Indian pharma is a major player in the South Asia and Africa region. The companies are registering impressive growth. The key advantages which propel the growth of the Indian pharma in the South Asia and Africa markets are its low cost of production compared to other countries. These positive factors will ensure India as the forerunner in South Asia and African countries, Vipin Kumar, managing director, Tejkamal Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd, committee member, Karnataka Drugs & Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and secretary Indian Drug Manufacturers Association- Karnataka branch, tells Nandita Vijay in an interview. Excerpts:
How is the India pharma faring in the markets of South Asia and Africa?
The Indian pharma industry is faring well in the South Asia and African regions. The sector is envisaged to grow by 10 to 15 per cent in 2020. It is expected to outperform the global pharma industry which is registering a five per cent growth rate.
The key advantages which propel the growth of the Indian pharma in the South Asia and Africa markets are its low cost of production compared to other countries. Another key positive which favours growth in both South Asia and Africa is the access to highly qualified workforce at competitive labour costs compared to other countries. Our skilled personnel is recognised for their high managerial and technical competence. From the point of view of infrastructure too, there is a big plus point as India is home to the second largest USFDA approved manufacturing plants outside the US which is over 546 facilities and around 2,633-FDA approved drug products. These positive factors will ensure India as the forerunner in South Asia and African countries. The Union government has unveiled 'Pharma Vision 2020' aimed at making India a global leader in end-to-end drug manufacture.
What are the visible trends in the region …in this sense what products are in demand?
Presently 80 per cent of the antiretroviral drugs used globally to combat AIDS are supplied by Indian pharmaceuticals. Going forward, medicines for diseases such as cardiovascular, anti-diabetes, anti depressants and anti-cancerous are on the rise and hence this pushes the need for more drugs for the treatment for these health conditions. There could also be opportunities to drive local manufacturing in countries of Bangladesh and Africa among others.
What are the issues impacting the Indian pharma industry when they trade in these markets?
Most of the African countries have started their own stringent FDA requirements and approvals for manufacturing units in India. Because of FDA stringent requirements, getting approvals for the manufacturing units to manufacture the required drugs is taking enormous time. The same scenario exists in the South Asian region. Therefore, Indian pharma needs to ensure that it bolsters its export capability which is cost-effective manufacturing to ensure competitive pricing in the South Asia and Africa regions.
How is the demand for contract manufacturing from customers in South Asia and Africa?
The demand for contract manufacturing is very high but still there is a huge untapped market in both the regions and many of the Indian companies have started exploring these markets in last few years
and are investing profusely in setting up state-of-the- art facilities to manufacture quality drugs.
What are the future prospects of Indian pharma in South Asia and Africa?
India is presently known as one of the most important players in the global economic landscape. Its trade policies, government reforms and inherent economics strengths have attributed to its standing as one of the most-sought after destinations for foreign investment in the world. We see the technological and infrastructure developments that are happening throughout the country will augur well for the trade and economic sector in the years to come. The ‘low labour cost and high volume of production’ remains the main attraction for Indian companies to present themselves as a major supplier and contact manufacturer of pharmaceuticals.
Around $ 40 billion worth of prescription drugs will lose patent protection and this will play an important role for Indian firms to flourish in South Asia and African countries with their generic formulations. The Indian industry is estimated to account for 22 per cent of the generics world market. It is the low production cost which gives India an edge over other generic manufacturers to garner a significant market share. Hence the future prospects of Indian pharma in South Asia and Africa will be very good.
How is Karnataka faring in the contract manufacturing?
Karnataka is faring quite well in the contract manufacturing. The state is the hub for quality manufacturing and top 10 brands of India are manufactured in Karnataka. Moreover the state has the most number of state-of- art manufacturing units which are approved by global regulatory authorities . Some of these are African, USFDA and MHRA Approved. The government of Karnataka is going forward full throttle for making the Karnataka the hub for generic medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Even associations like Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association are bridging the gap between the manufacturing unit and global trade centres by organising and hosting several seminars and international business trips to update the industry a on the latest processes in production.