With the saturation of the United States and European markets, the Indian pharmaceutical industry hitherto focusing on these markets till the recent years , is now reaching out to other untapped and highly potential markets especially in the Asian region.

Japan is one of such countries which hold enormous potential for the Indian companies to tap. Over the past few years the Indian government has been  consistently working out strategies for improving pharma trade with Japan.

It is not so easy to do business in Japan. Since Japan has set stringent standards for the pharma companies to enter its markets , only a very few Indian MNCs have been able to meet those standards. Keeping these factors in mind , the Indian government had come to an understanding with the Japanese government for improving the trade especially in the areas of pharma and drug manufacturing.

As a part of this initiative, the Department of Commerce, Government of India, has been encouraging the promotional activities of the Indian pharma sector. The CPhI Japan is an apt forum where the Indian firms can display and effectively convey their capacities and quality standards to the Japanese firms as well as the government.

For promotion of pharma exports, the Government of India has already finalized the "Brand India Pharma" Project, the main objective of which is to create confidence among overseas stake- holders about the affordability and reliability of Indian pharma/generic products.

In view of the recent liberalization policy adopted by the government of Japan, the Indian government feels that it is the right time to launch the ‘Brand India Pharma’ project. The main reason for the change in the Japanese policy is to increase the share of generic medicines in domestic consumption. Taking this as an opportunity, the Indian government is leaving no stones unturned to tap the Japanese market with its low cost , quality generics and APIs. Accordingly, the "Brand India Campaign" is being launched on March 21 on the sidelines of CPhI Japan.

The top dignitaries from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from India are expected to participate in the CPhI Japan event. Among other activities, a business seminar on "Indian-Japanese Emerging Cooperation in Pharma and Health Care Sector" is also being organized where senior officials and CEOs of both the countries will participate.

“We are optimistic about the CPhI Japan programme. This forum will definitely help the Indian industry to explore new opportunities and will also enable our industry to improve standards in accordance with Japanese requirements. This event will not only enhance the quality of Indian generics but also will enable us to  improve our standards on par with the international players,” said P.V. Appaji, executive Director, Pharmexcil.

Over the past few years, the Indian companies have acquired over $1 billion worth of pharma companies overseas and are increasingly becoming aggressive at countries like Brazil, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States and Japan, where the markets are mature and remunerative, despite regulatory hurdles. In fact Indian firms should move up the value chain to produce innovative super generics and grow from producing “generic generics” to branded generics.

Currently, Indian pharma sector is undergoing major changes. Much of this is due to the country's introduction of Product Patent act in 2005. This Act has been instrumental in the domestic industry's huge success as a worldwide exporter of high quality generic drugs.

Many Indian pharma giants like Dr. Reddys, Lupin, and Ranbaxy have collaborated with the Japanese firms to explore mutual business interests. Dishman pharma has formed partnership with Merk to outsource intermediates to Losarthan to be supplied to its contract manufacturer in Japan. Recently Dr. Reddy’s has reached an understanding with Fuji film maker of Japan.

Indian companies have also established a strong hold in the European markets. The three main European generics markets are Germany, France and the UK, together having worth around $3 billion a year. While Dr Reddy's had acquired the Roche's API business for $59.6 million and had also bought the German generic maker Betapharm Arzneimittel, another company Nicholas Piramal's had bought Avecia Custom Drug Synthesis of the UK for $16.7 million. Ranbaxy acquired a 40 per cent stake in Japan's Nihon Pharmaceutical, which is considered as a major breakthrough for an Indian firm to penetrate the tough Japanese market. Ranbaxy showed bare knuckled aggression challenging patents of innovator firms to drive its generics business. The robustness of Ranbaxy's global generic model is reflected in its presence in 23 of the top 25 markets in the world including Japan and Canada.

Traditionally India has focused mainly on the US markets. In 2003, the US accounted for 62 per cent of the global biotech drugs market, while in that year Japan's share of the total had fallen to seven per cent from 28 per cent in 1994.

Contract research and manufacturing is another area where the Indian companies are making profits.The global pharma market holds a great potential in terms of manufacturing outsourcing-supply of APIs and intermediates, development outsourcing-conducting preclinical and clinical trials, customized chemistry services-contract research services for compounds pre-launch.

Worldwide revenues for pharma industry contract manufacturing and research services (CRAMS) are growing at an average annual rate of 10.8 per cent. Within this total, the global market for contract manufacturing of prescription drugs is estimated to increase double the value to the over-the-counter medicines and nutritional products sector is expected to show the fastest growth.