Nov-Dec 2011
HOTEL LALIT ASHOK,
22nd OCTOBER,
BANGALORE, INDIA
INDIAN HEALTHCARE MARKET- INDUSTRY TRENDS
The Indian drug industry is making strides and is on its way to grow about 13 percent in this year. The turnover is expected to be up to over $24 billion. Infamous for making cheap knockoffs of Western medicine at an earlier time, the Indian drug industry has certainly come of age and is now playing a more mainstream role in the global drug industry. This is a consequence of recent strengthening of patent law and cost pressures on name-brand drug makers in the West.
India has had some issues regarding the quality control of the products. However, there are lessons to be learnt from other low-cost drug provider-China. U.S is India's top customer for drugs export. There have been many instances of takeovers and joint ventures in the recent months in this field. Piramal sold its generic drug business to Abbott Laboratories for $3.7 billion.
The foreign angle in the Indian drug industry was kicked off when Daiichi Sankyo of Japan bought a stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2008. Other deals that were cracked include GlaxoSmithKline's partnership with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Pfizer's tie up with Claris Lifesciences. Also Bristol-Myers Squibb opened a research center in India with Biocon. "There is a lot of good talent at a much lower price in India. The move to pharmaceuticals marks a shift in the Indian economy. India is now showing a keen interest in advancing business value chain in law and medical diagnostics. Research and development, the more sophisticated end of drug making could bring in opportunities for India and even development of proprietary medicines.Government figures show that India has exported about $8.3 billion in drugs and services for the pharmaceutical industry in the 2008-09 fiscal year, up by 25 percent from the year before. However, the growth has been eclipsed by some quality problems. Ranbaxy was accussed of violating manufacturing norms by FDA. Sanofi-Aventis retracted vaccines distributed to WHO after complains of white sediments being present in the vials.
Even after making stricter patent laws, India still has many pending suits of intellectual property being fought between Indian and foreign firms. As a result, big pharmaceutical companies find it tough to secure protection of their intellectual property. In the meantime, fake drug making remains widespread in India. In fact a study reported 3.6 percent of the drugs had no active ingredients whatsoever. All this show how face of India is slowly changing for better in the drug industry. While China remains undoubtedly the low cost drug maker, India has got a slight edge here. It's educational system supports the growth of pharmaceutical scientists and longer experience dealing with Western regulators. Here is hoping the Indian drug industry makes huge strides in the coming years to come.
Malvinder to Pharmaleaders
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Dr. Surinder singh to Pharmaleaders
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Tapan Ray to Pharmaleaders
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Kiran Majumdar Shaw to Pharmaleaders
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Dr Kamal Sharma to Pharmaleaders
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