India part of $90 billion counterfeit drug industry
September 12th, 2010 9:54 am ET
India, the world's biggest manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals has now become a major center for counterfeit and substandard drugs. This, according to Indian officials has severely damaged the nation's image as well as that of its exporters.
While the legitimate pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is currently worth about $8.5 billion annually, the (global) fake drug industry is worth more than $90 billion. The latter is also responsible for the "deaths of almost a million people a year (mostly in Africa and Latin America) and is contributing to drug resistance worldwide."
Sold in "slick" packaging and often bearing labels from legitimate companies such as Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, products include cough syrups and painkillers as well as vitamins and supplements.
Although India has made efforts to impose stricter drug laws and clamp down on the illegal trade, they are having a tough time trying to control it. "The number of people arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and selling fake drugs rose from 12 in 2006 to 147 last year and drugs worth about $65.5 million were seized over this period," commented Suresh Sati, a private investigator who helps police conduct raids against the counterfeitors in New Delhi. "Yet, when we bust one operation, two more spring up elsewhere," he added.
The Indian government currently estimates that .04% of the country's drugs are fake, and that 8% are substandard. However, according to independent sources the figures are more like 12%-25%.
Drug manufacturers located here in Connecticut include: Bayer Corp., 400 Morgan La., W. Haven, CT 06516 800 468-0894; Beohringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Ridgebury Rd., Ridgefield, CT 06877-0368 203 791-6194; Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, 5 Science Parkway, New Haven, CT 06511 203 773-1450, and (over-the-counter products) Beirsdorf Inc., PO Box 5529, Norwalk, CT 06859-5529 203 853-8003, as well as Chesebrough-Pond's Inc., 33 Benedict Pl.,Greenwich, CT 06830
