Haj pilgrims' vaccination: Family-run drug maker that lost to pharma giants

Small family-run generic drug maker, Biomed Pharma failed to challenge two global pharma giants

It was a fight over a Rs 6 crore contract of the Ministry of Health to supply Quadrivalent Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccine to Haj pilgrims spanning over a decade. Heard in two tribunals and two courts, it assumed the form of a fight between a small family run generic drug maker and two global pharma giants. In the end Biomed Pharma Private Ltd, that developed the capability to make the meningitis vaccine in 2005 lost the battle in the Supreme Court. The country's highest court in a judgment on Thursday upheld the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COPMPAT) order cancelling the Rs 64