The Consortium of Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Marketers Association (CIPMMA), an association of manufacturers and marketers of branded pharma products in southern Tamil Nadu, is planning to set up a zonal office in the state capital by March 2012.

The four year old organization is planning an expansion of its activities with 9 new zonal offices covering the whole area of the state over the next year.

In the current year, the association has planned establishment of zonal offices in Coimbatore and in Salem, which were set up in last month. The executive committee meeting and state office-bearers meeting, which are scheduled this year to be conducted in Chennai in December will finalize the future plans, said Karunai Kadal, president of CIPMMA.

“CIPMMA has scope for expansion in Tamil Nadu. Aggressive membership drive is going on now. Our aim is to raise the number of members to 600 from the existing 400. Our mode of operation is different, which will boost the professional growth of our members and the industry there by. We share our experiences of success and failures with others and promote awareness on Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act). We strictly adhere to all the norms without any violations,” he said while speaking to Pharmabiz.

According to him, currently the association has zonal offices in Tanjore, Trichy, Madurai and Coimbatore. More offices will be opened in Tirunelvali, Tirupur, Pondicherry, Karaikal, Kadalur, Pollachi, Chidambaram and in Chennai. Along with this, separate district committees will be formed.

Karuna Kadal said enquiries about the operation of marketers are coming from other states and a unit of CIPMMA will be shortly formed in Andhra Pradesh. Office-bearers of his association will visit Hyderabad in the end of this month for more discussion with the manufacturers there.

When asked whether members of CIPMMA have membership with PMA (pharmaceutical manufacturers association of Tamil Nadu), he said CIPMMA is a separate body of marketers and manufacturers dealing with own products. He added that his association’s plan to merge with CIPI was dropped as the marketers wanted an independent body.

Last year, in its fourth state conference held at Thanjavur, CIPMMA passed a resolution demanding amendment of D&C Act to enable the regulatory agencies to issue separate licenses for special category of pharma marketers. It had submitted a memorandum to the government of India demanding the same.