The drug control department in Pondicherry has granted drug manufacturing licence to the Rajiv Gandhi Ayurveda Medical College and Hospital in Mahe, the lone Ayurveda medical college under government sector in the Union territory in the wake of frequent shortage of medicines the hospital has been experiencing since it started in 2010.
The ISM department in Pondicherry is under the control of the drug control administration (DCA) which hopes that the hospital can dispense quality medicines prepared at the hospital laboratory to the patients at the IPD and at the OPD from now on.
The college authorities can now manufacture as many drugs as they want for their therapeutic uses. Until now the hospital was getting medicines from central stores, but supply was not regular and funds were also limited. Frequent shortages of medicines made patients to abstain from visiting hospitals and depend on private hospitals and pharmacies to source treatments and medicines, said R. Vipin, the PRO of the hospital.
Dr Kuber Sangh, principal of the college, while briefing Pharmabiz, said they are planning to manufacture 58 kinds of medicines from next month and the head of the Department of Resashastra (medicinal chemistry) is in charge of the production unit. Predominantly, they will go with the production of choornas (powder forms), thailams (medicated oils) and Vatis (pills or tablets) in addition to some ayurvedic ointments (muscle relaxant). The principal said Dr. Nandakumar, the HoD of the Resashastra department is skilled in the preparation of traditional medications and he has additionally completed a degree in Ayurveda pharmacy also.
“We have been facing shortage of all kinds of medicines because the supply from the government side was often limited. To address this crisis, the hospital has written to the department of ISM in Pondicherry for permission to manufacture the required medicines at the hospital itself. The government finally wanted the drug control authorities to grant a manufacturing licence to our college which has been producing medicines without approvals for their study purposes. Currently, we have no GMP facility, but we are expecting a fund from the Union Ministry of Ayush to set up facilities for complying with good manufacturing practices. For the time being, production will commence at the laboratory where minimum machineries have been set up already. The students were producing several drugs in the laboratory which will be developed into a vast production facility soon,” said the principal.
Dr. E Anandakrishnan, drug controller of Pondicherry government has said the institution has applied for manufacturing licence and it has been granted. In another six months, the enforcement officers from the DCA will visit the production facility at the hospital and inspect the products, production process and verify whether the unit complies with the relevant regulations. He said this is the only Ayurveda medical college under the Pondicherry government and this is the first time a manufacturing licence is granted to Mahe, either for Ayush drugs or for allopathic drugs.
Regarding procurement of raw-materials for the production of medications, the PRO said they have been procuring raw drugs from various parts of India for the last five years and the process will continue as it is. The college has no plan to sell medicines outside or increase production for a commercial purpose. The drug controller said the college has no legal issue in selling medicines to Kerala or to the nearby states as they have already been permitted with a production licence.
According to the PRO, the institution does not want to have any kind of tie-up with Ayurveda drug manufacturers or raw drug suppliers in Kerala. However, treatments will be given to any person coming to the hospital from anywhere in the country.
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