NR Munjal has been elected as the new chairman of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Phamexcil) and Ashutosh Gupta has been elected as the vice chairman. They were elected during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Pharmexcil that was held on the sidelines of India-LAC meet, which concluded here on September 30.


On the third and concluding day of India-LAC Pharma business meet on September 30, the Phamexcil also elected its new members for its Committee of Administration (COA).


Speaking at the valedictory function of the India-LAC meet, Munjal said, “The main objective of the export promotion council is to win the world through supplies of affordable and quality medicines and upgrade to the next orbit by doubling the pharma exports to US$ 25 billion in the next three years with increased contribution from SMEs.”


Munjal said that in a span of just 7 years, the pharma sector has grown from a mere US$ 4 billion in 2004 to US$ 10 billion at present. The India-LAC business has contributed an overall growth of 17.5 per cent with Rs.43,000 crore of exports for the year 2010-11, while the domestic growth for the same period contributed Rs.53,000 crore.


He said, India is topping the list in the world in the formulations category and USA is continued to be as its top ally and partner in its growth.


Conveying his concerns, he said, “Pharma Industry is a capital intensive sector. It needs lot of funding and we need to wait for a gestation period of 3-6 years for our returns. The industry is very much vulnerable to small errors; we need to be highly accurate, with highest standards and high degree of knowledge to excel. Therefore, we need full support from the local governments in terms of regulations, tax holiday and security.”


Referring to India’s backwardness in the technological advancement especially in the biotech and medical devices sector, the chairman said, “We are still worried and concerned regarding the backwardness in the technological advancements. We are hugely depending on exports for the biotech instruments and technology for our therapeutics. We do not have any indigenous medical device manufacturing company in India which can help us reduce the cost of our medicines.”


While referring to the 30 per cent growth projected by pharmexcil in the next 3 years, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who presided over the function, said, “we fully support the pharmaceutical industry in the state. AP is the only state in India which has a CM’s task force for Pharma industry in the country. We would like the industry to grow 50 per cent in the coming 3 years and we will do all that we can do to reach that target.”


Later, the Council announced 24 awards in all for the companies who have excelled in their export performances and patent awards for the year 2010-11. Aurobindo Pharma bagged the Outstanding Export platinum Awards for its performance, while Dr Reddy’s Labs was awarded the outstanding export award in the Bulk drug for non bilogicals in the Gold category for exports above Rs.400 crore. Hetero Drugs Pvt. Ltd bagged the Outstanding export Silver award in the non biological category. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was awarded Gold award for its outstanding bulk drug export performance in the category between Rs.100 crore to Rs.400 crore.


The companies that bagged the patents Awards for the year 2010-11 include Biocon Ltd which was awarded the platinum award for its overall product category. Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd were awarded the Gold awards in the formulation category. Suven life Sciences Limited was awarded the gold for drug discovery category. Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd was awarded silver award for Herbal, Ayurveda, nutraceuticals category and Bharat Biotech International bagged the silver award in biotech category.