Pharma veteran DG Shah passes away

Dilip Shah, founder of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) the organisation that represented the interests of Indian drug makers passed away in Mumbai on Friday 22nd February 2019. He was 77. Known in the industry as "DG", Mr Shah started the IPA when the Indian pharma companies were trying to find their feet in the global pharma landscape that was dominated by the multinational pharma companies predominantly based out of Europe and USA. He was a close associate of Partnership for Safe Medicines India Initiative and always guided us on issues concerning Patient Safety and improving accessibility to quality medicines.

Shah who himself spent most of his career with the MNC drug companies like Pfizer, made a role switch when he decided to take up the cause of Indian drug makers. India pharma companies who were struggling for validation of their drugs became a saviour to countries in Africa and Asia who could not afford the high price tag that MNC drug makers had placed on life saving drugs, specifically in the areas of HIV. Being called "copy cat" drugs the generic industry broke on the monopoly of Big Pharma in these countries, who were often criticised by the West for not respecting the IP laws.