Merge state, central drug regulators for better standards: Bharat Biotech chairman

Ella Foundation Director Dr. Krishna Ella, and UW-Madison GHI Director Dr. Jorge Osorio signing MoU - to establish the first-ever “UW-Madison One Health Center” in India to advance vaccines, therapeutics, and global health education.

As complaints from foreign countries about adulterated Indian drugs continue to rise, Bharat Biotech Chairman Dr Krishna Ella, on February 5, called for the merging of all state drug regulators with the Central Drugs Standard and Control Organisation (CDSCO) to ensure a uniform standard for Indian drugs.

"All the state FDAs should be merged with the CDSCO. When you merge state regulators with the central regulator, you can ensure one quality and one standard for Indian drugs," Dr Ella said.

Responding to a question by Moneycontrol on a growing list of foreign countries flagging the adulteration of Indian drugs, Dr Ella said that a single regulatory framework in India will be helpful.

"There should be a single regulatory framework in India. That will solve the problem," he added.

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The Bharat Biotech Chairman said that political will and commitment is required for harmonising the drug regulatory system in India: "The central and state governments need to talk to each other."

Ella was interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an event to mark the MoU that was signed between the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute and the Ella Foundation for establishing a University of Wisconsin-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru.

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Ella said India's track record in drug manufacturing was impeccable, and that very few companies were involved in any sort of wrongdoing.

"We have over 40,000 pharma companies in India. If a handful do something wrong, the whole industry can't be blamed for it," he added.

In the past few months, there have been repeated instances of foreign drug regulators raising the red flag against medicines manufactured by Indian pharmaceutical firms.

After Gambia and Uzbekistan, even the US has complained about adulterated Indian drugs.