Europe 'panicking' over India's pharmaceutical export curbs - industry group (updated)

Abbott India

04/03/2020 11:16

(Adds details on restricted APIs, WHO comment)
    By Neha Dasgupta and Anuron Kumar Mitra
    NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, March 4 (Reuters) - India's top
pharmaceuticals export group said the government's curbs on some
drug exports amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak has caused
panic in Europe and will severely impact businesses in the
sector.
    India, the world's main supplier of generic drugs,
restricted the export of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs) and the medicines made from them, in a move seemingly
aimed at tackling possible domestic shortages of medicines.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AW2NG
    On Wednesday, Dinesh Dua, chairman of the Pharmaceuticals
Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), told Reuters
that some of the restricted APIs and medicines were widely
exported to Europe and the United States.
    "I am getting a huge number of calls from Europe because it
is very sizeably dependent on Indian formulations and we control
almost 26% of the European formulations in the generic space. So
they are panicking," Dua said.
    India's list of restricted medicines account for 10% of its
total pharmaceutical exports and includes several antibiotics,
as well as paracetamol, a common pain reliever also sold as
acetaminophen.
    The restrictions could hurt India's image as a pharmacy to
the world and would impact shipments which were already lined up
for export at warehouses and ports, Pharmexcil argued in a
letter to India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT),
which was reviewed by Reuters.
    "(This) would severely impact our members," said the letter,
which urged the government to allow exports of drugs
manufactured before the restrictions kicked in.
    The DGFT did not respond to a request for comment.
    Pharmexcil's Dua told Reuters there were $10 million worth
of drugs affected by the curbs currently at Indian ports or
close to being readied for export.    
    Pharmexcil counts dozens of pharmaceutical firms such as
Pfizer Ltd  PFIZ.NS  and Abbott  ABOT.NS  among its members. The
council falls under the federal commerce ministry.
    Indian drugmakers rely on China, the source of the virus
outbreak, for almost 70% of the APIs for their medicines. 
    Out of the 26 listed as "restricted", 13 APIs are sourced
from the Hubei province in China, Dua said. 
    China's central Hubei province is the epicentre of the
outbreak, which has now claimed more than 3,000 lives and
infected more than 90,000 people globally.
    The curb in exports are likely to impact countries in South
East Asia, Latin America and Africa, industry experts said.
    On Tuesday, the chief of WHO operations support and
logistics, Paul Molinaro, said that the organisation was setting
up a group to look at further repercussions in the market that
might stem from India's move. 
    "At the moment it's not as restrictive as we see right now
with personal protective equipment, but the fear is that the
ripple effects will make shortages in those medicines as well,"
Molinaro said, speaking at a Geneva news conference.
    The Food and Drug Administration in the United States said
it was working to determine how the restrictions will affect
U.S. supplies.

 (Reporting by Neha Dasgupta in New Delhi, Anuron Kumar Mitra in
Bengaluru and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Kim
Coghill and David Evans)
 ((neha.dasgupta@tr.com; +91-11-49548058; Reuters Messaging:
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