When Donald Trump requested Modi to release Hydroxychloroquine [HCQ] consignments then it was a wonder and mystery. Why USA approached India? It is believed that HCQ is the wonder drug which is the potential weapon against COVID-19. India manufactures 70% of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine. The country has a production capacity of 40 tons of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. Chloroquine, which was discovered in 1934, is a synthesised variant of quinine.
Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited [BCPL]
The Kolkata-based Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited, whose founder was Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray [Acharya] was the only public sector unit that used to manufacture this anti-malarial drug in India. HCQ contains Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate. BCPL has stopped the manufacturing of Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate and thereby HCQ decades ago and had started manufacturing Chloroquine Phosphate. The new drug Chloroquine Phosphate is equally effective as an anti-Malaria drug. HCQ is not a vaccine, Its a medicine. It is used for the treatment of Corona affected patient. On 10 Apr 2020 BCPL got clearance from drug control authorities to manufacture Hydroxychloroquine once again. BCPL has the capability to churn out 10 lakh hydroxychloroquine tablets per day.
Acharya the father of Indian chemistry, started Bengal Chemicals in 1901 with the capital of Rs 2 lakh. During his tenure, he never took any salary from the company. From having its first and second factories in Kolkata’s Maniktala in 1905 and the northern suburbs of Panihati in 1920, it set up a third factory in Mumbai in 1938. The Management of Bengal Chemical was taken over by the Government of India and the Union Government nationalized the Organization on December 15, 1980. A new BCPL as a Government Company was launched on March 27, 1981.
Acharya Sir Prafulla Chandra Raychowdhury (2 Aug 1861 - 16 Jun 1944)
With a capital of about Rs. 700, Acharya started the venture as a laboratory in 1892 in the name of Bengal Chemical Works and presented its herbal products before the Indian Medical Congress’ 1893 session held in Kolkata. He got a DSc degree from Edinburgh University in 1887 and started teaching chemistry at Presidency College. Acharya authored, among other books, the ‘History of Hindu Chemistry – From the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century AD’, a book that documented India’s indigenous chemical practices starting from the Vedic era. Ray retired in 1936 at the age of 75 and died at the age of 82.
