Hyderabad Indian School of Business (ISB) Healthcare Club will host the Pharma Summit-2007 in Hyderabad on October 17. Drug Controller General of India Dr M Venkateswarlu is scheduled to attend the plenary session.

The ISB Healthcare Club president Sireesha Yadlapalli told Pharmabiz that the theme of the summit would also focus on accessibility and affordability of drugs to the common man of the country.

The topics selected are access, growth and economics. The discussions would encompass areas such as "role of brand building in gaining access to markets" and "whether retail revolution enhances access to drugs". The other topics are the "definition of the growth of Indian Pharma till 2015," "trends and contribution to Indian Pharma Growth, "economic drivers of Indian pharma" and "generics versus branded drugs: economics of innovation."

A galaxy of pharmaceutical industrialists like Novartis India Ltd chief executive officer Anil Matai, Medicine Shoppee CEO Viraj Gandhi, sanofi-aventia senior director Shirish Ghoge and others are expected to attend the summit.

The speakers include Priyanka Aggarwal of Life Sciences, McKinsey, Dr A Goldberg, president of Clinical Research Service of PAREXEL International, Dr Ajit Dangi, director general of OPPI, Ranga Iyer, MD of Wyeth, Sanjeev Dani, senior vice-president of Asia of Ranbxy and others.

Besides, the ISB Healthcare club and Wharton University Healthcare Club agreed to leverage on each other's efforts to gain the maximum benefit from the speaker series, events, etc, Yadlapalli said. The Wharton students would get to hear firsthand on the dynamics of the healthcare industry in an emerging economy and would have a glimpse into the nuances of the challenges and opportunities in a fast-growing sector of the Indian economy.