Pharma exports from Gujarat grow six-fold in last decade

Pharma exports from Gujarat have grown six-fold in the last decade crossing the $3 billion mark in 2016, according to state government officials here.

Gujarat, counted among the leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs in the country with an almost 35 per cent share in national production and around 28 per cent share in pharma exports, has registered a six-fold growth in pharma exports from the state in the last decade; from $ 562 million in 2006 to $3 billion in 2016.

H G Koshia, commissioner of Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) informed that pharma exports have crossed $ 3 billion from the state in 2016, and this marks a steep rise from the 2006 level of around $560 million. He added that the state houses several WHO certified manufacturing units apart from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and European Union (EU) approved sites.

The state houses over 3,300 pharma manufacturing units. ?f these, around 255 are WHO certified, 23 are Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of Government of UK certified, and around 15 are EU certified units. "This is a significant number given that only about 10-15 per cent of the manufacturing units in the country have WHO-GMP certifications," Koshia said.

There are around 100 bulk drug manufacturing units in the state as well. Gujarat houses nearly 135 licensed medical devices manufacturers in the country, of around 240-250 such companies in the whole country, informed Koshia.

Chirag Doshi, former chairman of the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA), Gujarat State Board said that there has been a continuous effort towards creating export infrastructure including focus on maintaining international manufacturing standards. "Also apart from USFDA approved units (there are around 20-25 such units in Gujarat now), manufacturing sites with MHRA or GMP approvals too have come up in the last decade. This has resulted in the growth in exports,"he said.

Meanwhile, Gujarat FDCA has also started work on training its inspectors on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for medical devices and drugs in line with the training imparted to USFDA inspectors. It has collaborated with US-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety consulting and certification company, for online courses for its officers.Globally, UL offers about 1,200 courses and has trained around 38,000 US FDA inspectors.