Coalition Formed To Strengthen Reputation of India Pharma Manufacturing
By Lori Clapper
India First Group, a strategic advisory organization which assists U.S. companies pursuing business opportunities in India, along with the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), has mobilized the Coalition for Affordable Care. Together the groups aim to fight for high-quality, generic pharmaceutical manufacturing in India and the U.S. and expand global access to affordable, high-quality medicines.
With FDA bans of product imports into the U.S. from Ranbaxy and five other Indian companies during the past year due to quality concerns, the organization argues that Big Pharma, PhRMA, and other groups have actively pushed negative campaigns that question the quality of Indian manufacturing. The new coalition hopes to counter these claims and make it known that India is in fact producing quality generic products at a lower price point than its branded counterparts. And that means more people can afford to get the medicines they need.
“With more and more American 'Baby-Boomers' requiring access to lower cost, high quality medical treatments and medicines, they join most of the world’s population — some 5 billion people — finding themselves unable to afford even basic care,” Ron Somers, head of the Coalition for Affordable Care, said. “The time has come to let the truth be known on Capitol Hill, in the halls of government, and across America, that Indian and U.S. manufacturers of generic drugs are producing high quality medicines at a fraction of the price of branded pharmaceuticals.” As Somers says that, despite the negative attention India has received lately about quality, “history is not on [the side]” of those hoping to prove India unfit for generic drug manufacturing. Indeed, India is responsible for roughly 40 percent of the generic and over-the-counter drugs in the U.S.
All generations of Americans born after 1930, insurers seeking to lower costs, pension funds, large employers, doctors, healthcare professionals, will be invited to join the Coalition for Affordable Care, according to the Business Standard.