Drug makers vie to supply antidote

Large and small Indian drug manufacturers are flocking the offices of various state governments to secure manufacturing licences to supply cheap versions of Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the drug to treat the fast spreading swine flu, anticipating huge demand for the drug in the coming weeks.

The government, which procured 10 million doses of the drug earlier, plans to procure another 20 million doses in the coming weeks. The rush for licences is to cash in on this huge opportunity, said sources.

“Oseltamivir lacks patent protection in India and is included in the Indian Pharmacopeia, which means state drug controllers can licence it, as it is a known drug,” Surinder Singh, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) told Business Standard. In the case of new drugs, it is mandatory to get clearance from the DCGI to get a manufacturing licence, according to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

DCGI said his office, the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), was not aware of how many manufacturers had approached the various state drug controllers to secure a licence for the drug.

Sources said six companies are known to have manufacturing licences for generic Tamiflu, including innovator Roche Scientific Company. The others being Cipla, Hetero Drugs, Natco Pharma, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Bangalore-based Hetero Drugs. Besides, several other companies, including small and medium level manufacturers, have approached the state drug controllers, they said.

The share prices of all the four companies which are listed rose today — Ranbaxy (0.02 per cent), Cipla (3.17 per cent), Strides Arcolab (4.44 per cent) and Natco Pharma(2.84 per cent) on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), when the benchmark Sensex fell 150 points.

Meanwhile, the Centre has reiterated its earlier stand of controlled sale of Tamiflu. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Health and Family Welfare minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the control on sale of the drug would continue and there was no proposal to permit retail sale.