Karnataka drugs control department has issued seven manufacturing licences online so far. However, the system of accepting applications and issuing manufacturing licences to the pharma companies on line in the state has not taken off in full steam, leaving Maharashtra the first state in issuing drug licences on line.

Among the seven companies which received manufacturing licences online include the large pharma player Agila, part of the Mylan Group and a small scale manufacturer Sutures India which is engaged in production of surgical sutures, surgical tapes among others.

“There are minor hiccups in the online mode of issuing manufacturing licences and the process is being streamlined. It would take some more time before we could actually go full throttle,  Raghurama Bhandary, drugs controller, government of Karnataka told Pharmabiz.

The department which is now fully streamlined to issue the trade licencing approvals online is also dispatching short message service (SMS) to the pharmacy trade outlets owners. It is recognised as the third state in the country to adopt the electronic mode for issue and renewal of licences after Gujarat and Maharashtra.

“Our department has successfully being able accept and issue the pharmacy trade licences since 2012 end. This has helped it to create an environment of transparency and efficiency, said Karnataka drugs controller Bhandary.

“We expect to go online for the issue of manufacturing licenses too in a similar manner at the earliest”, he added.

Over the last few years, the state drugs control department made efforts to embark on massive computerisation under the reign of the former drugs controller Dr. BR Jagashetty.  The effort of the department is to create a paperless environment with no duplication. There are speedy approvals and the ability to track the files for the department across the 30 districts have ensured considerable countability which helped to enhance the overall performance of not just the state drugs control department but the pharmacy trade and the pharma industry.

The regular surprise inspections to detect spurious and not-of-standard quality drugs are also provided on its website with explicit details of the test labs which have analysed the contents.