The Indian Chemical Council (ICC) is mulling the idea of encouraging its member pharmaceutical companies to venture into manufacturing drugs to combat the rampant kala-azar menace in the country, as larger sections of the society could not afford the more expensive foreign drugs.
"Kala-azar, a potentially fatal parasitic disease, affects nearly 350 million people around the world and around 90 per cent of the victims are from the Indian sub-continent. In India, Bihar accounts for more than 60 per cent cases reported in the country", said D P Ghosh, chairman, eastern region of ICC.
He talked about the possibility of Indian pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the foreign drugs here under a manufacturing license.
"Some of the patents once held by the European companies have expired and Indian manufacturers could look at this space as well for acquiring patents", Ghosh added.
Around 25 per cent members of the ICC were pharmaceutical companies, and eastern India had around six pharma companies.
"Currently, three major drugs are available in the country, two of which are manufactured by German and US based pharma majors and marketed here by German Remedies limited and Nicholas Piramal India respectively. These are Miltefosine and Liposomal Amphotericin-B , and cost around $200 for the entire course", P K Sinha, head of the department of clinical medicine at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, told Business Standard.
"As against this, a drug called Paromomycin manufactured by Hyderabad based Gland Pharmaceuticals costs around $18 per course", said S K Bhattacharya, additional director general, Indian Council of Medical Research here at a seminar on Kala-azar organised by the ICC.
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Both the experts maintained that these foreign majors will not be very keen to hand out the patents to Indian companies, however, Indian companies could look at obtaining a manufacturing license here in the country.
"More indigenous research has to be promoted to come up with alternative vaccines and medication", Bhattacharya said.