India's leading names in pharmaceutical excipients are joining forces to set up its first ever excipients council.

The founding members of IPEC India are Mr Ajit Singh of ACG Worldwide and Mr Subodh Priolkar of Colorcon Asia. Indchem International, Micro Labs, Dow Chemicals, Lubrizol India, BASF India, SPI Pharma, and Merck Group are the other founder-member companies.

IPEC India is the fifth member of the IPEC Federation (www.ipec.org), the others being the Americas, Europe, Japan and China. Internationally, the IPEC Federation is the leading federation of the pharmaceutical excipients industry and has over 250 members across all affiliates. The IPEC Federation provides a unified voice that promotes the proper use of excipients in medicines as a means of improving patient treatment.

IPEC India will work actively to promote excipients safety and harmonisation of regulatory standards and pharmacopoeial monographs. It will be a source of advice and expertise on excipients and excipients-related regulations.

The council will focus its attention on the law, regulations, science and business landscape of the Indian pharmaceutical industry for excipient manufacturers and suppliers. It aims to be a proactive colleague of the Indian pharmaceutical industry associations and federations.

Mr Subodh Priolkar said: "This is something that the Indian pharma industry has been crying out for. India is one of the world's largest manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and excipients, which are a critical part of any formulation. It is critically important that we have an industry association that works on these matters."

According to Mr Ajit Singh, IPEC India will have three main areas of activity.

"In the first place it will represent its members i.e. excipients manufacturers, distributors and finished drug makers to government," he said. "It aims to work with relevant authorities and help ensure that regulations are not just streamlined and useful for manufacturers, but also represent the best efforts in reaching and improving upon global GMP standards for both, the Indian market and exports.

"Secondly, via EXCiPACT and other initiatives, IPEC India will set and maintain standards for Indian excipient manufacturers and suppliers. From best practices in manufacturing, to audit guides and templates that will ensure not just a level playing field, but a high reliability quotient for pharmaceutical manufacturers when they use these excipients.

"Finally, IPEC India aims to be a knowledge base and resource centre for the Indian excipients industry, conducting workshops and seminars, organising conferences where training can be given regarding best practices, as well as providing other suitable forums in which knowledge and best practices can be institutionalised in member companies."