down a sink and said the contents could not be determined, according to a July 18 letter from the US Food and Drug Administration to Wockhardt, which makes sterile injectable drugs and various forms of insulin.
The Indian pharmaceutical companies are involved in patent litigations of a mere 40 drugs, out of the 135 known patent litigation drugs in the US. This is despite the claims by major Indian players such as Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's at having secured over 20 first to file status abbreviated new drug applications with the US Food and Drug Administration.
Generic drug sales in the US, that power the business of such leading Indian drug manufacturers as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Lupin and Zydus Cadila, will face competition soon, as big US wholesalers decide to outsource their requirements from upcoming Indian manufacturers.
Under the banner of the CII, domestic drug majors have approached Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi for being allowed to present their views on the new pharmaceutical policy, scheduled to be discussed by the Union Cabinet on Thursday.
The R&D plan, focused on diseases affecting poor nations, is expected to be ready by 2008 and may benefit Indian drug firms and contract research organisations in a big way.
With financial results for the quarter round the corner, small- and medium-sized, export-oriented pharmaceutical companies are expecting a 5-10 per cent decline in their bottom line for the April-June period, owing to the rupee appreciation.
In comparison, Indian companies received only 23 out of 139 final approvals (16.54 per cent) in the corresponding period in 2006.
Dilip Shanghvi founded Sun Pharma in 1983.
A recent court ruling in the US on allowing the declaratory judgment provision in the US patent law has come as a boost to Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma and Lupin.
Import alert on Ranbaxy's Mohali unit; Strides' injectible arm gets warning letter
Former US President Bill Clinton's foundation has reached an agreement with eight pharmaceutical companies worldwide, including India's Cipla and Ranbaxy, to drastically lower the prices of AIDS tests and drugs.
Not too long ago, authorised generics were used by the big US-based pharmaceutical companies to thwart competition from makers of generic drugs
NPPA suggests expanding the list of essential medicines whose prices are controlled
Dinesh Thakur is famous for exposing Ranbaxy safety problems
Shanghvi needs to deploy this excess cash.
With the Jaypee acquisition, the Suraksha group, which made lenders an offer of Rs 7,736 crore, will be able to expand its footprint in north India after making inroads in Mumbai's real estate market over the past year. Sudhir Valia, the promoter, was a co-founder and executive director of India's biggest pharmaceutical firm, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and is a close relative of Dilip Shanghvi.
Unhappy with Chinese machinery and raw materials they have been importing so far, Pakistani pharmaceutical companies are now longing to increase their business ties with India, and asked New Delhi to relax the "stringent visa norms".
Recently, Ranbaxy and Wockhardt too were hauled up.
The US continues to be the most important part of our overseas portfolio
The Tata group has earmarked about Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) for investment over the next four years in Advinus Therapeutics, a joint venture floated by it and ex-Ranbaxy research head Rashmi Barbhaiya.
Various domestic companies such as Ranbaxy, Wockhardt and Agila Specialities recently came under the US FDA scanner for lapse in manufacturing practices.
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