Vadodara pharma units mint moolah during lockdown

Vadodara: Pharma companies in Vadodara district have clocked a turnover of Rs 1,426 crore in the three months from March to April when the country was under lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 virus.
The pharma firms had recorded turnover of Rs Rs 4,840 crore during financial year 2019-20, according to a report submitted to the district collector.
Majority of firms, mainly the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had started functioning with nearly 95 % staff strength within five days of lockdown 1.0 which began on March 25.
As many as 198 firms including those in the category of formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIs), and ayurvedic continued production after receiving approval through a single-window system that was set up by Vadodara district administration.
Out of the 300 plants approved of following World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) norms, 61 are in Vadodara.
“We have witnessed 15-20% increase in turnover and our exports have also surged by 18% during these three months,” said Bharat Desai, chairman and managing director of Bharat Parenterals, a formulation firm that exports 60% of its production to Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.
“Production had also increased as people had started stocking up medicines. There was a certain amount of panic buying and a majority of institutes were keeping minimum stock of medicines,” said Desai, former chairman of Gujarat state board of the Indian Drug Manufacturing Association (IDMA).
Many manufacturers increased production of hydroxychloroquine sulphate, azithromycin, paracetamol and vitamin-C drugs which are currently given to Covid-19 patients based on clinical management protocols.
“Initially, there were some problems in domestic distribution in the country but they got streamlined,” said Dushyant Patel, former chairman of Gujarat state board of IDMA.
“By the time our domestic distribution improved, our export orders surged. In fact, compared to last April-May, we have seen 25 to 30% growth in exports,” said Patel, chairman and managing director of Astral Steritech Pvt Ltd., which runs USFDA-approved plant in Makarpura GIDC to manufacture antibiotic sterile injections.
District collector Shalini Agrawal said, “Since medicines and pharma manufacturers were deemed as essential items, we had formed a committee with officers from District Industries Center, GIDC, Director of Industrial Safety and Health, FDCA and chief district health officer to process all the applications so that the units don’t faced problems during the lockdown.”