Novartis India Ltd, whose 60 products are being boycotted by the traders for indulging in the practice of selling some of the life saving drugs directly to the consumers, has defended the action by saying that such practices are geared towards ensuring that the patients receive superior quality products at all times.

"These products mandatorily need to be stored under very special conditions including air-conditioning for 24 hours, refrigeration at specific temperatures to ensure effectiveness in outcome. Automated temperature logs need to be continuously maintained to ensure that storage conditions are met at all times. Any abuse of these conditions could result in product potency and efficacy being seriously compromised and this could have serious consequences to the patient particularly since these are life saving drugs. Product needs to be available round the clock to meet emergency needs of patients for whom availability is critical. In some cases patients need monitoring for dosage," the company's corporate communications head Svetlana Pinto said in a statement.

Dubbing the boycott threat of the trade as against the interest of the patients as critical drugs will go off the shelves, Novartis revealed that it had proposed pilot runs to the trade at select locations but this was not satisfactorily done. So, in the interest of the patient it was discontinued. In India, the cold chain supply infrastructure still has a long way to go before it meets international standards therefore the boycott is unwarranted at this point in time, the statement said.

Earlier, the Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association (PWA) and the Retail Dispensing Chemists and Druggists Association (RDCA) have started boycotting the Novartis products to protest against the company's unethical trade practices. The boycott was started in the Mumbai and Thane regions and the traders are threatening to extend the boycott in the other regions of the country if an amicable solution is not found soon.