PM Modi to inaugurate Penicillin-G plant in Andhra Pradesh, reviving India’s antibiotic production, ET HealthWorld

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate antibiotic Penicillin-G plant in Andhra Pradesh, three decades after the country’s last plant shut down.

Industry executives told ET that decks have been cleared for Hyderabad based Aurobindo Pharma to begin production of Penicillin G at their plant at Kakinada in AP.

The company has started producing small batches and will begin full scale production of 300 metric tonnes towards the end of this year, the sources said.

Penicillin G is used in making several antibiotics. India stopped producing Pen-G about three decades ago and has been dependent on China for them.

The Penicillin-G (Pen-G) facility, located in a SEZ at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, has a production capacity of 15,000 tonne per annum and also 1.8 lakh tonne of glucose, while 6-Amino Penicillanic Acid plant has a capacity to produce 3,600 tonne annually, the drug maker had earlier said in a statement.

The company said that Penicillin G, Glucose, 6-APA and granulated products will be for captive use, domestic supply and exports, while a vials/ampoules plant will be for export markets.

People in the industry said about 30,000 metric tonnes of penicillin is imported from China.

“China ensured closure of production in the entire world, including India, on account of huge government support in terms of subsidies, infrastructure support, ease of doing business (EODB) in the regulatory landscape, and cheap labour,” an expert said.

In 2021 the government initiated a PLI scheme for boosting domestic manufacturing of APIs or KSMs (key starting materials), widening its scope to encourage exports of these raw materials for drug makers.

The scheme was announced for crucial fermentation products, including penicillin g, Aphalosporanic acid 7-aca (used for making antimicrobial drugs), clavulanic acid (to treat bacterial infections), and erythromycin thiocyanate (anti-infectives). India’s pharmaceuticals industry is the third largest in the world, but is dependent on China for crucial raw materials.

The PLI scheme seeks to reduce this dependency and ensure adequate domestic supply of bulk drugs and APIs, industry executives said.

Along with this Mumbai-based Kinvan Pvt Ltd has also started producing clavulanic acid, a blockbuster active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that goes into making Augmentin antibiotic.