Ramping Up the Manufacturing of Key ingredients for Medicines and Vaccines

Infrastructural development

The Government’s scheme of Bulk Drug Park is the right path to develop a robust infrastructure in the nation. A bulk drug park with common infrastructures like Central Effluent Treatment Plants and Captive Power Plants, Steam and Cooling systems, Solvent Recovery and Distillation Plant, Advance Common Testing Centre, for the production of APIs and KSMs can boost the nations Bulk Drug manufacturing industry. If this segment is managed properly, it can bring down the overall cost of the manufacturing of the Bulk drugs and give the indigenously produced API/KSM a competitive edge.

However, building a bulk drug park can come up with a whole lot of new challenges, because it needs larger investments. It is important that the government provides the key necessities like the heady mix of free land, effluent treatment, and cheap power to attract the major bulk drug producers and establish a sustainable long-term ecosystem. As a result, a strategy must be developed that provides long-term stability and sustainability for major producers establishing enormous plant capacity.

Collaboration is the Key

Pharmaceutical giants like Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech are significant in India's transformation into a producer of pharmaceutical key ingredients. As the saying goes by, “collaboration is better than the competition”. This mantra among the corporate pharmaceutical firms can turn Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of indigenous manufacturing into a reality.

Collaboration can not only boost the indigenous manufacturing of key ingredients but it also lead to other developments like technology transfer that ultimately evolve the quality of the product.

Recently, Bharat Biotech International, Biovet, and Spigen Biologix signed a joint Master Collaborative Agreement (MCA) with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT). The main purpose of this agreement is to make India self-reliant in manufacturing raw materials for vaccines like adjuvants (which enhance the immune system) and other chemicals. The companies have tied up to work on the technologies and platforms for novel vaccines, drugs, and even raw materials. The main focus of this collaboration is to look at chemicals and raw materials like Beta propiolactone (BPL), Thimerosal, and Microcarriers, which are often in shortage.

“India is not self-reliant in some of these vaccine raw materials. We will work with CSIR-IICT to develop these products, new drugs, and even new platforms,” Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Biotech.

The future

Covid-19 has shown the need for self-reliance. A high import dependency on a single source can always create price volatility and supply disruption, which in turn could lead to rising in the prices of formulation drugs. To overcome this challenge, India must work progressively to develop indigenous manufacturing of vital ingredients like API/KSM. It is a continuous journey and proactive steps on policy and infrastructure development with the active intervention of government and the corporate pharmaceutical giants that can revive and shine the medical raw material manufacturing industry of India.