In the wake of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak across the globe, the price of the most commonly used drug paracetamol has increased by 40% in India. According to Pankaj R Patel, chairman of Zydus Cadila, the cost of the antibiotic, azithromycin that is used for treating a variety of bacterial infections has risen by 70%.
It is believed that if the supplies aren't restored by the first week of March, than the pharma industry could face shortage in finished drug formulations from starting April. Patel also added that he has observed a substantial increase in prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients. One of the largest suppliers of generic drugs across the world is India. India is also the home to around 12% of all manufacturing sites catering to the US market, relies on China for as much as 80% of API requirement, as per report. The fatal Coronavirus has so far killed over 1,000 people only in China.