Source: Pixabay
As per the recent notification by Directorate General of Foreign Trade, it is restricting the export of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drug formulations used as raw materials to manufacture crucial drugs until further notice, to prevent shortages amid concerns of the coronavirus outbreak in India.
The notification states amendment in the export policy of these APIs and formulations made out of these APIs. The list includes paracetamol, Vitamins B1, B6, B12, female hormone drug Progesterone, antibiotics used to treat vaginal infections like Tinidazole and Metronidazole, a drug used to treat herpes Acyclovir, and other antibiotics like Chloramphenicol, Erythormycin Salts Neomycin, Ornidazole and Clindamycin.
India confirmed three positive cases of coronavirus recently in Delhi, Telangana and Jaipur. Though India is a source of about 20% of the world’s generic drug supply, pharma companies in the country are dependent on China for two-thirds of the chemical components needed to make them.
