Pharmabiz
 

Karnataka to woo global investors at India Pharma expo

Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru Thursday, January 7, 2016, 08:00 Hrs  [IST]

Karnataka government is pulling out all stops to woo global investors in pharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors at the India Pharma 2016 and India Medical Expo 2016 which is being held from January 7-9,2016 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru. The focus of these two expos is to drive the Union government’s Make India initiative.

The campaign Make India would enable attracting investment from global markets. The government has created a dedicated online cell to answers queries. The campaign focuses on zero defect and zero effect. While zero defect ensures products manufactured in India are not rejected in the global market, zero effect would be that the manufacturing should not have any negative impact on the environment.

Further, the government is putting in systems to deploy proactive approvals. It will track visitors to its website and locate their geographical location interest in immediately. Subsequent visits will be customized based in information collected by visitors on web or raising queries will be followed up with relevant information and newsletters.

The event which is organized by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India along with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) is expected to give a boost to not just Karnataka drug manufacturers but the Indian pharma industry at large.

The Karnataka government is providing total support for this exposition that is designed to woo investors and strategic collaborations. The Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association is working to showcase the state as an attractive destination for the pharma and biopharma industry on similar lines that of aerospace and information technology sector.

The three day event will highlight all sectors covering finished formulations, APIs, natural extracts. It will display pharma machinery, medical devices. There will be buyers and sellers meet. It will attract over 5,000 global pharma and medical device professionals.

The knowledge driven pharma sector with qualified workforce has consistent proved its strengths despite infrastructure bottle necks and taxation issues said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Vision Group of Biotechnology and CMD Biocon.

According to Vinay Mathur, deputy director, Ficci the event will be will be on similar lines that of India Chem which is the Chamber’s flagship expo that has attracted significant investments into the sector. Karnataka which has a strong pharma presence could not maximize the advantage of through the expo. This international event is expected to enable synergies of government and industry.

India with 30,000 brands and 14,000 medical devices is third largest in terms of volume and 13th largest in terms of value has proved its capability in drug production and as an enabler for healthcare. The knowledge driven pharma sector with qualified workforce has consistently proved its strengths despite infrastructure bottle necks and taxation issues said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw adding that Bengaluru is ideally suited to be the platform for this three day expo because of its augmented information technology capability and start-up evolution.

India will need to play from its natural strength as a natural destination, scientific and engineering skills to be become a global leader since it already producing 80 per cent of pharmaceuticals and 20 per cent of generics to the global market.

Dr. VK Subburaj, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals said that government through this event is keen to attract potential investors.

According to RV Deshpande, Minister for large and medium industries the discussions with KDPMA were on to give a fillip to Karnataka with a dedicated cluster, pharmaceutical policy and pharma park. We would provide the adequate assistance for this sector to emulate Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Right now Karnataka key strength is the access to qualified workforce with large scope for industrial growth. There are also efforts to bring back the KITVEN funds.

 Sunil Attavar, president, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and managing director, Group Pharmaceutical Ltd, said that the major development for the state pharma is that its Pharmaceutical Policy which now comes under the state directorate of industries and commerce is expected to incorporate certain needs of the industry. With the government identifying Hassan and Mangaluru for the Pharma Park, the India Pharma 2016 is seen to be an ideal platform to attract promising investors to set up facilities in the state.

More over the government had also stated that it was looking at Yadgir district for bulk drug production and another location which is around 60-70 kilometres away from Bengaluru for formulation manufacture.

These infrastructure development initiatives together with the state’s access to talent pool would surely see Karnataka to be in the limelight during the three day India Pharma 2016 and India Medical Expo 2016, added Attavar.

Karnataka’s strong drug regulatory department which is now in sync with the computerization and networking needs has seen both domestic and multi-national pharma companies thrive. This could give a scope for probable investors to take cue from their success.

The state is home to medical device majors including GE Healthcare, Philips, Siemens along with Mysore based Skanray and S3 Vascular Technologies. Now Skanray which acquired L&T Medical Systems specializes in high frequency x-ray imaging systems, critical care, dental care, primary healthcare and telemedicine devices. S3 Vascular Technologies at Vijayanagar in Mysore is engaged in the manufacture of cardiac and critical care stents.

In July 2015, an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) report titled ‘Indian Medical Devices Industry: The way ahead, indicated that Karnataka has ranked on top with highest share of over 25 per cent in the total output worth about Rs 5,300 crore of medical and dental instruments and supplies sector generated across India.

Though Karnataka had just about eight per cent share in terms of total number of 316 factories operating in medical and dental instruments and supplies sector across India, the state generated over Rs 1,360 crore in output of medical and dental instruments and supplies in India. Further Karnataka had the fourth highest share of about eight per cent in total number of 338 factories in the sector of medical and dental instruments and supplies across India,” according to analysis of the state-wise distribution of manufacturers of medical and dental instruments and supplies in the country

In April 2015, GE Healthcare, reiterated its commitment towards ‘Make in India’ by strengthening its R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, distribution capabilities and education initiatives. It introduced the Revolution ACTs( Accessible CTs) which is the first computed tomography system designed and developed by the company in the country.

In the case of pharmaceuticals, global pharma major GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) has now slated its largest investment for the biggest production plant on 50 acres at the Vemagal Industrial Area, Kolar district in Karnataka. The company will be commencing work in the greenfield project in a couple of weeks which sees an investment of Rs. 1,000 crore and provide employment to 300 personnel. This totally automated advanced production plant , one the largest solid oral dosage facility in the GSK network will be commissioned in 2017.

“We opted for Karnataka and particularly Bengaluru primarily because it was seen as the optimum location for several reasons. These included presence of pharmaceutical-biotech hub, availability of skilled personnel, located close to GSK southern distribution hub, moderate climate, easy availability to state-based investment incentives and access to government owned land,”said Annaswamy Vaidheesh, vice president, South Asia and managing director, India GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Other multinationals in the state are Nova Nordisk, AstraZeneca, Allergan, Quintiles among others which could give investors’ confidence. Further Karnataka is recognized as a contract manufacturing and research services hub. The icing on the cake is that the Minister for chemicals, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals Ananth Kumar is from Karnataka.

The pharma industry accounts for a total turnover of Rs. 12,000 crore of which exports accounts for Rs. 6,000 crore. The state exchequer receives around Rs. 4500 crore from the pharma sector. Now the state’s pharma industry sees Minister Ananth Kumar to set in motion investments.

The KDPMA which is represented by around 80 members is making efforts to sustain good manufacturing practices, adopt sound quality control measures. The association which observed its golden jubilee year in 2015 is actively engaging with the regulators at the centre and state to create a conducive and transparent environment to facilitate speedy clearances.

In an effort to give a fillip to Karnataka government’s ease of doing business plans, the KDPMA will actively work with various departments like labour, pollution control, customs and taxes which impact the industry. “Our strategy also includes tapping promising opportunities for academia and industry partnerships. The existing Pharma Training Institute will team-up with colleges to mould pharmacy and lifesciences graduates to bridge the gap between industries –academia expectations. Apart from this, KDPMA will conduct seminars on skill building for industry personnel. The objective is to make available industry- ready talent and ensure the workforce remain update,” stated Attavar.

The 3-day exposition
The India Pharma 2016, an International Exhibition & Conference aims to increase overall growth of pharma sector including exports and focus on increase of domestic production in the sector. As a joint initiative of Department of Pharmaceuticals and Ficci, it will be provide a common platform where all the participants will get an opportunity to enhance their brand value by displaying their product and the capabilities among the conference delegates and business visitors provided by the event. It will be providing a platform to global investment community to connect with stakeholders in pharma sector in India, Central and State Governments, leading business leaders and top executives from the industry, academics and experts from the world. Further, it will encourage 'Make in India'- for manufacturing of Drugs and Pharmaceutical Machines.

India Pharma 2016 will cover all the sectors of the pharmaceutical industry starting from finished formulations, APIs, Bio-pharmaceuticals, Fine Chemicals and intermediates, Natural extracts, Excipients and many more. There will be display of Latest Pharmaceutical Machinery, Plants, Laboratory Equipment, Analytical Instrument and Cleanroom Equipment. It will be an opportunity to connect with Business Development Managers who are looking for new supplies, building strategic partnerships or entering into new ventures. The participants will be able to meet over 5000 global pharmaceutical and biotechnology professionals.

Bengaluru is being recognized as a bio cluster of India. The creation of economic clusters of biotech units is attributable to the increasing returns under monopolistic competition and generation of strategic alliances.

As around $70 billion worth of drugs are expected to go off patent in the US over the next three years, India is poised to cash in on the ensuing opportunities by manufacturing a substantial share of the products. As one of the strongest emerging markets in the global pharma industry, India presents great opportunities for all international pharmaceutical companies to explore and benefit from. The government has taken many steps to reduce costs and bring down healthcare expenses. Speedy introduction of generic drugs into the market has remained in focus and is expected to benefit the Indian pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the thrust on rural health programmes, lifesaving drugs and preventive vaccines also augur well for the pharmaceutical companies.

 
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