Future Belongs To Herbals

Two years from now, India will enter a new patent regime under which foreign pharmaceutical products will be competing on equal terms with the Indian ones. How will the Indian pharmaceutical industry cope with this influx? Will they be able to survive, and if so, how? 

These questions came to the fore at a recently held workshop on 'Good Practices in Manufacturing of Modern and Herbal Drugs: A Tool for Competitive Advantage'. The Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association organised the workshop at Taj Bengal hotel. "The obvious solution is to upgrade technology and discover new drugs," said Dr. S. K. Chaudhuri from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. 

One way to upgrade technology is to set up sophisticated laboratories. "From its discovery to the final stage of production, a drug passes through various stages," said Chaudhuri. "Every stage of drug production should receive equal attention so as to safeguard human health and protect the environment." A well-equipped laboratory can guarantee these things. 

To remain viable under the new patent regime, Indian companies will have to invent new drugs. "To meet this goal each company will have to bring 22 to 31 new drugs to market by 2005," said Chaudhuri. "This is a daunting task given that the entire industry, right now, produces 45 new drugs per year."

Since the cost of developing new synthetic drugs is astronomical, one option for Indian companies may be to switch to herbal drugs. As India has a rich source of medicinal plants, extracting their raw materials may turn out to be more viable. 

"India has been traditionally strong in the area of herbal products because of a solid foundation of alternate system of medicine like ayurveda, sidda and unani," said Dr. C. L. Kaul, director of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Punjab. 

Some Indian companies, like Dabur India Limited, have tasted success with herbal drugs. Dr. Rama Mukherjee, director of Dabur's research wing in Gaziabad, said, "We have developed paclitaxel, an anti-cancer drug being used for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer." Its key chemical ingredient (10 DAB), she said, has been extracted from the leaves of Asian yew tree using a new method developed by Dabur. What is more, she added, Dabur's method is an eco-friendly one. 

"A host of other therapeutic and diagnostic molecules is currently at different stages of development," she said. "Our aim is to carry out clinical trials of at least two new molecules every year." Dabur has also set up Dabur Oncology, a separate unit for cancer research, which is screening drugs for 32 types of human tumours. 

In conclusion Chaudhuri reiterated that the survival of Indian pharmaceutical companies would depend on their ability to develop new drugs.