Dilip G Shah, the voice of domestic pharma industry, passes away at 77

Dilip G Shah, the voice of domestic pharmaceutical industry, passed away in Mumbai on Friday. He was 77. 
 

Shah served as secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and championed the cause of local drug makers on issues such as improved market access, intellectual property, and pricing. He also worked in Pfizer India for more than three decades and was a member of its board. 

With Indian drug firms facing regulatory heat and sales taking a hit in the US, Shah led the engagement with regulators in India and abroad and IPA began training pharma executives on quality control. “It is a great loss to the entire pharmaceutical industry and his contributions in the area of advocacy, strategic planning and knowledge sharing have been invaluable,” said Glenn Saldanha, president of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.  

Four years ago, pharma companies had a tussle with government on price capping of non-scheduled formulations and Shah's bold stance pitted the IPA against the government. But regulators were in praise of him on his death. 

“He knew the pharma sector like palm of his hand. In spite of him being an ardent critic of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and me personally, I admired his knowledge and we respectfully agreed to disagree," former NPPA chairman Bhupendra Singh said in a tweet.