The small-scale pharmaceutical sector should start a cooperative movement to face foreign competition after the implementation of patent laws in 2005, says deputy drug controller (India), West Zone, Dr M Venkateswaralu.

While addressing a workshop on packaging, `Expanding Horizons, organized by Bilcare, Dr Venkateswarlu appealed to the small sector, ``the small scale sector in pharmaceutical industry is now in situation where it must adopt a cooperative stand and upgrade the standards to achieve and maintain a specific level of GMP for its very survival."

He highlighted the cooperative movement in the milk sector in Gujarat and said that a similar movement in the small sector can go a long way in facing the competition the multinational would pose. In absence of a cooperative movement, it would be too difficult to bring in the finances that are required to gear up for the competition, he said.

Venkateswaralu, however, was of the view that there would be no drastic change in the industry due to patents. The scope of Indian pharmaceutical industry is bright. "The picture is not as gloomy as it is being projected. Out of around 20,000 crore formulations being sold here, not even 500 crore formulations would come under the patent laws,'' he said.

Knowing well what is happening in the Indian scenario, we are very good at competing by cutting prices. If the drugs introduced before 2005, at low prices, the 'giants' would refrain from entering the segment due to non-affordability, he added.

The Indian market would be very much with the Indian pharmaceutical segment. The need is to do something innovative by coming together and doing activities which are not competitive among yourself like services of a microbiologists shared between a few players and a cooperative purchase system which allows better room for negotiations, he told the small-scale manufacturers, adding that a message has to be sent that the small sector is strong and cannot be misled.

Talking about the need of cost-effective packaging system, the Deputy Drug Controller appealed to Bilcare's research team to categorise the 400 molecules in the pharmacopoeia on basis of the required packaging material, which would be cost-effective and ethically proper.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Bilcare president Praful K Naik said, "The manufacturing processes have stringent guidelines laid out. But, we fail to see any appropriate guideline defining the packaging requirement.''

Unfortunately packaging does not come under any regulation, not only in India, world over. The advantage with the developed countries is that they have created a comprehensive and stringent guideline for packaging material coming in direct contact with drugs or food.

Poor understanding of packaging technology amidst Indian pharmaceutical companies has forced them to take a huge beating in the international scenario. Lack of integration of packaging solutions in product development is one of the reasons for this, he said.

Naik elaborated on the concerns of a pharmaceutical manufacturer on packaging and said every Indian pharma major has been launching more than 50-70 products per year. The need is to develop an indigenous unique methodology to identify the sensitivity of any formulation with respect to the environmental conditions and then back-integrate to design a scientific and optimal packaging system suiting the needs of the product. It should also provide value additions in the sense of design cost.

Mohan Bhandari, Managing Director, Bilcare, also addressed the gathering. This was one of the first workshop on creating awareness among the pharmaceutical manufacturers, which the company plans to organise in several cities including Mumbai and Ahmedabad shortly.