The WHO appreciation for India's drug regulatory system could not have come at a more appropriate time as there have been concerted efforts from several quarters to show India's drug regulatory mechanism in poor light.

As India strives to provide universal healthcare to its citizens, medical technology that diagnoses and treats complex NCDs is even more critical. Fortunately, India has one of the largest markets for medical devices in Asia and is poised for rapid growth.

During this week, at the National Institute of Biologicals at Noida, Delhi, about 65 specially trained officials, including state regulators, those from drug testing laboratories and from the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) held meetings with senior and experienced regulators.

The company has taken the step after the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) found out that the batches of Combiflam were not of standard quality as they failed disintegretion tests.

Dinesh Thakur, who exposed dangerous practices in generic drug industry in 2013, is accusing the drug regulators of failing to enforce safety rules in the $15 billion industry.

Reeling under the regulatory glare, some of India's leading pharma companies, who have been pulled up by the US regulator on matters around good manufacturing practices and drug quality standards, seem ready and eager to get the US drug regulator and the Indian drug authorities on the same page over these matters.

To realise its true potential and gain rapid in-market acceptance Indian pharma must have capable leaders with unimpeachable record to head its regulatory body.

Drug Controller General Dr GN Singh directed officials to compile list of veterinary drugs with details like date of approval, name of manufacturer, composition of product and its storage conditions.

If the government were to have its way, all domestic manufacturers will need to incorporate bar coding and Unique Identification Number on every pack of medicine, so as to enable effective tracking of the products right from its inception stage to the delivery point.

DGCI GN Singh is trying hard to revamp the system even as cumbersome rules, process delays and rampant corruption pose a challenge to the pharma industry.

The two-day meeting in Hyderabad,beginning on May 5, followed by workshops in Goa, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, marks the beginning of a dialogue between the regulators and the Indian pharma industry.

India supplies about 40 per cent of generic and over-the-counter drugs used in the United States, making it the second-biggest supplier after Canada.

Agreeing to examine the allegations, a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, however, refused to pass any interim order for restraining the company from manufacturing drugs.

The Supreme Court will on June 24 hear a petition seeking probe against Ranbaxy Laboratories for allegedly manufacturing and selling adulterated medicines.

The PIL, filed in the wake of Ranbaxy being fined $500 million by the US Food and Drug Administration, has sought cancellation of the company's licence, initiation of a probe against it and sealing of all its manufacturing units in New Delhi.

A close look at the Indian pharmaceutical industry shows a complicated regulatory structure and a web of entities at the central and state levels tasked with monitoring the sector. The regulator is now getting a makeover but better enforcement and safer medicines are yet a chimera.

Pointing to a collusive nexus between drug manufacturers, officials of Drugs Control Organisation and medical experts in granting approvals to new drugs, a Parliamentary Panel said drugs banned, discarded or withdrawn in developed countries are in circulation in India.