TNPDA asks manufacturers to stop direct supply of medicines to hospitals

Wednesday, August 9, 2023,

The members attended the annual general body meeting of the Tamil Nadu Pharmaceutical Distributors Association (TNPDA) held in Tanjore on August 6 overwhelmingly agreed on a demand presented through a resolution by the organizing secretary that the drug manufacturing companies should stop direct supplies to the hospitals and market the products through proper channels.
 
Presenting the resolution, the organizing secretary VG Somasundaram said the businesses of the authorized distributors everywhere in the country are coming down and they are passing through critical situations. The manufacturers supply medicines to all private hospitals by offering large discounts and several marketing companies become business intermediaries to support the manufacturers. This has resulted in the collapse of many distribution companies and the remaining companies are struggling and suffering much. He said the national association of the distributors, AICDF, is seriously taking the matter and planning to approach various platforms of the manufacturers’ groups urging them to stop direct supplies to hospitals and do the business with full compliance with the drug laws which mandate distribution of pharmaceuticals through authorized distributors/wholesalers.
 
Talking to Pharmabiz after he was elected further to the post of the organizing secretary of the TNPDA, Somasundaram said there is one conventional system of distribution of medicines as per the drug laws which originates from the manufacturing site to the C&F, from there to the wholesale distributors who supply to the retailers’ premises. Actually, the distributors are responsible for the promotion of pharmaceuticals in the market. But now-a-days, everything has changed and the manufacturing companies are applying different strategies to promote their products and attract markets. This change of strategies has severely impacted the business prospects of the distributors. He wanted the manufactures’ bodies like IDMA, OPPI, CIPI, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, etc to collaborate with the distributors for promotion of business and stop predatory pricing which is always a hurdle to the distributors’ business.
 
Another resolution passed by the AGM is on illegal sale of pharmaceuticals through online services. According to Somasundaram, online pharmacy business by corporate entities has become the major challenge for the conventional pharma distributors and either the Central government or the state government does not care about the businesses of the authorized distributors. He further alleged that the online pharmacy often fails to maintain the quality of the medicines they supply, maintain proper storage facility and very often it encourages self-medication. 
 
The distributors body has found that the marketing companies operating under various organisations are also hampering the growth of the distributors. They are the business intermediaries of the manufacturers who provide all help to the marketing people.
 
When asked whether the marketers are members of TNPDA or TNCDA, Somasundaram said they are neither members of the distributors’ body nor the members of the chemists and druggists association. However, he said some marketers of the CIPMMA are members of the TNCDA. TNPDA will not give membership to TNCDA members, he added.
 
The members of the TNPDA elected C. Chidambaram, proprietor of Rajarajan Agency at Tanjore as the president of the association for next three years term and S. Rajan, proprietor of Ranganathan Agency at Trichy as the secretary.
 
Proprietor of Sree Siddhartha Pharma at Tanjore, VG Somasundaram has been re-elected as the organizing secretary in charge of the entire Tamil Nadu.

M Shanmukhasundaram, proprietor of Kumar Pharma in Chennai is the new treasurer of the association.

The other office-bearers are PC Ranka, Suresh Pharma, Chennai (Hon’ president),  PLA Chidmabaram, Vadukanathan Agency at Trichy (Patron), T Annamalai, Annamalai Agency at Tanjore (Advisor) and four vice-presidents and five joint secretaries have been elected. 

The organizing secretary said the association has 600 members, out of which 234 members attended the AGM.

PHARMABIZ.com