In the face of phenomenal rise in the price of penicillin G (pen G), whose price has risen from $6 to $20 per billion unit in the last six month, some of the Indian companies may restart the production of pen G which they had closed when the price became unviable due to the entry of cheap Chinese material into the country.

According to sources, Alembic Ltd, JK Pharmachem and Hindustan Antibiotics are weighing options to reopen the production of pen G as the price has now become viable. All these units had closed the production of pen G some five years ago, as they could not stand the onslaught of cheap Chinese imports. Since then, the Chinese variant has been the major player. From the domestic players, only SPIC Pharmaceuticals were in the market.

"Some of the Indian companies are reviewing the situation to reopen the production of pen G as the price has become viable now. There is no chance of the price coming down sharply in the near future", Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA) president Narayan Reddy said.

Pen G is the key raw material for making antibiotics used to treat diseases such as pneumonia, syphilis, meningitis, septicemia, etc. As the domestic pharma companies closed their units, around 200 ton of pen G is imported from China every month for making these antibiotics.

The major contributory reason for the steep hike in the prices of pen G was the sharp cut in production of pen G in China after the Chinese government asked a large number of pharma units to close down their units due to the stringent environment standards imposed in China following the scare that the Chinese-made foods and medicines contained a chemical used in anti-freeze compounds.

The sharp rise in the price of pen G will also have its echo on the prices of antibiotics. According to industry experts, there will be at least 25-30 per cent increase in the prices of antibiotics in the country in the coming months.