AHMEDABAD: With a strong demand growth in the healthcare space and people focusing more on preventative care after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, pharma companies are adding more drugs and products to their existing portfolios.
As a result, there has been a substantial jump in product approvals granted to manufacture medicines in Gujarat.
For instance: Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) in September issued 5,494 licences to make different allopathic drugs and products. Except January and April, the number of product permissions provided to pharma firms every month has hovered above the 5,000-mark this year, shows data compiled by the FDCA-Gujarat.
“The number of product licences issued every month was around 2,500 to 3,000 before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The monthly product licence issuances have gone up by 1 to 1.5 times recently,” said Dr H G Koshia, commissioner, FDCA-Gujarat.
The issuance of fresh product licences started increasing after the pandemic and crossed the monthly mark of 5,000 in 2021. New product licences totalling 5,601, 5,324, 5,488 and 5,421 were issued by the state FDCA in April, May, June, July and August, respectively. The number stood at 5,095 in February and 5,123 in March this year. The product approvals were low at 3,981 and 3,725 in January and April, respectively, reveal the state FDCA data. As many as 48,909 product permissions have been issued by the state FDCA so far this year.
“While healthcare and pharmaceutical have seen strong growth, the people have started focusing more on preventive rather than curative care after the pandemic. Hence, pharma companies are adding more and more preventive drugs to their existing list of the products,” added Koshia.
The spurt in new product permissions is also largely supported by the heavy rush of companies to come up with products and therapies used in the treatment of the Covid-19. These also include making vitamins, nutrients, Covid-19 drugs and their raw materials, said pharmaceutical industry players.
While exports of pharmaceuticals have been robust ever since the pandemic struck, the domestic market growth has also bounced back strongly. This has prompted more and more companies to launch their products to cater to the growing demand, added industry players.
