Shortage of drugs for Wilson's disease, drug makers asked to fix local supply issue

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) on Friday called a meeting with Wilson's disease drug makers over the issue of medicine shortage in India.

The manufacturers of D-Penicillamine were asked to focus on meeting domestic demands rather than focusing on exporting it to other countries.

The companies which attended the meeting raised the issue of pricing pressure that made it difficult for them to sell the drug in India. A source from the regulator told Business Standard that the health ministry and the CDSCO will request Department of Pharmaceuticals to not regulate the prices of rare diseases such as Wilson's disease.

Wilson's disease is a rare and potentially fatal genetic disorder that causes excessive accumulation of copper in vital organs, including eyes, liver, kidneys and brain.

In order to make the drug for Wilson's disease available, the government is trying to expedite the import permission so that the drug could be imported from China. The regulator plans to stay in touch with the Chinese drug regulators for the same.

The government is also urging other countries, such as Italy, that manufacture the drug to start exporting it to India. "As the demand is high, we have asked companies to stretch their production base in the country", an official at CDSCO said.

The regulator had called upon German Remedies, Samarth Life Sciences, Panacea Biotec, VHB Life Sciences and Chandra Bhagat Pharma to discuss the non-availability of D-Penicillamine. The meeting was called after a number of representations were made to the government, including to the health minister, on the issue of non-availability of the drug in the country.