After 30 years, India to restart Penicillin G manufacture: Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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    After 30 years, India to restart Penicillin G manufacture: Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers

    Posted 09 Mar 2024

    Updated 25 Mar 2024

    2 min read

    • Penicillin G is an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) used in manufacturing antibacterial drugs to treat pneumonia, meningitis, gonorrhea, syphilis.
      • It is also known as benzylpenicillin, or benzylpenicillinic acid. 
      • In 1928, Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming isolated the first specific form of penicillin from Penicillium fungi
        • For this he shared Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for the discovery in 1945. 
      • It is administered intravenously or intramuscularly due to poor oral absorption.
      • Like many other APIs, manufacturing of Penicillin G was phased out from India due to cheaper imports from China after globalization. 

     

    • About API 
      • API or bulk drug, is key ingredient of a drug or medicine, which lends it the desired therapeutic effect or produces the intended pharmacological activity.
      • Despite India being 3rd largest pharmaceutical industry by volume in world, it is primarily dependent on bulk drug import particularly from China.
      • Kye issues in established API manufacturing unit include huge initial costs, intense global competition, etc.

     

    • Initiatives for self-reliance in API: Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has launched: 
      • Scheme for Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks
      • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals covers  APIs.
      • PLI scheme for domestic manufacturing of key starting material (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates (DIs) and API.
    • Tags :
    • PENICILLIN G
    • API
    • benzylpenicillin
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