The decline in pharmaceutical exports during April - July this year has been halted as they registered a 4 per cent increase in August compared to same period last year.

This was disclosed by Madan Mohan Reddy, Chariman, Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) and its Director-General Ravi Uday Bhaskar on the sidelines of the 13th annual meeting of the Pharmexcil held here on Saturday.

``During April-July, pharma exports declined 7.9 per cent. This trend, however, was reversed in August which showed 4 per cent growth,’’ Reddy, who is also Director, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, said.

However, over all exports during April - August 2017 were still lower by 4 per cent when compared to same period last year.

The decline could be due to regulatory issues faced by some companies, pricing pressure in the US and also a temporary impact of Good and Services Tax (GST), according to pharmexcil.

When asked on the likely trend for the full year of 2017-18, Uday Bhaskar said the council was expecting ``some’’ growth this year unlike last year in which the exports were flat at $16.84 billion.

The Pharmexcil is working along with Government of India, industry and research institutions for import substitution as Indian pharma industry now has a significant dependency on imports of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and intermediates among others.

The draft of the proposed new pharma policy has also mooted a provision to keep drugs made from import substituted APIs out of the purview of drug price control for a period of five years, Dinesh Dua, Vice Chairman, Pharmexcil and CEO of Nectar Life Sciences Ltd.

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