Supporting the Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association (TNCDA)'s demand to the pharmaceutical marketers and manufacturers association for a profit margin of 10 per cent and 20 per cent to the wholesalers and retailers, the state pharmaceutical distributors association, TNPDA, has also come out with the same demand for 10 per cent margin for their members.
 
Giving full support to TNCDA’s demand, the Tamil Nadu Pharmaceutical Distributors Association (TNPDA) has chalked out a new business strategy for profit share which will compel each member distributor to ask for 10 per cent discount. The first executive committee meeting of the new office-bearers of the TNPDA, which will be held in Chennai next Month, will endorse the new margin requirement to be put up before the marketers and manufacturers, said T Annamalai, president of the distributors association.
 
Currently, CIPMMA, the marketers and manufacturers association, is paying as much as 8 to 9 per cent margin amount to the distributors and 16 per cent to the retailers. According to Annamalai, the multinational companies are paying 10 per cent margin to all the distributors. He said leading manufacturers from Tamil Nadu, who are members of the IDMA, are also paying 10 per cent.
 
In a telephonic interview with Pharmabiz, the new president of TNPDA, which consists of more than 1,000 pharma distributors across the state as members, said all the products of the major pharma companies are channelized for distribution through the Consortium of Indian Pharmaceutical Marketers and Manufacturers Association (CIPMMA) headquartered in Chennai. If the distributors procure medicines directly from the company they will get 10 per cent margin. But the mediator company, CIPMMA, is paying only 8 per cent.
 
The demand for a hike in margin amount started one year ago with TNCDA’s subordinate organization, Tamil Nadu Chemists Welfare Committee’s intervention in the matter. S Selvakumar, president of the TNCWC told Pharmabiz that he had held several rounds of talks with CIPMMA office-bearers at TNCDA office in Egmore, and in every meeting the marketers had agreed to review the margin issue. TNCDA has members from retail community as well as wholesale group. Whereas, TNPDA is an association of only distributors and they are getting very meager amount as profit margin.
 
According to sources from TNPDA, its president and market expert, T Annamalai will have a closed door meeting with S Selvakumar, who is one of the few pharmacist members of the chemists & druggists body, to chalk out preparations ahead of the EC meeting of TNPDA. It is learnt that TNCWC will hold a meeting next week to discuss the issue in detail as the state general secretary of TNCDA is showing no interest in the traders’ issues and complaints.
 
Meanwhile, M Kannan, chairman of CIPMMA said the annual general body meeting of the Consortium of marketers and manufacturers will discuss the issue raised by TNCDA on July 13. CIPMMA’s 9th AGM will be held on 13th and 14th of July at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram. In addition to the marketers, the small scale pharam manufacturers in Tamil Nadu are also members of the CIPMMA.
 
Observing the developments happening in the pharma trade industry in Tamil Nadu, the director of drugs control administration, M Sivabalan said he is closely watching the issue about margins by traders and measures are being taken for keeping the drug distribution system intact. He said as per DPCO, the trade margin is 8 per cent to wholesalers and 16 per cent to retailers.