Pharma major Zydus Cadila believes that despite the recent Ranbaxy episode involving adulterated generic drugs, the pharma industry does not need more domestic and international regulation.
According to Chief Operating Officer Ganesh Nayak, it is also “wholly unfair” to judge the whole Indian generic industry based on one episode or instance.
The Ahmedabad-based company recently launched its Liapglyn drug, which is aimed at treating Type II diabetes.
“Let’s make something clear. The industry, as a whole, is subjected to many, many inspections every month. Nothing more is required. I don’t believe that the industry needs further regulation by any domestic or international agency,” Mr. Nayak told The Hindu in an interview on Thursday. “If one person in a group is a criminal, how can you judge all of them to be criminals? I don’t think it is fair to say the generic pharma image has also taken a beating, none of our clients in U.S or Japan are asking us what is wrong,” he added.
Medical management
Pointing out that a number of multinational firms were slapped with fines similar to that paid by Ranbaxy, Mr. Nayak said that a culture of medical management was important.
“Our company was founded by a pharmacist. In Zydus, most of our top management either have medical degrees or a history of working in medicine. In a way, this makes sure that we avoid doing anything inappropriate. While I don’t want to comment on Ranbaxy , even innovator pharma firms have faced fines in the past.”
