- 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.