Visakhapatnam: Vizag, which is equipped with the right ecosystem, is all set to emerge as an injections manufacturing zone. With there being a global shortage, the injectables segment in India is set to grow at least by 20 per cent annually and Vizag is poised to be part of that growth.
“Injectables is the highest growing segment. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Mylan and Hospira are already based here in Vizag. Biocon, which manufactures injections, is also expected to set up its facility here. An annual report of Dr Reddy's Laboratories mentioned that by 2020 40 per cent of its production would be in the form of injectables,” said Vishal Sharma, treasurer of the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) India chapter, a US-based non-profit organisation.
The present market size for injections in the country is Rs 15,000 crore or 17 to 18 per cent of all other pharmaceutical manufacturing products. “Vizag has both air and sea ports and sufficient land too, but the critical challenge is obtaining skilled manpower in this particular segment.
There needs to be utmost care taken when manufacturing these injections, which are also exported. In this region, everything including manpower and infrastructure, was concentrated only on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and bulk drug needs,” said Sanjit Singh Lamba, president of PDA, who was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop that is underway here in Vizag.
He added that the Indian manufacturing companies started exporting injectables from 2003 onwards, with this expected to go up in the forthcoming years. He also observed that effluent generation is very low when manufacturing injections compared to other pharma products, like APIs, tablets and capsules.
PDA president-elect Ivy Louis said that 40 per cent of the US’s generic pharma products were from India of which 15 per cent were injectables.
Workshop on injectables manufacturing organised
Injectable manufacturing makes up for a critical line of manufacturing, both in the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and the formulations spaces.
The Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) India chapter on Friday organised a Media Fill Workshop, which was meant for the injection manufacturing process in the city to enable the propagation of science and understanding of the complexities in the manufacturing of injectables.
PDA also facilitates development, testing, and qualification of new technologies.
“This was a discussion-based workshop in which we covered the topics through real-life case studies and the focus was on experiential learning. Break-out sessions ensures complete understanding and increased the problem-solving capacity of the pharma professionals.
Equipped with the knowledge gained, participants got a full grasp of principles of Media Fill, regulatory expectations, handling of media fill run interventions and handling failures,” said Sanjit Singh Lamba, president of the PDA India Chapter.
The same workshop will be conducted in Indore, Pune, and Chandigarh in the coming months.
