Introduction
The Coronavirus outbreak, which brought great economies to it’s knees has not spared a single country. This outbreak was officially declared to be a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11 March, 2020. With all that is happening around the globe, the healthcare system has remained the epicenter of this epidemic and the Indian healthcare sector is no exception. Each passing day, with no signs of the cure or vaccine being found, has been exerting heavy pressure on the healthcare sector. This sector not only faces the problem of inadequacy of healthcare staff who have been working tirelessly the whole time, but also medical equipment, infrastructure, and most importantly medicines. Therefore, the onset of the pandemic has accelerated the promotion along with demand of Indian made generic drugs on a domestic as well as international level. In this article, we will take a closer look into the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the healthcare industry, specifically the generic drug market.
What is a Generic Drug?
Firstly, it is important to understand how a generic drug is different from other drugs sold in the market. A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that is created to have the same dosage, effects, safety, quality and characteristics as that of a pre-existing branded drug. The only actual difference between a generic drug and other branded drugs, is that generic drugs do not have a brand and the branded drugs do. Then why are generic drugs so important? Well, they are important because they are substantially cheaper than branded drugs. For example, popular drugs like Crocin (Rs.30.24 per strip with 15 tablets) is the branded version of the drug, whereas Paracetamol (Rs. 15 per strip with 15 tablets) is the generic name for these drugs.
The reason they are cheap is not because they are of inferior quality or they are unsafe to use, it is quite simply because of the fact that manufacturers of generic drugs have not had to incur the cost of developing and marketing a new drug. Most of the time, when a company need to develop a new drug, they need to pay for the research, testing, marketing and promotion of the drug. When they do release the drug for sale, they can file for a patent that gives them the sole authority to produce that drug. As the patent expires, other manufacturers can take permission from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation or CDSCO, to make and sell these drugs for cheaper prices. (More information on the drug testing and manufacturing licensing can be found on the CDSCO main website: www.cdsco.gov.in)
Generic drugs are beneficial and their production should be encouraged because they can be afforded by more people. India, being a predominantly poor country must ensure that it’s citizens get access to medicines as well as healthcare and promoting generic drugs will be beneficial in reaching this goal.
India’s Place in the Global Generic Drug Market and Impact of COVID-19
India is actually the leading producer and exporter of generic drugs in the world, exporting nearly US$ 20 billion worth of drugs in the past financial year alone (April 2019- march 2020). India also supplies around 40% of generic demand in US and 25% of all medicine in UK. India supplies affordable and low cost drugs to millions of people across more than a hundred countries. It is clear that India enjoys a very important position in the global market for generic drugs and pharmaceutical trade.
The Indian government has taken many steps to reduce healthcare costs and improve accessibility. Consequently, there has been an increasing focus and promotion of generic drug manufacturing. Increase in production of generic versions of life saving drugs has also taken place in order to promote availability of affordable medicine.
As the corona virus outbreak started to become a global concern, India has restricted the export of generic drugs along with other medicines abroad to cater to the shortage of medicine which is feared to become a big obstacle along with other concerns. These drugs include tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, progesterone, chloramphenicol, ornidazole, formulations made of chloramphenicol, clindamycin salts, neomycin, and paracetamol.
In this time, the production along with consumption of generic drugs namely Vitamin C, Multivitamins, Zinc tablets, Oseltamivir have increased domestically.
Apart from this, new developments in the attempt to treat coronavirus also is affecting the production of generic drugs. Gilead Sciences, Inc. is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Foster City, California. It is company that focuses on developing and producing antiviral drugs. This company’s investigational drug Remdesivir was being used to treat patients diagnosed with severe COVID-19 under Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Gilead recently signed a licencing agreement with Hetero, a leading Indian generic pharmaceutical company based in Hyderabad, for the manufacturing and distribution of Remdesivir. The company aims to manufacture Remdesivir and selling it in 127 countries including India. Soon after, Gilead Sciences ltd., entered licence agreement with another company, Jubilant Generics Limited based in Nanjangud, Karnataka for the production of their drug, Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19.
Such international collaborations are extremely crucial to collectively overcome difficult situations. The Indian generic companies have been providing low cost medicines to millions of people in poorer countries to bring better accessibility and affordability to those countries and continue to do so. The pandemic has only made it clearer how important generic drug market really is.
Conclusion
Indian generic drug manufactures have definitely played a vital role in combating the global pandemic not only within the country, but also in several other countries. They provide access to low cost and affordable medicine to people on an international scale. Therefore, in a country like ours, where a substantial majority of the population is living in absolute poverty, it becomes essential to promote and support the use and production of generic drugs. India, as established above, already enjoys a very important role in the global trade of generic drugs, but could these new developments put greater focus on the generic market? What does this mean for branded drug manufacturers? Will their influence reduce? If so, will there be a change in the incentive to create new drugs? These are important questions that need to be looked into while studying the economic impact of the global pandemic on this industry. Due to the fact that the country also has a large pool of doctors, engineers and scientists, the potential for growth of the generic drug industry is quite high. This industry, with the current state of the world, is expected to continue expanding with the growing demand for affordable healthcare.
References
Dr. Dadhich, A. (2020, April 21). The COVID-19 pandemic and the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Retrieved from European Pharmaceutical Review website:https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/article/117413/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-the-indian-pharmaceutical-industry/
Generic Drugs, Are They as Good as Brand Names? (2014, December). Retrieved from MedicineNet website:https://www.medicinenet.com/generic_drugs_are_they_as_good_as_brand-names/views.htm
Joshi, S. S., Shetty, Y. C., & Karande, S. (2019). Generic drugs - The Indian scenario. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 65(2), 67–69.https://doi.org/10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_420_18
N. R. KUMAR. (2020, May 12). COVID-19: Hetero to make Gilead’s Remdesivir in Hyderabad. Retrieved from The Hindu website:https://www.thehindu.com/business/covid-19-hetero-to-make-gileads-remdesivir-in-hyderabad/article31571171.ece
Pharma Industry in India: Pharma Sector Overview, Market Size, Analysis...| IBEF. (2018). Retrieved from Ibef.org website:https://www.ibef.org/industry/pharmaceutical-india.aspx
Phukan, R. S. (2016, June 20). Generic Drugs in India: More Awareness Required | My India. Retrieved from My India website:https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/society/generic-drugs-in-india-more-awareness-required
PTI. (2020, March 3). COVID-19: India restricts drug exports as threat of coronavirus rises. Retrieved from The Hindu website:https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-restricts-drug-exports-as-threat-of-coronavirus-rises/article30973338.ece
Sharma, V. B. (2020, May 22). From Disruptive Covid Chaos, Comes an Opportunity for India’s Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved from The Wire website:https://thewire.in/business/from-disruptive-covid-chaos-comes-an-opportunity-for-indias-pharmaceutical-industry
The COVID-19 pandemic and the Indian pharmaceutical industry. (2020, April 21). Retrieved from European Pharmaceutical Review website:https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/article/117413/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-the-indian-pharmaceutical-industry/
Comments