Even as the economic recession is tightening grip across the globe, Indian pharma industry is less perturbed by the melt-down unlike many other sectors in the country, if the confidence of the industry and the government is any indication.

On the positive side, the industry especially the small and medium scale sectors want to turn it into an opportunity of growth by increasing exports of generics to the cash-strapped developing and developed countries. In a meeting called by Pharmaceutical Department secretary Ashok Kumar on November 24, the industry associations and leaders played down the current recession, holding that it is yet to make an impact on the Indian pharma industry.

Hence there was no need for immediate steps to address the problem either by the government or the industry, the meeting felt. But both the sides would assess it again and moot steps to mitigate the impact, if any in the long run.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Pharma dept, the representatives of IPA, IDMA, BDMA, OPPI, Pharmexcil and SPIC. Representatives from leading companies like Cipla, Cadila Healthcare, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's Lab, Emcure, Glenmark, Intas, Lupin, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, Torrent, Unichem, Pfizer, GSA and Wockhardt were also present.

On the export front also, the meeting felt that there was no impact yet due to the global recession. However, many suggested that India should grab the opportunity as Indian generics could be viable options in markets where now branded drugs from multinationals could not be afforded by the people, hit by declining purchasing power.

The industry also took up some regulatory issues like registration delay, huge fees and other stipulations prevailing in some countries. While the meeting called for tightening grips on imports into the country, the government suggested setting up of testing labs in different parts of the country to examine imported drugs. The industry responded positively to the suggestion made by Ashok Kumar for setting up these labs on private-public-partnership basis.

On access to Japanese market, another agenda of the meeting, the industry cited the language problems faced by them. The industry representatives also wanted shortening of registration time. Besides, insistence of BE studies and clinical trials for already US FDA-approved drugs also proved barriers for exporters. They urged the government to take up these issues with the Japanese government and also find out more agents for better export.

The industry representatives who attended the meeting said it was highly interactive and positive on many levels. The government assured to take measures in future if the situation worsens and industry is adversely affected, they said.