Increased interaction between the stakeholders in the pharma sector leading to greater innovation is the need of the hour so that high quality cost-effective medicines reach the common man, said Dr Prathap Reddy, chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee on Healthcare.
Giving a clarion call to the pharma industry in country to focus on innovation, Dr Reddy, who is also the chairman of Apollo Group of Hospitals, warned that unless there was continuous innovation, India would lag behind in the global arena.
Delivering the keynote address at the two-day Life Sciences Conclave in Delhi recently, Dr Reddy said in the effort to bringing affordable medication to the poor, the government must act as a facilitator to create a win-win situation for all with the final winner being the common man.
Dr Reddy stressed on greater interface between the industry and the academia so that the latter's strength is tapped fully and they are brought into the mainstream. He also warned that unless there was continuous innovation, India would lag behind in the global arena. Dr Reddy also called for dedication and integrity to achieve ambitious growth levels.
Endorsing Dr Reddy's concept, Hari S Bhartia, chairman, CII Energy Council and co-chairman and managing director, Jubilant Organosys Ltd., also called for creating an eco-system where all the stakeholders in the pharma sector will work in close collaboration. The pressure to cut healthcare cost was forcing people to look at newer avenues of partnering in innovation, contract manufacturing and marketing of drugs. As innovations can't happen alone, there was need to build more models of cooperation on R&D, he said.
Malvinder Singh, CEO and managing director, Ranbaxy Laboratories, who was also present at the conclave said that there would be more alignment among big pharma and generic companies in India. Singh said new partnership models are emerging in the global generic spaces and intellectual property (IP) patenting. The new partnerships must leverage on each other's skill sets, not only in R&D but both in front and back-end operations.
The conclave also saw releasing of the CII-Ernst & Young (E&Y) Discussion Document on Vision 2015 for Life Sciences. Making a presentation on the vision document, Utkarsh Palnitkar, Partner and National Health Sciences Leader, E&Y, said the document presents compelling insight into the aspirations of the Indian pharmaceutical industry and broadly defines the critical measures that may have to be adopted to achieve it.
The pharma industry should strike a balance between the twin forces of affordability and profitability. The document has been structured on the four core values: profitability for sustenance, research to innovate, integrity to drive business and medicines for all, he said.