The small scale drug units in the country are all set to initiate a campaign to disprove the charges that they are mainly involved in the manufacture, marketing and export of spurious drugs in the country.

According to the information available with Pharmabiz, one among the top priority issues that came up for discussion at the inaugural meeting of the newly launched apex body of the SSI drug makers in the country, Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industries (CIPI) at New Delhi, was to find ways to counter the threat posed by the spurious drug market.

In order to bring in the necessary candor in their functioning, the licensed drug makers are planning to collect comprehensive data of all the licensed SSI drug makers in the country, including state-wise classifications, addresses, type of manufacturing and with details of the manufacturing drug. It is expected that this would be helpful to the drug industry monitoring mechanisms to identify other units into spurious drug making.

"It is for sure, no licensed manufacturer with a sense of responsibility will manufacture spurious drugs. All the licensed drug makers maintain records of what all they make, get clearances from time to time, and are always under the scrutiny of the Drug Inspector's office. Then what is the point in alleging that SSIs are responsible for spurious drugs" asks T.S.Jaishankar, Chairma of CIPI.

CIPI is also planning to bring this matter to the notice of the authorities, including central health, SSI and industry ministries, besides bringing it to the notice of the public through media campaigns.

A majority of the industry representatives felt that the allegations, stamped on the SSI sector for sometime, were the handiwork of the multinational companies who were keen on wiping out the SSIs. They feel that since most of the spurious drug manufacturing concerns are thriving in remote areas and far off villages, mainly in the suburbs of the North Indian pharmaceutical industry belts, the authorities have not been able to track them down and bring under the clutches of law.

It may be noted that various data suggest the spurious drugs have cornered 20 per cent of Indian drug market worth Rs.4000 crore. India is the leading spurious drug manufacturing country in the world and accounts for 35 percent of the global spurious drug market, according to a WHO study report.