Centre working on policy to boost R&D in pharma sector: Health Minister

Central government is working on a policy that aims to boost research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. Mandaviya was addressing a Curtain Raiser on the 7th edition of India Pharma & Indian Medical Device 2022 organized by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

“Currently, India has the highest manufacturing capacity for generic medicines. In order to increase the production of patented drugs manufacturing in the country, both innovation and research is required. To bring more innovation and research, the government is taking various steps and soon the government will announce a policy also in this regard,” said Mandaviya.

“To meet the critical requirements of the country, India’s dependency on import for pharma and medical devices must be reduced. The domestic manufacturing needs to scale up as we want to dominate the world and our aim is not to be dependent on anyone,” he added. 

The domestic market is expected to grow three times in the next decade. India’s domestic pharmaceutical market is estimated at $42 billion in 2021 and likely to reach $65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach $120-$130 billion by 2030. “With the growth in pharmaceutical sector, India is aspiring to become a pharmaceutical hub. He further stated that to boost the Indian medical devices sector we need to bring new technologies, innovation along with focus on R&D activities,” said Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. “We have to increase the production of Indian medical devices to reduce the import dependency,” he added.
 
Meanwhile, the National Health Policy 2017 envisages setting up of common infrastructure for development of the pharmaceutical industry. The policy also states that strengthening and rationalizing the drug regulatory system, promotion of research and development in the pharmaceutical sector and building synergy and evolving a convergent approach with related sectors should be done.

“The Indian Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sector requires collaboration between industries, academia, researchers, regulators and policymakers that will help these two sectors," 'said S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals. “The government has formulated several mechanisms including empowered group of secretaries, project development cell, PLI schemes, and a conducive policy environment to strengthen the pharma and medical device ecosystems,” she said.