Indian Pharmaceutical Industry : Chance Amidst Crisis

Context

Scope of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry amidst current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The Indian pharmaceutical industry supplies over half of the global demand for vaccines, one third of the demand for generics in the US and one fourth per cent of all medicines in the UK. The nation enjoys an important position in the global pharma sector. Therefore, the future of Indian pharma industry is quite bright, but there are a few dark clouds on the horizon as well.

Challenges Facing By the Indian Pharma

Industry experts highlight that India lacks an ecosystem that enables innovation. The Indian pharma industry faces lack of research components and real time good manufacturing practices. This has always been a difficulty for the pharma industry. Pharma companies should build in such a way that they are equipped with better operational facilities and abilities.

Cost of new drug innovation is very high (for clinical development, etc). When the risks are so high, returns too have to be commensurate. Innovation need not necessarily come from large firms. A small firm, too, can have a bright idea, but it can also fail. The system needs to absorb such failures hence there should be more accountability in Centre-funded research institutions.

Indian pharma companies are not getting proper profits, their earnings are basically very low as compared to their counterparts in other countries such as the US. Their income is not sufficient enough to invest money on research component.

India needs user friendly government policy for the common man to establish small scale, raw material manufacturing units/ incubators in all states of the country to improve availability of raw materials to manufacture generic drugs at affordable rates.

The government and industry should facilitate the pharmacist community to become entrepreneurs and promote incubators establishment.

Raw material produced from small scale units should be properly validated in the testing laboratory of the state to ascertain their quality specifications.

There is a need for a functional testing laboratory in every State to fasten the work of specification of raw materials.

Opportunity in between the Crisis

In a post-coronavirus global order, India’s comparative advantage can rely heavily on becoming a major provider for global public-goods and services (i.e. in healthcare, education and tech-support capacity for innovation), given how the demand for these are likely to go up in years to come.

India’s existing advantage of large-scale pharmaceutical production allows it to significantly leverage its soft power by investing in the outward growth of the healthcare sectors of other nations.

Adoption of user-friendly policies will help establish small scale industry and encourage students and middle class business owners with ambitions in this line. This will also help overcome the problem of unemployment for pharmacists and promote entrepreneurship in the nation.

With changing times, students are getting exposure through internet about research/ technology around them. Indian academic institutions are full of ideas born from the young, creative brains of students.
Indian pharma industry can explore these ideas for future progress. There are ample opportunities for industries to represent their data via academic pharma institutions.

Pharmacy students are highly qualified persons in handling of instruments with having good knowledge of data interpretation and data mining. The important part is that there is no significance of instrumental data without interpretation. Therefore, such knowledge of students can be explored by the industry at the cost of living wedges.

Many nations including those most affected by COVID-19 are the primary export destinations for Indian pharmaceutical industry. Drugs like paracetamols and ritonavir are massively exported to some of these nations. Even with the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, many private Indian pharma manufacturers expressed their desire to increase their supply of required drugs – like hydroxychloroquine to these nations.

Not only states, but many international NGOs and public health non-state actors have been using generic Indian drugs for affordable treatment in countries within Africa, parts of Latin America over the last decade.

Consequently, UNICEF and UNITAID too rely heavily on generic drugs manufactured in India for their aid programs.

Medical Tourism

Over the last few years, particularly since 2014, the number of people coming to India for medical treatment has grown annually at about 55% (see Figure 3). According to Ministry of Tourism, the medical tourism space was valued at around $3 billion (US$) in 2015 and at $9 billion in 2020.

Medical Diplomacy

Despite India’s huge strides in medical-value tourism and in growth of pharmaceutical exports, it still has a long road ahead to leverage its potential at a global level. India’s own public-healthcare system seems in poor shape (barring some of the states in the Southern and North-Eastern part of the country). It has one of the lowest doctor-to-population ratios in the world. The gains accrued have largely been due to the asymmetric, privatized nature of healthcare system in India-which has allowed the private sector to make inroads to other regional/and international partners (in West Asia).

Way Forward

Looking at the urgent need of the nation for quality healthcare, the pharma industry has to develop strategies for raw material producing units with user friendly government policy for the small scale industry. The industry will have to identify researchers/teaching faculty beyond metro cities to get good ideas and skilled workers from across the country.

Connecting the Article:

Question for Prelims

With reference to the medical tourism, consider the following statements:

1. Medical tourism provides positive growth to the exchequer.
2. The last three years have seen a steady increase in the number of people coming for medical treatment in India.
Which of the statements given above is/ are correct ?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Question for Mains

Discuss the chances for the development of pharmaceutical industry amid COVID-19 crisis in India.