NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring the government to purchase locally made essential medicines and medical supplies, a move that may affect India's pharmaceutical companies, industry experts told ET."It is critical that we reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers for essential medicines, medical countermeasures, and critical inputs to ensure sufficient and reliable long-term domestic production of these products, to minimise potential shortages," the US president said in the order on Thursday.The US is the largest market for India's drug companies. "Every third pill sold in the US is made in India," said an industry expert.Trump's buy-American plan calls for US agencies to increase procurement by limiting competition to those essential medicines, medical countermeasures and critical inputs that are produced in the US."We are studying the order and its implications," said Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents 20 of the country's biggest drug makers. All major Indian companies including Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin and Sun Pharmaceuticals export drugs to the US.The order is aimed at plugging gaps in the medical supply chain and states that it is critical to reduce dependence on foreign manufacturers for these medical products to ensure their sufficient and reliable long-term domestic production to minimise potential shortages.Trump's order is also aimed at accelerating development of cost-effective and efficient local production of these essential medicines, with adequate redundancy.India's exports of drugs and pharmaceutical products to the US were valued at almost $6 billion in FY19.According to Dinesh Dua, chairman of the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, such a turnaround will not be feasible for the US in view of its ties with India. "India has rendered yeoman's service to American citizens by making vital high quality, affordable and accessible generic drugs to the extent of 40% of the market share in volume terms. India presents a great source of supply to the US and reinventing the wheel will not be feasible in view of a strategic Indo-US relationship," he said.An estimated 90% of US prescriptions are filled with generic medicines and most generic ingredients are sourced overseas, notably China and India.The order calls on the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the FDA commissioner, to develop and implement procurement strategies to increase the manufacturing of these products.One pharma analyst said it's unclear if the order will affect the Indian drug business. "It is an executive order. I don't think it would have an immediate impact on India. We will have to wait and watch."The US President asked the administration and appropriate agency heads to consider various actions to increase procurement of such products and identify vulnerabilities in their supply chains."Agencies will have the necessary flexibility to increase their domestic procurement, while protecting our nation's service members, veterans, and their families from increases in drug prices ,'' according to the order.
from Economic Times https://ift.tt/33K8Evf
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment