Coronavirus Impact: Paracetamol medicine price jumps by 40 per cent in India
The price of paracetamol, the most commonly used analgesic, has jumped by 40 percent in India, courtesy -- the novel coronavirus. This comes as an impact of shutdowns in China with the production of medicines being hit as supply chain disruptions prolong, according to a report in Bloomberg.
The cost of azithromycin, an antibiotic used for treating a variety of bacterial infections, has also risen by 70 percent. According to Pankaj R Patel, chairman of Zydus Cadila, the pharma industry could face shortages in finished drug formulations starting April if supplies are not restored by the first week of next month.
India is one of the largest suppliers of generic drugs to the world and home to about 12 percent of all manufacturing sites catering to the US market. It relies on China for 80 percent of API requirements.
The novel coronavirus has claimed over 1,000 lives so far. It has stoked fears of a broader slowdown for the world's second-biggest economy.
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