COVID-19 exposes India’s dependence on China for active pharma ingredients

[Dark1]

How nice if less of BRAGGING INDIAN TROLLS and more of poster like yourself who will post facts and reasonable POV.
Stating facts is not bragging, and we can debate on those facts, albeit facts from India are not very reliable like how India calculates its GDP.
India is Healthcare Supa Powa, so why all this fuss and SHITTING IN THE PANTS over APIs from China.

https://www.ha-asia.com/why-india-still-depends-on-apis-imported-from-china/
Why India depends heavily on China for drug raw materials?
January 3, 2020
Owing to the low-profit margin on APIs, Indian drug manufacturers consider it as a viable option to import APIs, make formulation drugs and export them. “The three factors responsible for over-dependence on Chinese imports are – wage cost, infrastructure facilities and tax benefits,” stated Dr Sakthivel.

So Indian drug manufacturers are GORGING HUGE PROFITS so it is better to import cheaper from China with 4 times higher labor cost.
In other words, Chinese are honest and their products are value for money.
.

Exactly what I said. In global manufacturing, except for strategic industries, cost is a major factor. Why make if you can get it cheap and you have the money ? Though for 3rd world countries like India, employment can be a major factor. But pharmaceutical industries are highly automated, with low employment levels. BD is doing well by taking a huge part of the labour intensive clothing industry.

 

[drunken-monke]

How nice if less of BRAGGING INDIAN TROLLS and more of poster like yourself who will post facts and reasonable POV.
Stating facts is not bragging, and we can debate on those facts, albeit facts from India are not very reliable like how India calculates its GDP.
India is Healthcare Supa Powa, so why all this fuss and SHITTING IN THE PANTS over APIs from China.

https://www.ha-asia.com/why-india-still-depends-on-apis-imported-from-china/
Why India depends heavily on China for drug raw materials?
January 3, 2020
Owing to the low-profit margin on APIs, Indian drug manufacturers consider it as a viable option to import APIs, make formulation drugs and export them. “The three factors responsible for over-dependence on Chinese imports are – wage cost, infrastructure facilities and tax benefits,” stated Dr Sakthivel.

So Indian drug manufacturers are GORGING HUGE PROFITS so it is better to import cheaper from China with 4 times higher labor cost.
In other words, Chinese are honest and their products are value for money.
.

I think you have not gone completely through my previous posts.. Please read first..
India and china are way behind USA and EU in development of new medicine. We don't have neither the institutional structure nor business case for new drug development . The only Shuppa Power is USA followed by europe in field of medicine..

 

[sinait]

I think you have not gone completely through my previous posts.. Please read first..
India and china are way behind USA and EU in development of new medicine. We don't have neither the institutional structure nor business case for new drug development . The only Shuppa Power is USA followed by europe in field of medicine..

So why this fighting each other?
Quickly pool resources and gain your fair share in this world economic pie.
I read some Indians bragging how superior they are in pharmacy and medical to their Pakistani counterparts, hence Healthcare Supa Powa India.

Chinese always claim they are trying to catch up but are near to parity or exceed in some fields to the real Superpower.
That is why the US is shaking in their boots, shamelessly deploying all means to egg Indians against Chinese.
Just Imagine if India were to cooperate with China, in addition to Russia.
Just like how Indians and Chinese work together in Singapore.
Game Over.
.

 

[Dark1]

So why this fighting each other?
Quickly pool resources and gain your fair share in this world economic pie.
I read a lot of India bragging how superior they are in pharmacy and medical to their Pakistani counterparts, hence Healthcare Supa Powa India.

Chinese always claim they are trying to catch up but are near to parity or exceed in some fields to the real Superpower.
That is why the US is shaking in their boots, shamelessly deploying all means to egg Indians against Chinese.
Just Imagine if India were to cooperate with China, in addition to Russia.
Just like how Indians and Chinese work together in Singapore.
Game Over.
.

Having worked with Chinese, best to keep them at a distance. Some of the most unscrupulous, crooked ,unethical people ever. And this is from the Chinese themselves. Proudly telling us that the quality they supply in the local market is even worse , after I rejected their equipment.

 

[sinait]

Having worked with Chinese, best to keep them at a distance. Some of the most unscrupulous, crooked ,unethical people ever. And this is from the Chinese themselves. Proudly telling us that the quality they supply in the local market is even worse , after I rejected their equipment.

If that is the case, why are Made In China products selling all over the world?
Why so many Indian traders trust the Chinese, giving China $60 Billion trade surplus.

Having bought 1 Indian made machine, that don't work, I say stay away from Indian products.
Is that why India buys so much China made machines and machinery?
I was once with Sandvik, we shudder to order products from our Indian subsidiary even if its cheap.

We all know how ethical Indians are, or NOT, so save your babbling.
Exception are Indian pharmaceuticals, but here also buyers beware.
.

 

[Dark1]

If that is the case, why are Made In China products selling all over the world?
Why so many Indian traders trust the Chinese, giving China $60 Billion trade surplus.

Having bought 1 Indian made machine, that don't work, I say stay away from Indian products.
Is that why India buys so much China made machines and machinery?
I was once with Sandvik, we shudder to order products from our Indian subsidiary even if its cheap.

We all know how ethical Indians are, or NOT, so save your babbling.
Exception are Indian pharmaceuticals, but here also buyers beware.
.

You are not factual. Even our sworn enemies the Pakistanis buy billions worth of goods from india every year, but even they never complain about the quality.
While if you watch Pakistani videos on YouTube, chinese maal(goods) is a derogatory term meaning poor quality. The only good quality is the mnc controlled stuff made in china , not homegrown Chinese stuff.

 

[sinait]

You are not factual. Even our sworn enemies the Pakistanis buy billions worth of goods from india every year, but even they never complain about the quality.
While if you watch Pakistani videos on YouTube, chinese maal(goods) is a derogatory term meaning poor quality. The only good quality is the mnc controlled stuff made in china , not homegrown Chinese stuff.

China no need for worry if Indians are delusional like you.
Supa Powa India, Number 1 World Goods Production because Pakistan buy billions from India.

Bye Bye, have SWEET DREAMS.
.

 

[drunken-monke]

So why this fighting each other?
Quickly pool resources and gain your fair share in this world economic pie.
I read some Indians bragging how superior they are in pharmacy and medical to their Pakistani counterparts, hence Healthcare Supa Powa India.

Chinese always claim they are trying to catch up but are near to parity or exceed in some fields to the real Superpower.
That is why the US is shaking in their boots, shamelessly deploying all means to egg Indians against Chinese.
Just Imagine if India were to cooperate with China, in addition to Russia.
Just like how Indians and Chinese work together in Singapore.
Game Over.
.

See, China had made great strides in the field of Engineering (structures), electronics and aerospace. Also in case of metallurgy as well, however still not able to catch as off now, eventually someday they will. However, in case of medicine its different ball game. If you can get data from all over the world, how many new medicine China and India have discovered? Probably none. Off course China is giant in generic Bulk drug and India is in generic Finished dosage form. It will take years and years to catch up with western counterparts in field of Medicine discovery. The only Asian country which has discovered modern medicine is Japan (Takida Pharma).

Shinnong Bencao Jing was probably the first Pharmacopoeia of the world along with Ayurveda. Both the civilizations were miles ahead in the field of medicine and physiology.
Perhaps India and China lost their way in the field of discovery because both the nations failed to acclimatize with change in dynamics of the modern medicine. We are still catching and believe me, we are way behind in discovery. We are good in generics but new discovery is order of the day.
And yes, India and China are co-operating a lot in field of Generic medicine, irrespective of what people say here.

China no need for worry if Indians are delusional like you.
Supa Powa India, Number 1 World Goods Production because Pakistan buy billions from India.

Bye Bye, have SWEET DREAMS.
.

Pakistan do not buy directly from India, it source the same through gulf.
Pakistani Pharmaceutical industry is way behind when compared with Pharma industries of other developing nations.

 

[CrazyZ]

try harder dear...

Not sure where these numbers come from, but I have seen many articles stating that India gets a large percentage of its API from China. That's why they banned pharmaceutical exports when supplies chains to China were disrupted. Indians are very active in re-exporting to the USA market in many things.

 

[Chhatrapati]

Not sure where these numbers come from, but I have seen many articles stating that India gets a large percentage of its API from China. That's why they banned pharmaceutical exports when supplies chains to China were disrupted. Indians are very active in re-exporting to the USA market in many things.

It's like saying Pakistani textile exports are re-exported cotton from India.

 

[dbc]

Not sure where these numbers come from, but I have seen many articles stating that India gets a large percentage of its API from China. That's why they banned pharmaceutical exports when supplies chains to China were disrupted. Indians are very active in re-exporting to the USA market in many things.

From the FDA website,see post #11

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/covi...tive-pharma-ingredients.660330/#post-12211614

 

[CrazyZ]

From the FDA website,see post #11

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/covi...tive-pharma-ingredients.660330/#post-12211614

FDA has to review its information.

 

[drunken-monke]

FDA has to review its information.

You don't know what you are talking about.

USFDA sets the trend the for the whole world.. Their data, regulations, standards are followed by the whole world.

meanwhile, how many USFDA approved manufacturing sites in Pakistan??

 

[ohmrlobalobayeh]

I think you have not gone completely through my previous posts.. Please read first..
India and china are way behind USA and EU in development of new medicine. We don't have neither the institutional structure nor business case for new drug development . The only Shuppa Power is USA followed by europe in field of medicine..

Wa.

Lumping India's impotency with china.

So why this fighting each other?
Quickly pool resources and gain your fair share in this world economic pie.
I read some Indians bragging how superior they are in pharmacy and medical to their Pakistani counterparts, hence Healthcare Supa Powa India.

Chinese always claim they are trying to catch up but are near to parity or exceed in some fields to the real Superpower.
That is why the US is shaking in their boots, shamelessly deploying all means to egg Indians against Chinese.
Just Imagine if India were to cooperate with China, in addition to Russia.
Just like how Indians and Chinese work together in Singapore.
Game Over.
.

Even in Singapore, we dont work with them.

Except in some MNCs, u can hardly find an Indian in a local S&M company, which is overwhelmingly controlled by Chinese bosses(unless its boss is Indian, of cos).

Indians have a different attitude towards work.

I find their 'tardiness is ok' attitude the most disgusting

Chinese bosses r reluctant to hire Indian staff, but its the opposite for the other way round.

Guys i suggest to just take that fda piechart as boosheet.

The name already tells u- Food and Drug Administration- of the US

Its taking into account for only US-approved/certified plants n facilities

Let the cultural liars here jerk themselves to self-happiness.

India's pharmaceutical reselling industry will collapse overnight if china halts the API supply line to them.

 

[Surya 1]

COVID-19 exposes India’s dependence on China for active pharma ingredients
India imports around 90 per cent of APIs used to make antibiotics, says an expert
By Kundan Pandey
Last Updated: Tuesday 07 April 2020

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed India’s overdependence on China for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) — also known as bulk drugs — defined by the World Health Organization as any substances used in finished pharmaceutical products.

India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third-largest in the world in terms of volume.

Two-thirds of the total imports of bulk drugs or drug intermediaries, however, come from China, DV Sadananda Gowda, the Union minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, told the Lok Sabha on February 2020.

India imports around 90 per cent of APIs used to make antibiotics, according to Ashok Madan, the executive director of the Indian Drug Manufacturer Association.

The fear of not receiving the required number of APIs from China was so high that policy makers scrambled to order several measures just before the 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced.

The Union government announced the constitution of a committee under the chairmanship of Eshwara Reddy, Joint Drugs Controller, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in March to address the issue of drug security in the country.

It also announced a package to revive the API industry in the country.

The irony in these measures emerged from the fact that the government understood the importance of reviving the industry years ago. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had warned in 2014 that Chinese dependence of APIs could be a national security threat.

The UPA government had constituted a committee under VM Katoch in 2013 on this issue. The report, submitted in 2015, suggested several measures including the establishment of exclusive parks.

A draft policy had also emerged in 2017 over this. No progress was, however, made on this draft, with nothing changing on ground.

Indian manufacturers had to control pollution and be economically competitive at the same time, according to Reji K Joseph, an associate professor at the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development in New Delhi.

This was why the Indian industry lagged behind China, according to him.

India had exported APIs during the 1990s and was far ahead than China, according to Madan.

China strategically supported its core industry at a time when India had opened up its economy, with private players getting the freedom to either import or locally procure APIs based on economic viability.

The Chinese industry received huge state support, by getting almost no land cost, negligible financial cost, cheap electricity, water and labour and began to dump Penicillin G in India.

Chinese firms outperformed Indian manufacturers like Hindustan Antibiotic in the public sector and private sector enterprises like Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Alembic Pharma, Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd and JK Pharmachem, that were engages in manufacturing Penicillin G.

Manufacturing units in the country still have an edge despite an increase in labour costs because of several reasons, including 10-12 per cent of subsidies in export given by the government that are untraceable, said Madan.

China allowed a relaxation in environmental norms till 2015, when the Beijing Olympics were organized, according to experts.

The first environmental facility inspection in China was conducted in 2015 in Hebei, China’s most-polluted province.

Approximately 150 API manufacturers in China shut their facilities in 2016-18, as a result, according to a white paper published by consultancy firm Beroe in July 2019.

Indian API firms have been under strict scrutiny for pollution, all this while.

The central pollution control board identified the API sector as one among 18 highly-polluting industries in the country.

The Indian industry was forced to follow stringent environmental regulation and fight red tape, according to Madan. The API sector was kept in the same grouping as other chemical industries, according to him.

This crisis led to a slowdown of the industry that found it easier to purchase APIs from China rather than investing in local industry.

Technology and scale needed

India needs technology that ensures less pollution and cheap raw materials to compete with Chinese companies, according to Joseph.

Chinese firms use cheaper raw materials like cauliflower for fermentation, while Indian companies use glucose and lactose as raw materials and use submerged fermentation technology that requires costlier bio-reactors, said Joseph.

Private players did not show interest in research and development because of an uncertain future, he added.

Scale was also something that India lagged in, compared to China. India also had fermenters with lesser capacities, compared to China, said Madan.

Penicillin G, azythromycin, several antibiotics, statins and many others are made through fermentation.

The conductors where maize, corn or other raw materials are added, vary in size from 200-20,000 litres.

This needs an investment of Rs 300-500 crore and three to four years of time.

The government is very keen that industry should set up and enter the fermentation business. The industry, however, also needs policy guarantees.

A long term strategy and a clear-cut policy for all possible situations will need to be chalked out.

The government should also push public sector institutions to invest in technology, said Joseph.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news...-on-china-for-active-pharma-ingredients-70272

Global times says that china needs Indian drugs and it is smuggled in a big way in under ground market. Whole knows that chines are dying without drugs and hence they smuggle the drugs from India. Shitty chinese doctors and hospitals are not capable of diagnosing and treating Chinese patients. They travel to india for medical treatment. Chinese drugs are sub standard and very costly. If India imports some ingredients or chemical from china because they are cheap, Chinese posters blurs here that India depends on China for drugs etc where the reality is otherwise.


It's time for Indian pharmaceutical companies to embrace the Chinese market
By Tian Guangqiang Source:Global Times Published: 2018/6/10 22:53:40
5

Illustration: Xia Qing/GT


Accounting for 10 percent of the global pharmaceutical industry in terms of volume, India has become the "pharmacy of the world." Even in China, there are frequent cases of smuggling and selling Indian-made drugs, and the enormous underground market for Indian medicine is a sign of the huge demand for cost-efficient treatments for cancer and other diseases in China.

With the further opening-up of the Chinese market and improving China-India relations, expanding imports of Indian drugs is expected. The prospect of closer bilateral cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry is promising.

With an estimated $30 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2017, India is playing a leading role in the world pharmaceutical industry, especially in generic drugs. It is the largest generic drug provider globally, taking up 20 percent of generic-drug exports by volume.

The Indian pharmaceutical sector has many advantages. The sector has price advantages due to the low cost of land, labor, utilities and equipment. A production line in India costs 40 percent less than in Western countries, and labor costs 50 percent to 55 percent as much.

Another key factor leading to a prosperous pharmaceutical industry is related to Indian law and policy.

India's 1970 Patent Act granted drugs "process patents," which allow the same product to be patented again as long as there is a tweak in the process, no matter how minor. The immediate result is that Indian pharmaceutical companies can legally copy patented drugs from international specialists, laying the foundation for development later on.

The law was amended in 2005 under lobbying and pressure from Western countries, but the door was still left wide open for generic drugs. The amendments didn't stop "evergreening" patents, which seek to prolong a monopoly with a variant. Meanwhile, government price ceilings and fierce competition have kept drug prices very low.

Also, many Indian pharmaceutical companies have adopted various methods - not limited to merger and acquisition deals - to cooperate with their international counterparts. Some Indian companies have grown into multinational giants themselves. The sector has also attracted a significant amount of foreign direct investment.

Despite the Indian market's size, Indian medicines are rarely seen in the Chinese market and import volumes are limited. In May, China ended tariffs on 28 drugs including those essential for cancer treatment.

Indian drug companies with their competitive prices can greatly benefit from the move. Patients in China will have more options, which will provide incentives for domestic pharmaceutical companies to speed up research and development to cope with approaching competition.

However, the win-win deal has not attracted many Indian companies. Most of the Indian companies take a wait-and-see stance, since they are concerned the field test and approval process will be too long.

The Central Drug Standard Control Organization in India borrowed the regulatory system from Western countries. It is easier for Indian drug producers to obtain approvals from food and drug regulators in the US and UK. In 2017, Indian companies received 304 Abbreviated New Drug Application approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration, according to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation.

China's regulatory system is different from those in India and the US. Drugs are special products that affect human health, so China is moving very deliberately and cautiously. Despite the low cost and high quality of Indian drugs, there are still plenty of fake drugs from India. The field test and approval process indeed takes longer for India than it does for other countries.

To encourage innovation, China initiated significant drug and medical device regulatory reforms in 2017. Changes are already taking place. As the backlog of applications is processed, the approval time will get shorter. wIt is time for Indian pharmaceutical companies to abandon their concerns and embrace the opportunity that exists in China. Joint development in the pharmaceutical industry can be expected as China imports more Indian drugs.

The author is assistant research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1106384.shtml