Drug regulation is just one area where the pharmaceutical industry seeks concessions from governments, say experts.
Thirty-five pharmaceutical companies in India have contributed nearly Rs 1,000 crore to political parties through electoral bonds, data released by the Election Commission on March 14 has revealed.
Of these, at least seven companies were being investigated for poor quality drugs when they purchased the bonds.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are regulated by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which empowers state-controlled Food and Drug Administrations to inspect manufacturing units as well as test the quality of medicines being sold in the market.
Any state Food and Drug Administration can send notices to a company if its drugs fail the quality test. But punitive action – such as the suspension of manufacturing or cancellation of a manufacturing licence – can only be taken by the state where the company’s factory is located or by the Centre.
“We often see a lax approach by drug regulators, both at state and central level,” said Amar Jesani, editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. He said it would not be surprising “if pharma companies finance political parties to strike some compromise in regulatory cases at the state level”.
Other experts noted that drug regulation is just one area where the pharmaceutical industry seeks concessions from governments. Firms could also be looking for cheap land, tax exemptions, favourable policies or for price caps to be removed.
More clarity on what prompted the firms to make donations to the parties is likely to emerge once the unique codes of the bonds that match the donors and the recipients become public.
Regardless, experts say it is significant that drug companies are a major contributor of political finance. “They have invested hundreds of crores in political parties,” said S Srinivasan, an activist who is part of the All India Drug Action Network. “Nobody believes that they did it for the love of democracy, elections or charity.”
Here is a list of the seven companies that received notices from the state Food and Drug Administrations the years they purchased bonds.
Hetero Labs and Hetero Healthcare bought electoral bonds for Rs 39 crore in April 2022. In the preceding 10 months, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration issued six notices issued to the Hyderabad-based company for substandard drugs.
At least three of them pertained to Remdesivir, an antiviral drug widely used to treat Covid-19, that helped Hetero expand its business during the pandemic.
A lab test conducted by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration found that a Remdesivir sample had yellow-coloured liquid instead of clear liquid. A notice regarding this was issued to Hetero in July 2021. A second sample had less than required quantity of the drug and a notice was issued in October that year.
