Over the decades, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has established itself as a company of strategic importance to the country.
Not only has it served Indian patients well, but it has also developed a strong competitive merit in exports to the pharmacy in the world.
While Covid-19 took a course nationwide, the industry faced a crisis of significant proportions. In recent months, while much of India has withdrawn for prolonged blockade, the pharmaceutical industry has continued to operate vigorously. Executives and managers went to the next point to keep the factories open. They have joined the workforce to ensure their safety. They worked to protect raw fabric resources and optimize logistics and distribution of essential medicines.
In addition, the industry has worked in a built-in way with the Indian government to demand and comply with its export obligations. Indian corporations are also entering into partnerships and discussions to make possible drugs and vaccines for Covid-19, which are in development lately.
In the midst of a global crisis, industry has proven to be a constant and reliable supplier of life-saving drugs in India and around the world. While the pandemic has led to unforeseen demand situations, it has also created a great opportunity for the industry. Now is the time to seize this opportunity to address some of the critical and demanding situations of the pandemic, such as India’s over-reliance on bulk drug imports, making it vulnerable to unforeseen materials and value shocks. The time has come for the industry to move towards self-sufficiency and consolidate its position as a pharmacy in the post-Covid world.
The good news is that the government has become aware of the desire to restart the manufacture of bulk medicines. If the political direction has been clear, it will have to be ambitious and sustained. The task of identifying bulk drug fleets has been developed with non-unusual infrastructure, such as solvent recovery and effluent recovery plants. And the pandemic has accelerated it.
In March, the EU cupboard approved a 3 billion rupee programme for the creation of 3 bulk drug parks over five years. More recently, the government announced Production Incentives (PLI) rules to stimulate bulk drug production. The publication of the rules at that time is really encouraging. While we welcome this decision, we strongly urge the government to treat APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) as an infrastructure sector and make planned infrastructure investments within two years instead of the proposed five. To encourage investment, we propose lending on favourable terms with a prolonged moratorium on repayments to manufacturers. This will make it less difficult for industry to raise capital to invest in capacity and infrastructure improvements.
The Covid crisis also underlined the need for a research-based industry that can temporarily design solutions, whether medicines or vaccines, in the event of a pandemic. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has improved this spirit of innovation by participating in the progression of new medicines and vaccines. That said, innovation gains advantages from much-desired seasoning through a combination of tax incentives, access to venture capital, and optimized tactics for verifying and approving therapies. In addition, it is imperative for us to create a dynamic innovation ecosystem across the country that catalys venture capital investments in the early stages of DR.
He is president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and president of Dr. Reddy’s laboratories. Opinions are personal
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