As the curtains of CPhI China, the mega exhibition cum conference event for pharma and its allied industry, is set to go up at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), China on June 23, 2009, Indian pharma companies are bracing itself up to grab the potential business opportunity to explore the Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates market.
"CPhI China is an ideal platform to source intermediates and be familiar with the offerings made by Chinese API majors," Anjan K Roy, managing director, RL Fine Chem, and president, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA) told Pharmabiz.
"Indian pharma companies have been much dependent on China for a range of bulk drugs. In fact, China is the largest supplier of APIs in the world. The dragon land is also known for its manufacturing prowess, ability to produce large volumes and a variety of products. Chinese APIs and intermediates are available at lower costs," he added.
In the development of APIs, 80 per cent constitutes intermediates. China is known for mass scale production, which allows them to supply both API and intermediates at much lower costs than Indian suppliers. Some of these chemicals include thiocompounds, cephalosporins, antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, paracetamol, ampicyllin, amoxicillin and pantoprazole. It is also known for its capability in 6-AminoPenicillinic acid (6-APA).
According to the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), as China sells APIs at rock bottom prices, India pharma companies in the small and medium segment are facing a tough time when the global economic slow down is weakening domestic demand.
"However, Indian pharma industry is known for its inherent strengths in chemistry. It has the sound technical expertise in development of chemical synthesis. India also has the largest number of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved plants outside US and therefore only a bit of pragmatism and investment is required to strengthen India's API development programme," said Roy.
"The 2008 Beijing Olympics saw China shut down bulk drug plants to prevent environmental pollution. This caused Indian pharma sector experience the worst shortage in bulk drugs. This experience should be a lesson to Indian API companies. A natural calamity or any untoward incident in China could mar the supply of chemicals from that country. Our units should get ready to produce both volumes and variety in bulk drugs, which is the only way to withstand the Chinese competition" he added.