Bulk drug policy to be unveiled

The government wants to build an ecosystem to help pharma comapnies go up the value chain. Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is expected to come out with a new bulk drug policy in less than a month with an objective to grow the Indian pharmaceuticals sector to a $200 billion industry by 2030. Under this policy, the government wants to build an ecosystem to help pharma companies to move up in the value chain and develop new molecules through innovations.

“We are coming out with a new policy. This policy should been announced six months back. Now it will be unveiled in less than a month,” said Dr V K Subburaj, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceutical, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said.

The industry which grew in the last 15 years has potential to be a $200 billion industry and can be the world’s largest if it scales up and moves up the value-chain. Until 1970 India was dependent on other countries for its pharmaceutical requirements and in 20 years’ time it became self sufficient to meet its own requirements, he said.

“India has now become a superpower as far as generic drugs are concerned. India can become a $300 billion industry including medical devices by 2030,” he said quoting a FICCI report. As per this report the country’s pharmaceutical industry has the potential to touch $200 billion by 2030 from the present $32 billion. And the medical devices segment can grow from $5 billion now to $100 billion. “This is a herculean task, but possible. We must get into development of new molecules and have new drug discovery which is currently lacking. We should reach this level,” he said. “If we concentrate on states where growth is less, we should be able to achieve the infrastructure requirements of the pharmaceutical industry,” he added.

The industry is growing at 8-9 per cent per annum at present, and even if we maintain the same growth rate, we can reach $110 billion by 2030, Subburaj said, adding that we need to overcome several challenges to achieve this herculean task. “To overcome the quality problems, we need to have our own APIs manufacturing capacities. The new bulk drug policy will help in increasing the domestic bulk drug production and reduce dependence on Chinese imports,” he said.

Union Minister Hansraj Ahir while speaking at this seminar said that the new policy is aiming at bringing down imports of bulk drugs and increasing the domestic output. Bulk Drugs otherwise called APIs are active raw materials that provide therapeutic effect to drugs. India is dependent on China for APIs and there is a concern on quality. Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals said industry must focus on innovation and adopt international practice.  “I see India as a potential pharmacy hub for the world,” he said, adding, “If we make a few changes in the way we do and manage business in India, we can accelerate that process.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/business/bulk-drug-policy-to-be-unveiled/article8249249.ece