The Hindu : Business : Pharma exports to grow to $6 b

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 05, 2005

Business

Business

Pharma exports to grow to $6 b

Special Correspondent

India is one of the top five manufacturers of bulk drugs in the world

NEW DELHI: Pharma exports are projected to grow to $6 billion by 2015 from the current level of less than $2 billion, provided the industry maintains a consistency in the present export growth of 20 per cent annually.

A white paper on the Indian pharmaceutical industry prepared by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) says the pharmaceutical companies are now upgrading their manufacturing facilities and adopting good manufacturing practices, besides obtaining international regulatory approvals from institutions of repute, like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "This factor has been cited as one of the main factors that will propel Indian drugs export even to developed economies", says the paper.

Releasing the white paper here on Tuesday, the Assocham President, Mahendra K. Sanghi, said the global pharmaceuticals market today was estimated at $357 billion against which India's share was calculated in the region of $1.5 billion. He therefore felt that the potential for growth was enormous.

He said the projected exports of domestic pharma products would be within the range of $4 billion by 2010 which would further grow to $6 billion by 2015 because of the strength that this industry would have acquired owing to its continuous focus on upgradation and modernisation. Some of the strengths of the Indian drug industry include its cost competitiveness, strong manufacturing base, well established network of laboratories with R&D infrastructure, strong marketing distribution network and competence in chemistry and process development, he said.

Mr. Sanghi said at present the drug companies were following a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand, they are rationalising their product portfolio by phasing out low volume products that do not fit with their future strategy. On the other hand, they are scouting for brand acquisition and even company acquisition in order to increase their therapeutic reach and market penetration.

According to the paper, India is one of the top five manufacturers of bulk drugs in the world and among the top 20 pharmaceuticals exporters.

The industry manufactures almost the entire range of therapeutic products and is capable of producing raw materials for manufacturing a wide range of bulk drugs from the basic stage, it said.

The industry comprises about 20,053 manufacturing units that employ about 35 lakh people.

The paper says major Indian pharmaceutical drug companies such as Dr. Reddy's Labs, Nicholas Piramal, Cipla, Lupin and Wockhardt are investing and concentrating on R&D.

The R&D activities are targeted both at New Drug Discovery Research and Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS). The major companies invested over Rs. 1,000 crores last year, the paper says.

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