The union health ministry's recent directive to state drug licensing authorities to grant or renew manufacturing licenses only in generic names will affect the job opportunities of the medical representatives of the country, said Karunai Kadal, the president of the branded drug manufacturers association (CIPMMA) in Tamil Nadu.

He said the manufacturers of branded drugs are employing more medical representatives for promoting their products and brand names. The decision of the DCGI will help lose the jobs of the pharma sales representatives in the country. “If there are no brands, there is no need of representatives. For promoting generics, representatives are not required,” the president of the Consortium of Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Marketers Association said.

Kadal, who is the managing director of Beeline Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd., Thanjavur, said the government’s decision to write prescription in generic names will bring adverse results to the society and the market will be flooded with cheaper products. “Their intention is to make available less expensive generic variants, but some generics are sold higher than the rates of branded ones,” he added by telling that the industry is now in panic.

CIPMMA is an association of manufacturers of branded drugs and they market their own products with brand names. According to the association, they are giving jobs to more than 3000 medical representatives.

Meanwhile, Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Association of India's Tamil Nadu state secretary R Ramesh Sundar said the government has taken the decision based on the concept that there will be plenty of off-patented drugs after 2015 and more generic products will be available in the market. He said FMRAI is now studying the issue and waiting for more clarification with regard to the DCGI order.

The doctors’ knowledge about new medicines is poor. It is the medical representatives who update the knowledge about new medicines to them. So the role of medical representatives is important not only in selling drugs, but also in disseminating information about drugs.

“This attempt of the DCGI will help the multinationals only. If the generic promotion is related to price control, we welcome it, but if it is for helping the big companies and spoiling the careers of the working medical representatives, we will not be silent over it,” Sundar added.

Coming down heavily on the union ministry’s order, the Indian Pharmaceutical Association Tamil Nadu branch president MM Yusuf said pharma sector needs branded products as they are the “own babies” of the companies which are quality oriented. He said if there is no brand name, any drug can be sold through the counter in the name of generics.

“We are putting so much efforts to develop a brand name. To give maximum therapeutic efficacy, we are complying several parameters. The branded products are quality products and extra care is given for quality. The manufacturers of branded products import high quality raw materials and following all GMP norms,” Yusuf said.