India seeks to increase pharma sales to Phl

MANILA, Philippines - India wants to increase sales of its manufactured medicines in the Philippine market as it anticipates higher demand for pharmaceutical products here.

In a press conference, India’s Ambassador to the Philippines Amit Dasgupta said they would like to see greater visibility of Indian-manufactured medicines in the Philippines as they expect demand for pharmaceutical products to rise in the country.

“What we would like is faster growth, increase the volume and tell Filipinos that Indian pharmaceuticals is the way to achieve health for all,” he said.

Dasgupta said medicines manufactured from India are cheaper than others available in the market.

Despite being more affordable, he assured that medicines manufactured from India are reliable.

For her part, Mridul Jain, joint secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of India, said that all pharmaceutical products produced in India are of high quality.

“The government of India has zero tolerance policy on quality,” she said.

She noted that the medicines produced in India are of good quality with two thirds of the top 25 destinations for its pharmaceutical exports going to highly regulated markets.

North America is the top export destination of India’s pharmaceutical products with a 24 percent share.

It is followed by the European Union which has a 20 percent share.

India ships its pharmaceutical products to more than 220 countries across the world including Singapore, Russia, Brazil and Kenya.

In order to see increased volume of India’s manufactured medicines being sold here, Dasgupta said they are pushing for partnerships.

India’s exports of medicines to the Philippines were valued at $105 million for the period of 2011 to 2012.