Despite being a leading quality generic maker and having gained the status of the ‘Pharmacy of the World’, the Indian industry is still facing headwinds in fully taping the global markets due to regulatory hurdles. Though the Indian pharma industry had shown promising growth in its early days, it could not sustain growth momentum for long because of its inability to cope up with changing global regulatory standards, opine industry leaders.
Lack of initiative, tendency to copy for short-term commercial gains and lackadaisical attitude has impacted the prospects of pharma business in the country. It also had a bearing on pharma research and development scenario.
“Entrepreneurs need to focus on innovation, challenge the existing methods and pave way for new developments. One needs to think out-of- the box to bring in better solutions for problems. In order to bring in new inventions, not only industrialists, but also the government, policy-makers, regulators and the academicians should think differently and venture into challenging fields. They have to be adventurous and imbibe the habit of taking risks", says an industry expert.
With a view to bridging the gap between the industry and regulatory system in India, the 66th annual Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC), being held at the Hyderabad international convention center (HICC) in Hitex from January 23 to 25, 2015, will bring together regulators, industry players, academicians and other stake-holders to thrash out misconceptions and develop a deep understanding as to what needs to be done to strengthen the regulatory system, the academics and regulatory compliance by the industry to overcome quality problems, safety and efficiency of the Indian pharma sector.
IPC will be giving a clarion call to the regulators and industry to work hand- in- hand to give a booster shot to the Indian pharma sector with the apt theme ‘India-pharmacy of the world and role of regulators and pharma industry’
“No doubt, I agree that Indian regulatory system needs to improve a lot and is not on par with the US, Japan or EU regulatory systems. However we are no less competent. Our protocols and procedures are in accordance to World Health Organization (WHO) requirements. We have the maximum number of USFDA approved units in our country after USA. This is a pointer to the fact that our industry or our regulatory system lacks competency. But at the same time industry and regulators need to work hand- in- hand to constantly improve our regulatory system and incorporate global standards from time to time" said Ravi Uday Bhaskar, Organising Committee Chairman for 66th IPC and Secretary General, AIDCOC.
"Our governments and policy makers must facilitate regulators and researchers to develop new standards to reach commendable levels rather than being pulled up for non compliance,” he added
IPC’s return to Hyderabad
After almost 10 years, the IPC has returned to Hyderabad. Taking this as an opportunity, the industry, regulators along with academic and research institutions have all come together to make it a success. This time the organizers want to make IPC, industry and regulatory centric. It will be filled with discussions on core subjects, issues pertaining to industry, regulations and academics.
The national pharmaceutical annual event is being organized by the Indian Pharmaceutical congress Association (IPCA) and is hosted by All India Drugs Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC) in co-ordination with Ficci and Pharmexcil.
For this, the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA) has elected Venkat Jasti from Suven Life Sciences as President, Ravi Uday Bhaskar of All India Drugs Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC) as Chairman, and K. Raja Bhanu as Secretary for the Organising Committee of the 66th IPC.
The 65th edition of IPC was held in December 2013 at Amity University near Noida in Delhi NCR region. This event had attracted more than 10000 delegates from academics, industry, hospital, regulatory bodies and pharmacy professional associations. The organizers are expecting that the 66th edition will also attract attendees from various segments of pharmaceutical and hospital industry from across the country and aboard.
The three-day scientific convention will host 52 symposiums and seminars and is expected to have 1750 paper presentations from researchers and academicians. More than 22 foreign speakers have been roped in to deliberate on the issues pertaining to regulations and industry.
The conference is likely to bring together government officials, eminent scientists, research scholars and all segments of the pharmaceutical industry to examine the healthcare needs of the patients and community.
According to sources from AIDCOC, the conference is expected to deliberate on the current scientific research and developments in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. Presentations from the scientific community are also expected to focus on how to transfer current scientific knowledge and research findings into practice.
The AIDCOC has already sent invitations to more than 15000 delegates across the country and inviting regulators, industry leaders, academic institutions and pharmacy graduates from India and abroad. “At least 10,000 national and international delegates are expected to participate in the congress,” said the organizers.
According to the organizers, this time the 66th IPC will organize an ‘International Regulators Meet’ (IRM) and CEOs conclave for the first time. This is being organized in collaboration with pharmaceutical export promotion council of India (Pharmexcil).
Regulators from across 20 countries and CEOs of top pharmaceutical companies are expected to participate and are expected to deliberate on regulatory aspects, manufacture of affordable quality generic drugs and issues pertaining to pharmaceutical industry in the country.
“Every year IPC carries a theme on the contemporary scenario, this time we have designed the theme India-Pharmacy of the world and role of regulators and pharma industry’, this theme aptly conveys the contemporary issues facing India. Particularly the international regulators are imposing stringent regulations and misbranding the country’s pharma industry as a violator of standards.
Through this theme we want to tell the world that Indian regulations and the capabilities of Indian industry are on par with international standards.
With this IPC we want to build confidence among the international regulators, industry and the domestic consumers that India is equally competent and can deliver high quality affordable medicines to the world,” said Uday Bhaskar.
Not just deliberating on regulatory and industry related aspects, the IPC is also expected to discuss issues related to academia and community pharmacy. To discuss these topics the organizers are roping in highly technical and professionals from the relevant facets of pharmacy profession. IPC is also organizing an all India pharma quiz, where in the third and fourth year B.Pharmacy graduates will take part.
“In fact it is after almost after a decade that IPC is coming to Hyderabad. It is a great privilege for the AIDCOC to organize the 66th edition of IPC and we are confident that this event will become a big platform to discuss all the issues concerning the pharma and biotechnology industry in the country,” says Ravi Uday Bhaskar.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Congress is regarded as one of the biggest as conclaves of scientific community in the country. The first IPC was held at Calcutta in December, 1948 presided by the eminent Prof. M. L. Shroff as its president. There after every year IPC is being organized successfully and is attended by eminent personalities from India and abroad. The 65th IPC was held at Noida under the president ship of Atul Kumar Nasa. The professionals elected to preside over the IPC during these years have been persons of great eminence in their respective fields.
This year the event is also going to witness a pharmaceutical exhibition wherein leading pharma industry players will be exhibiting their products, services and medical devices. The exhibition is will be organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
AIDCOC: Among the five major associations of IPCA, the All Indian Drug control officer’s confederation (AIDCOC) constitutes drug regulatory officers from across the country. AIDCOC was formed in the year 1995 at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and is headquartered in Mumbai. The Confederation’s main objective is to provide a common platform for the Drugs Control Officers at the national level. Today AIDCOC represents all the regulatory officers of the country working in the Drugs Control Administration through their respective state associations. The confederation is affiliated to the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA).
The mission of AIDCOC is to achieve professional excellence through continuous training and better co-ordination amongst the Drugs Control Officers and more interaction with fellow pharmacists to establish the Pharmacist and Regulatory Officer as a vital link in the chain of health care delivery. In a span of 19 years the AIDCOC has become a strong and vibrant organization representing the Drugs Control Officers from across the country.
The AIDCOC has also instituted 'Best Drugs Inspector Award' for each state which is presented during the Conventions of AIDCOC. The 'Best Drugs Control Officer Award' at the national level is presented during the IPC every year and 'Life Time Achievement Award' at the national level is presented once every five years.
AIDCOC had organized its last convention in Patna, Bihar on November 30, 2013 with the theme “Enforcement of Drug Legislations-Consumer Safety”. The AIDCOC in tune with one of its aims and objectives 'to offer better services to the public' strives to lead from the front in safeguarding the interests of the consumers with respect to quality and pricing of drugs. The AIDCOC has played a pivotal role in strengthening the regulatory mechanism in the country for the past decade.
According to Uday Baskar, in the years to come, the confederation is planning to aggressively pursue its “National Project on Consumer Awareness”, a continuous education program and take-up the issue of strengthening drugs control organizations with central and sState governments till the desired results are achieved.
IPCA:The Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA) is a federation of five national associations as its constituents namely Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Indian Hospital Pharmacists Association (IHPA), Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI), Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association (IPGA) and All India Drugs Control Officers' Confederation (AIDCOC). The total strength of all the five federating bodies is more than 25000 professionals from different facets of pharmacy.