Even as the Indian pharmaceutical industry continues to make its global presence felt, the increasing menace of counterfeit drugs sourced from India remains a threat to the country?s image. A recent report on counterfeiting released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned about India?s ?wicked? role in the supply of counterfeit drugs across the world. The OECD Survey 2005, released last month, says counterfeit active pharmaceuticals ingredients (APIs) resourced in India were detected in 33 countries.
Also in 2005, based on the European Commission?s Taxation and Custom Union (TAXUD) statistics, 75% of fake medicines cases originated from India, 7% from Egypt, and 6% from China, the report says.
However, officials with the Indian bulk drugs manufacturing industry seem to be unaware of such incidents. Krishna Reddy, secretary, Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA) said that he is not aware of such a study. ?We don?t think fake APIs are outsourced from India,? he said.
As per a study by Italy’s Chemical Pharmaceutical Generic Association (CPA), the Indian API manufacturing industry is the third largest in the world with sales of $2 billion in 2005 and is expected to do sales of $4.8bn by 2010, with an average yearly growth rate of 19.3%.
According to an earlier EU report, counterfeiters accept crude methods for manufacturing drugs. For instance, the fake of a much sought after cardiovascular drug consisted of a mixture of brick dust, with yellow paint used to mark roads to give it a color similar to that of genuine medicine and furniture polish to give a nice shiny finish.
Through mushrooming Internet pharmacies, India plays another role in fake drug selling. An August 2005 study showed that 85% of Internet drugs purported to be from Canada actually came from 27 other countries, including India, Costa Rica and Vanuatu (an island in the South Pacific Ocean), the OECD survey says.
However, the reported cases of counterfeiting are less in India compared with other developed countries. In 2005, India stands at the 8th position among the jurisdictions with the most reported incidents of counterfeiting. China, Russia and the United States stand in the first three positions, respectively.
Producers of APIs in China and India distribute in Korea, Chinese Taipei, or surrounding countries for finishing and packaging. Their products are not necessarily intended for local consumption, but are often produced for retail pharmacies and distributors and Internet based customers throughout the world, the survey says.