Encouraged by the spurt of research and development (R&D) activities undertaken by the Indian pharma manufacturers, the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) expressed keen interest in providing pro-active support through government initiatives for the same.  The Council stressed that it is high time for the Indian manufacturers to establish themselves not just as a market leader in the generic, but also in the R&D segment as well.

It is understood that the Indian pharma companies have been putting commendable effort in the recent years to create a niche for itself in the R&D segment. Taking this into account, Pharmexcil has decided to recognise key players during iPHEX 2014 event that flagged off in Mumbai on May 21. Dr P V Appaji, director general (DG), Pharmexcil stressed that the council had always been supportive of the industry and will do so in the future as well to ensure that India plays a key role as a major exporter of not only the generic drugs but also innovative drugs as well.

“There is no contention in the claim that India is one of the top exporters of high standard generic drugs across the globe. While at the same time, there is a huge untapped potential in the R&D segment as well, with India being home to huge talent pool of researchers. Interestingly, new trends show that more and more pharma companies are keenly looking forward to test their acumen in the R&D segment than just resorting to traditional route of generic. It is a promising trend which if pushed and bolstered would help in getting high returns,” he added.

Interestingly, this is for the first time that the Council is going to recognise the experts in the area, during the iPHEX event. Usually, the patent awards and the export awards are granted earlier during the annual AGM, but this year owing to the large international presence and the impact it will generate among the overseas delegate as a confidence building measures, Pharmexcil has planned to recognize the awardees during this event.

Unlike earlier, this year the Council will be recognizing two companies with gold medals for their contribution in the R&D. Dr Appaji further added, “This shows our commitment in recognising the research and development activities taken up by the companies. We understand that in spite of being a key player in generic exports India needs to gear up its in house R&D measures and all steps will be given by the government to help them nurture it further.”

The Pharmexcil 2012-2013 Patent Gold Award was bagged by Glenmark for NCEs, Lupin, and Sun Pharma for formulations; Reliance Life Sciences for biotechnology; Sami Labs for herbals; and Aurobindo, Biocon, Hetero Drugs, MSN Laboratories, Mylan, Ranbaxy for bulk drugs. Whereas the Platinum Award for overall went to Piramal Enterprises, Silver Award for NCEs went to FDC Limited, Orchid Chemicals; for bulk drugs went to Emcur, IPCA and Natco. For biotechnology Silver Awards went to Bharat Biotech and for herbals it went to Laila Nutraceauticals.

Pharmexcil also gave away the certificate of appreciation to Megafine Pharma, Suven Lifesciences, in the NCEs category; Apex Laboratories, Sentis Pharma, Venus Remedies, and Wockhardt for formulations; Ind Swift, Indoco for bulk drugs. Whereas, Advanced Enzymes and Nisarga Biotech got certification for biotechnology and the certification for medical device and excipents went to Poly Medicure and Ideal Cures respectively.