The fairy tale growth story of India during the last 50 years from a minnow to a powerhouse is etched in golden letters in the annals of the global pharma industry. With an estimated turnover of US $ 21 billion and an annual growth rate of 13 per cent, the Indian pharma industry stands tall amongst the top market players in the world , exporting to over 200 countries.
From being a market, almost completely dominated by multinational companies (MNCs) with a high concentration on exports of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API ) and generics, India has now proved its prowess in the areas of manufacturing, drug discovery and research. The domestic industry is now moving into the phase of innovation, with the large players as well as the smaller niche players, strengthening their research and drug development capabilities and expanding to the developed and regulated international markets.
The increasing might of the Indian pharmaceutical industry will be reflected at the 63rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) which will kick start from December 16 to 18, 2011 at Bengaluru, the knowledge hub of Asia and the capital of Karnataka. The congress which is being held at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre(BIEC) on the Peenya-Tumkur Road will be inaugurated by the Karnataka Chief Minister, D. V. Sadananda Gowda.
Concurrent with the 63rd IPC is also the Pharmaceutical Expo 2011, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) which portrays the capability of the pharmaceutical industry in the areas of laboratory equipment and machinery technology.
This year’s event is hosted by the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Karnataka State Branch (IPA-KSB) with the support of Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) central. This year’s theme ‘Pharma Vision 2020: India: The Pharma Powerhouse’ aims to highlight the growing stature of the sector. The event will be focusing on the competitive edge in several segments of the industry covering R&D, drug discovery, clinical trials, contract research and manufacturing services and production plants.
The Scientific Committee and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Bengaluru, in collaboration with the Central Scientific Committee, IPCA are offering most current and advanced topics that are in line with the conference theme and will provide valuable and practical learning opportunities for all the participants empowering them to face the current global challenges successfully.
The scientific sessions are organized in various forms such as symposia, panel discussion and poster presentations by research scholars. The subjects of 12 symposia are current and contemporary in nature and have been carefully selected to cater to the needs of all participating stakeholders-industrial pharmacists, community pharmacists, the hospital pharmacists, clinicians, academicians and students.
The speakers of national and international repute, who are experts in their respective fields, will be delivering lectures. The conference will help in disseminating scientific knowledge and facilitate exchange of new ideas among the members of pharmacy profession.
In brief, the scientific spread at the conference is sure to attract and satiate the scientific hunger across various sections of delegates attending the conference, said SM Mudda, chairman, scientific services Local Organizing Committee and Executive Director- Technical & Operations, Micro Labs Ltd.
The president’s symposium: Pharma Vision 2020: India - The Pharma Power House will be delivered by Subodh Priolkar, President, 63rd IPC and General Manager, Colorcon Asia. Pvt Ltd .
Praful D Sheth, Vice President, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) will be speaking on ‘ How pharmaceutical sector can meet the challenges of inclusive growth and service delivery to create access to affordable, quality medicines within a sound regulatory environment?’
Dr B Suresh, Vice Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore will be speaking on the ‘Challenges in pharmaceutical education to meet international quality by 2020’
“The four important pillars of any successful congress is scientific programme, the venue, the exhibition and the arrangement/execution of the event. This year , the venue is BIEC, which I rate as the best venue IPC ever had till date,” said Subodh Priolkar.
Delegates will comprise leaders from the pharma federations and association along with pharma professionals from academia and industry .
According to Dr. BR Jagashetty, Karnataka Drugs Controller and the president IPA- Karnataka state branch, the activities during the congress are meticulously planned to ensure the science- based knowledge are ably supported to its practical application.
While the Local Organizing Committee is led by Dr, Jagashetty, C.P. Bothra MD, Medreich Ltd is the Hon. Organizing Secretary and the two Honorary Joint Secretaries are Suresh Khanna, chairman, Stabicon Lifesciences Pvt Ltd. and Prof. T.V. Narayana, vice president and Chairman, IPA Education Division. Jayaprakash Mady, managing director, Wintac Ltd. is the Treasurer and Goni Fakkirappa, Asst. Drugs Controller, Karnataka Drugs Control Department, is the Joint Treasurer.
Dr. N Udupa is the Convener-Scientific Services, Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association.
The Central IPA - Co-ordinators are Dr. C. Gopal Krishna Murty, S.D. Joag, Ram Banarase and Kaushik Desai. State IPA - Co-ordinator is Veeranarayan Gowda. Advisor is Prof. V.B. Desai. The Associate Secretaries are Amaresh Tumbagi, Asst. Drugs Controller, Karnataka Drugs Control Department, SG. Biligiri, President, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association and Technical Director, Jaggat Pharma. Associate Secretary for information and web co-ordination, sight seeing, security, transport and volunteers is Jatish Sheth, Managing Director, Shrusti Pharmaceuticals. Khalid Ahmed Khan, Asst. Drugs Controller, Karnataka Drugs Control Department is the Associate Secretary for hospitality, ladies hospitality, public relations, registration, souvenir and Prof. C. Ramesh is Associate Secretary for entertainment, medical services, reception and accommodation.
The prowess of Karnataka
This is the second occasion the city is holding the event as it returns to Karnataka after a span of 18 years after being held in January 1993. In the last one decade, Bengaluru has been recognized as the Knowledge Capital of the country going by the development of the information technology and the life sciences industry.
There are around 250 pharma companies in the state. Seven companies listed on the National Stock Exchange are AstraZeneca, Biocon, Bal Pharma, Opto Circuits, Natural Capsules, Strides Arcolab and the Raichur-based Shilpa Medicare. A large chunk of the industry are in small and medium enterprises category. Micro Labs is the largest among the Bangalore- based companies in the pure pharma space engaged in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and formulations.
Among the leading multinational companies are Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, AstraZeneca, Lundbeck to name a few. There is also a huge presence of clinical trials and contract research manufacturing service (CRAMs) companies. Among the leading lab instrumentation companies are Waters, Millipore, Sartorius and Pall Life sciences.
In the last financial year Karnataka pharma had given 20,000 direct and 30,000 indirect employments. The total turnover of the sector is Rs. 6,500 crore of which exports are about Rs. 2,000 crore.
While Karnataka is a major hub for information technology and biotechnology, in pharma it is recognized as a centre for research and development and CRAMS. The city offers an ideal environment for research and development. Leading institutes like Indian Institute of Science, National Centre for Biological Sciences and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Research, St. John’s Medical College, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences have helped to promote the growth of pharma in the state.
The pharma industry has established a number of state-of-the-art labs which include STAR by Strides Arcolab, AstraZeneca’s Process R&D Centre, Anthem Biosciences which is a research and manufacturer of bio-pharmaceuticals, Genotypic, a micro array and next generation sequencing (NGS) provider, Gangagen, a discovery and pre-clinical drug development major, Vanthys Pharmaceutical Development (P) Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture of Eli Lilly and Company (USA) and Jubilant has a drug discovery lab, Thrombosis Research Institute within the Narayana Health City campus. Other than these , the modern labs like Ganit Labs, Semler Research Centre, Rea Matrix, Jubilant Biosys Ltd., a subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd, The John F. Welch Technology Centre for multidisciplinary research have helped the state to surge ahead in the area of R&D.
In the CRAMS space, the well-known names are Kemwell, Remidex Pharma, Medreich, Srushti Pharma, Global Calcium and Global Pharmatech to name a few. There is a huge presence of multinational clinical research organizations including Quintiles, Norwich Clinical Services, PharmOlam , ICON, inVentiv Health Inc. the erstwhile PharmaNet to name a few.
Further, the state is also home to the Biocon Park which is the first dedicated biotech park in the private sector with a Special Economic Zone status (SEZ) that has brought out a human insulin and the BioMAb EGFR for the treatment of head and neck cancer.
There is also a huge presence of medical engineering expertise with developments at the GE Healthcare, Philips, Siemens, 3M, Opto Circuits, Vascular Concepts and Texas Instruments.
In the area of plant medicine research and production centres , companies like the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), The Himalaya Drug Company, Unilever Research India, Natural Remedies, Green Chem and Phytotech Extracts have made a mark in the global arena.
There is also a huge presence of generic and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) companies. The leading names are Micro Labs, Bal Pharma, RL Fine Chem, Sigma Aldrich, Provimi (animal health major). Stabicon Life Sciences is one of the largest Contract Research Organizations offering stability study management and analytical development services in south India.
Playing host to the 63rd IPC would be an opportunity not just to attract more investments but also to showcase the prowess of the industry in terms of plants and the people, said members of the Karnataka Drugs & Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.
IPCA, the face behind IPCs
Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA) is a federation of five national pharmaceutical associations as its constituents. These are the Indian Pharmaceutical Association ( IPA), Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association ( IPGA), Indian Hospital Pharmacists’ Association ( IHPA), Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI) and the All India Drugs Control Officer’s Confederation (AIDCOC) . It is the apex body representing Indian pharmacists working in various capacities covering pharmaceutical industry, research and development, quality control, quality assurance, academics, drugs control departments, hospitals, community and clinical pharmacy, marketing etc. The total strength of all federating associations would be more than 20,000 professionals/pharmacists as members.