The department also said there is nothing to suggest that the state authorities failed to address any shortage of COVID-19 drugs.
The new regime aims to bring in ease of doing business, as the NITI Aayog has proposed to do away with the need to have manufacturing licences to register medical devices or to get a certificate of compliance.
Indian drug firms get a shot in the arm in the $12 bn Australian drug market as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia agrees to accelerate the drug approval process in that country for Indian players who already have an approved plant and product from one of the stringent regulatory authorities like US, EU or Canada. From current sales of $340 mn, the Indian firms can see a significant upside in sales; felt Dinesh Dua, former chairman of the Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), and the MD of Nectar Lifesciences. He highlighted that only 12 percent of the Australian drug market is generic, as against 80-90 per cent in the US or EU. Of this $1.5 bn generic drug market in India, Indian companies have a small share.
In an order, the government's Drugs Control Department said that the step has been taken to address reports of "acute shortage of COVID-19 management drugs due to a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in Delhi".
There are just 1,500 drug inspectors responsible for more than 10,000 factories in India
Even as the Supreme Court had recently dismissed the industry's plea against prices fixed by the regulator and its timely implementation, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has asked companies to pay the overcharged dues with 15 per cent interest.
The government hopes that the PLI schemes would provide 200,000-300,000 direct employment over five years, according to sources in the know.
Delhi's drugs control department has told the Delhi high court that it has launched prosecution against Gautam Gambhir Foundation and Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, Imran Hussain and Praveen Kumar, before a court for allegedly illegally stocking and distributing Covid drugs during the infection's second wave.
Niclosamide, a drug on the World Health Organisation's list of essential medicines, has been used to treat tapeworm infestation for more than 50 years. The oral antiviral drug was also used to treat patients during the SARS outbreak of 2003-04.
FabiFlu is the first oral favipiravir-approved medication in India for the treatment of COVID-19. Favipiravir can be used for coronavirus patients with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes and heart disease with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
With intermittent disruptions in the supply chain of raw materials from China, the Indian pharma industry has braced itself with bigger inventory. Even smaller drug makers are now carrying a month of buffer stock of key raw materials, said industry insiders. The lockdown in various Chinese provinces, including Shanghai, is likely to delay shipments by two weeks to a month, said domestic players. Shipments are critical for the Indian drug industry, which imports 70 per cent of its raw material from China.
'Three central agencies hounding a single woman, just because she was in love with a drug addict and a person suffering from mental health issues'
The Centre is looking to procure around 1 billion syringes between September and December to support the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
To burnish production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, the government is considering an overhaul of some of them relating to sectors such as textiles and pharma, and making incentive payments quarterly, officials in the know said. In a bid to cut the delay in processing incentive claims, the government is looking at switching to a quarterly disbursement of incentives. Currently, in most schemes, incentives are annual.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance has approached regulator for a dialogue to understand the concern raised by it
A case against Majithia under various sections of the NDPS Act was registered on the basis of a 2018 status report of probe into the drug racket in the state.
The NCB has widened its probe into a recent seizure of about 50 kg of heroin from a house in south Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area with the arrest of three more people on Friday, officials said.
'A long-term investor with a 4 to 5 year horizon could invest in this theme via SIPs.'
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture the Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine in India for examination, test and analysis with certain conditions, official sources said.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has seized about 50 kg of 'high-quality' heroin and arrested a man after it conducted raids in the Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the federal anti-narcotics agency said on Thursday, claiming to have busted an Indo-Afghan drug-smuggling racket.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that the Constitution of India is 'blank' because he has never read it.
The government is expediting visa-related issues to bring technicians to India from any country, not just China, as and when required, to ensure the smooth implementation of the flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing. "If those under the PLI scheme need to get their equipment installed, we try to expedite the ability to get technicians into India from any country, whichever it may be," Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Business Standard in an interview.
"The licence for the drug was obtained on the basis of the traditional knowledge and experience related to the medicinal virtues of Ashwagandha, Giloy and Tulsi," Patanjali spokesperson S K Tijarawala said.
'Someone posts a job on LinkedIn and there are a thousand resumes in an hour? This is not the America IT professionals are used to.' 'Once they lose their job, it's impossible to get a job.'
The company has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to market Itolizumab injection 25mg/5mL solution for emergency use in India for the treatment of cytokine release syndrome in moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19.
Negotiations for a trade deal between India and the UK have run into fresh controversy, after the proposals under a leaked chapter of the deal on intellectual property (IP) are believed to put access to affordable, lifesaving generic medicines from India at risk. According to the draft IP chapter put out by an international trade portal bilaterals.org, the UK is seeking continuous extension of patent period and rights through small tweaks in the drug, known as evergreening. This may prevent patents from expiring, impacting cheaper drug availability and its production by Indian generic drug manufacturers.
The NCB has so far arrested 16 people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, 23, in the drug seizure case.
Research and development (R&D) spending by BSE 100 companies has grown steadily, rising from 0.89 per cent of revenue in FY20 to 1.32 per cent in FY24, averaging around 1 per cent over the period in-between, according to data compiled from Bloomberg and company annual reports. Also, these companies more than doubled their R&D spending in absolute terms over these five years: From Rs 25,041 crore to Rs 63,072 crore. While this reflects a prioritisation of innovation, corporate R&D investment remains relatively conservative.
Cipla is recalling the drug for failed impurities and degradation specifications.
'If somebody wants to finish the country and more particularly from the border state, they will start with the borders. Every extra caution should be taken to save the country. Tell your government to be very serious. They have to take every effort to save the country, it is very easy to ruin the youth'
But it is not clear when the jabs will arrive in the country as a consensus on the indemnity clause is yet to be reached, sources said.
The police have so far seized approximately 1,700 kg of mephedrone from Pune and a couple of locations in Delhi.
The CBI probe was ordered following a recommendation by Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on the matter in December last year.
The original list had named 349 drugs, but 15 drugs, approved prior to 1988, have been kept outside the purview of the ban
The move comes in the wake of many facilities of Ranbaxy in India being barred by the US Food and Drugs Administration for supplying medicines to the US.
Terming the judgement as a 'landmark judgement' in favour of poor patients, domestic drug manufacturer associations, including Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association, hailed the apex court's decision.
The NCB, which got the remand of Aryan Khan and the other eight accused from the court till Thursday, also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats he is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used.
'The world over, everybody is asking for the same medicines, same APIs, same KSMs.' 'However, there is just one supplier -- China -- for the entire world.'
Codeine-based formulations are under the scanner for misuse as a narcotic product.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, facing arrest in an NDPS case, involving sale, purchase and manufacturing of drugs among other offences, was on Monday granted anticipatory bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
