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Innovation and collaboration imperative as Indian pharma’s competitive advantage eroding in US generics market
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
July 13 , 2020
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Indian pharma is now eyeing to make a breakthrough in next generation of products. Its competitive advantage is getting eroded in the US generics market which makes it imperative to develop newer drugs. This is where the sector is assertive to embark on innovation and collaboration to make the required headway in the competitive arena.
Dr Mahesh Bhalgat, COO, Syngene International points out that companies need to look at innovation which is the growth engine in the coming years. But the reality is that there is a lack of focus not just on innovation but on collaboration between industry and academia.
Opportunities arising from patent expiries and price erosions will lead to increased accessibility and affordability. It is here we see innovation and collaboration as the pillars of success as it would help the industry double its global market share from the current 3.5 per cent to 7 per cent, he added.
The industry is also looking at changes in policies which come in more rapidly rather than arbitrarily which could make it more predictable. This would reduce Indian pharma industry’s dependency on intermediates and APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) from China. We have been talking about innovation especially under the Atmanirbhar Yojana that hinges heavily on the industry and academia collaboration that needs to happen, he noted.
There is a lot for India to learn from China with regard to policy initiatives. The dragon land also revamped the Chinese Pharmacopoeia which had many tests that were esoteric. India needs to speed up its efforts on similar lines. Its competitive advantage is getting eroded in the US generics market and this makes it imperative to develop newer products. The attention should be towards not just innovation but on collaboration between industry and academia, said Dr Bhalgat who was speaking at the CII Pharmascope event.
In order to realise this, the government should look to into the 200 per cent R&D tax deduction and reconsider it because it was a payback that paid off when pharma companies want to build their drug pipeline,” he said.
Within India the capability to indigenously manufacture is evident. The government, industry and academia needs to progress rapidly on these fronts. Single window clearances are much wanted from the perspective of clinical trials, there is a need for a seamless process to get the required approvals at a rapid pace. Biologicals and biosimilars are high in terms of investment for manufacture and R&D. We need to prioritise our energy and efforts towards the upcoming technologies such as gene therapy and in the biologics space too. All this would be able to offset our disadvantages in the developed markets, said Dr Bhalgat.
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