On 13 April, a day before the Easter weekend, many drug manufacturers went on their breaks feeling a little agitated but mostly helpless. It was the day, the spokesperson of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), representing its (invite only) members—over 20 large companies including Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Lupin and Cipla—went public with his anger.
Dilip G Shah referred to the pricing policy roll-out as “arbitrary”, and compliance to guidelines “difficult”. Shah claimed these two factors were adding to the “woes” of the drug industry.
With their morning coffee, manufacturers and the drug regulator read Shah’s opinion piece.
