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