KOCHI: In a major development that will revolutionise the drugs market in the state, the Kerala State Retail Medical Shops Cooperative Society (Kremcos), the chain of retail medical shops in the state, plans to enter into drugs manufacturing.
Kremcos will sell branded generic drugs in the state soon. Initially these drugs will be sourced from outside the state and will be marketed under the Kremcos brand and in future own manufacturing facility will be set up in the state.
Currently over 3,000 medical shops are members in the society and it is operational in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kollam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kottayam.
Soon it will start functioning in Malappuram and Palakkad districts. Though medicines worth `5,000 cr are being sold in the state annually, the 80-member-strong drug manufacturers in the state sell drugs only worth `200-250 cr.
“We have already set up warehouses for drugs and chemicals in six districts in the state. At present we are selling medicines at a discount of 10-40 per cent to customers. The operation will expand across the state by January.
“We also have plans to manufacture and market drugs under Kremcos brand. Initially we will outsource the products and will store it at our warehouses. At a later stage we will start our own manufacturing. Our primary focus will be branded generic drugs at a cheaper rate,” said Kremcos president C M K Kurup.
Currently Kerala accounts for around 10 per cent of the total drugs sold in the country though it has only 2.77 percent of the country’s total population. About 60 per cent of the sales are through hospital outlets and the remaining 40 per cent are through medical stores.
Antibiotics, analgesics (painkillers), nutraceuticals and tranquillisers are much in demand among Keralites, contributing around 75 per cent of the total market share.
The intake of drugs for non-communicable diseases is the highest among Keralites.
For an entity to start manufacturing of drugs in Kerala, a state government licence is the requirement if it intends to produce only tablets and capsules.
If it manufactures beyond that, licence from the Central government is also needed, said P Hariprasad. Drugs Controller, Kerala. “To start a drug manufacturing company, it requires a large chunk of investment. It is not easy to operate a company as the raw material sourcing and cost are major challenges,” he added citing the examples of around 80 such companies operating in the state. Most of them are struggling, he said.