Hailing the recent orders of the Pondicherry government as industry friendly and well intentioned, the Pondicherry Drugs Manufacturers Association (PDMA) has said that all the member units in the union territory are strictly following the norms issued by the government from time to time.

In a chat with Pharmabiz, P Saravanan, secretary of the association said no pharma manufacturing unit in Pondicherry is engaged in the production of unapproved drugs at present.  All the 100 formulation units are functioning as per the directives mandated by the DCGI and the state government. He expressed the hope that the pharma industry in Pondicherry will jump into a higher orbit of growth creating more jobs and an increase in the state revenue.

“We are strictly following the orders of the government, complying with the rules and regulations mandated by the DCGI office and the provisions of the drugs and cosmetics act. The state government is industry friendly and the pharma sector is getting full support from the government. The pharma industry in Pondicherry gives employment to over 1500 families, and we are contributing a major part for the medicine requirement of the country”, said Saravanan.

There are about 7000 pharma manufacturing units in the country engaged in the production of drugs for the people of the country and for export. But in a radius of 30 km place, the Union territory of Pondicherry has 100 manufacturing units with GMP facilities. Out of this, four units are WHO GMP certified. Ten more companies are waiting for the WHO GMP certification. Several companies are engaged in contract manufacturing services with MNCs. So far, there is no complaint from anywhere about the quality aspects of the products manufactured in Pondicherry. Due to the quality aspects, companies from other states approach the SSI units in the territory for contract manufacturing services.

Regarding the controversial FDC issues emerged in the territory last year, he said the DCGI has given a time frame to settle the safety issues, from January 2013 to 18 months, and the period is over by June 30, 2014. The industry is waiting for the DCGI decision. He said the industry appreciates the state health department for the initiatives taken for strictly implementing the directives of the DCGI. He said his association has applied in Form 44 to the DCGI seeking approval for manufacturing combination drugs and they are optimistic of the outcome.

PDMA is acting in association with Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) whose office-bearers called on the state chief secretary recently and apprised him of the problems faced by the pharma industry in the union territory.