The PCD model in the
pharmaceutical industry operates on a monopoly basis, with not more than one
vendor in one particular district. The vendor’s have their own medical
representatives visiting the doctors. Medicines can be of two types- Ethical Medicines and Generic Medicines,
ethical medicines are usually life saving drugs these are regulated strictly by
the government other in terms of quality standards and their prices, these
cannot be sold at prices other than Government approved ones.
Ethical drugs are also produced
as per predetermined quotas. On the other hand, generic drugs are bulk produced
hence quality of these are not as high as ethical drugs, prices of these are
not administered by Government but determined by the market forces usually
these are cheaper than ethical drugs. Logo’s of these drugs may not be very
uniform and usually these come in glossy packing to attract consumers. Big private hospitals usually always use
ethical drugs and qualified doctors writing the prescription on their letter
pads only prescribe these.
However in India still there are
ample doctors who don’t use letter pads for writing prescriptions they would
write on blank sheets these would often carry prescriptions of generic drugs,
quality of which is not always very high. Law exists against prescribing drugs
of low quality; hence the certified doctors using proper letter pads would
usually always prescribe ethical drugs so that they are free of any risk. In our country people want can afford only
cheap medicines here people themselves may ask the doctors or chemists to give
the cheaper generic drugs than ethical drugs.
There are
many companies which besides being involved in PCD (Propaganda cum Distribution) Franchise in India also do manufacturing for the big pharmaceutical
companies this arrangement is known as third party production.
Third party
production model has really taken off in the last decade this change is due to
the Government policy of promoting business through tax rebates where third
party producers have blossomed. This model usually lowers input
cost as the supply chain is not as long and hence ensures economy for the end
user. So in the near future this market
is expected to grow further. Big corporate have understood this and they
themselves are into this market. Anybody interested in knowing more about third
party and PCD producers can get in touch with the ‘Drug Today’
group.
Some critics have raised
questions regarding the quality standards of drugs produced through third party
model. Propaganda
cum Distribution is a model of distributorship
where big pharmaceutical companies
give distributorship rights. PCD products are manufactured by third
parties which are quantity oriented and not quality oriented. The major reason
being the evolution of high tech manufacturing units in the excise free zone,
catering to the needs of the PCD companies.
This has led to blooming of PCD companies which were quite dormant
during the period of 1992-2002.The question of ethics and quality is laid to
rest as even the biggies are outsourcing many of their requirements from the
same manufacturers.
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