Jitendra Mishra

As technological innovations and advancements continue, the pharmaceutical industry is expected to further undergo rapid evolvement and growth to cater to the rising healthcare demands worldwide. Delving deep into the discussion Jitendra Mishra, Chief Information Officer-VP, Akums had an in-depth conversation with Kaanchi Chawla of Elets News Network (ENN). Edited excerpts:

What are the factors driving the growth of the Indian pharma industry?

The Indian Pharmaceutical industry is one of the most significant emerging markets and has been witnessing phenomenal growth in recent years. From its nascent stages in the 1970s, the Indian pharma industry has become a mature industry.

Currently, it is regarded as one of the fastest-growing pharma industries globally, primarily driven by a large and aging population, changing disease profile due to urbanisation, improvements in healthcare infrastructure and financing, increasing healthcare expenditure as people are becoming more affluent and living longer & active private-sector participation. Such changes have increased the demand for better healthcare and for medications. The industry has evolved from the traditional model of pushed marketing to the current model where companies are focusing more on disease prevention, disease education, running various patient support programmes or groups, providing value-added services, and developing more innovative and technology-driven ideas which can address the changing trends.

The following are the key drivers:

Information Technology (IT): India’s status as an information technology superpower, with access to specialist skills and 24/7 work hours, is a huge advantage as it strengthens its position as the destination of choice for contract research, including drug discovery because of its rich talent pool, technological innovation, creditable quality, operational flexibility, cost-effectiveness, time-to-market, and competitive advantage.

Increased healthcare spending in India: The healthcare ecosystem in India is vastly improving regarding increased health insurance coverage as well as increased government and private sector spending on hospitals.

Changing middle class: The economy of India is growing and so is the average disposable income for a middle-class Indian family. With this, the affordability of expensive drugs is on the rise.

Amalgamations of Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence will help the pharmaceutical industry to design new and automated algorithms. It will help in achieving faster, more precise, accurate, and repeatable results. Molecular analysis and drug discovery are other areas that would involve using Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence will help to tackle difficult diseases, comprehend complex clinical data, track drug adherence, and improve inclusion and exclusion criteria in clinical trials.

Incorporation of Digital Therapeutics: Digital therapeutics involves using high-quality evidence to provide optimal therapeutic interventions through software programs. Many major pharma companies in India have initiated the trend in the pharmaceutical industry.

Prevalence of lifestyle disorders: The Indian population is expected to grow at 1.3 per cent yearly. This rise coupled with ever-increasing lifestyle disorders like diabetes, and depression, etc, together contribute to the noteworthy rise in the patient pool, attracting more spending on generics as well as patented medicines.

Increased Investments: India has gained a cumulative foreign direct investment inflow. The government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in the pharmaceutical sector under an automatic route for the manufacturing of medical devices subject to certain conditions.

Government initiatives: The Indian government has realised the true potential of the pharmaceutical industry and has ambitious long-term plans for the industry. Regulations and initiatives like Drug Price Control Order, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, and Patents (Amendment) Act 2005 are true examples of the government’s favorable intervention in the growth of the pharmaceutical industry.

Digital processes are gaining momentum in the pharmaceutical industry. Do you think it enhances transparency and mitigates the loss of data?

Capturing digital transformation data is vital for any size of business. Creating a completely transparent and data-based business culture between departments saves significant time and costs.

Advancing technology means employees are becoming more and more able to make data-based decisions for their customers. Businesses need a transparent flow of the results throughout the business – customer information focusing on customer satisfaction and customer happiness.

Production Linked Incentives Scheme (PLI) Scheme boosts domestic manufacturing and attracts significant investments in medical devices. How are PLI schemes transforming the pharma industry?

Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes are a cornerstone of the government’s push for achieving an Atmanirbhar Bharat. The objective is to make India’s domestic manufacturing globally competitive and to create global champions in manufacturing. PLI Schemes are the thrust to reinforce India, as the pharmacy of the world is distinct from the PLI schemes for this sector aimed at boosting India’s bulk drug security. This covers identified Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients /Key starting materials /Drug Intermediates. With the aim to further encourage the pharmaceutical industry, to enhance its manufacturing capabilities, diversify the product mix to complex generics, and patented drugs, go up the value chain, bring investment and create global champions out of India.

The cluster-based approach is increasingly being recognized as an effective and sustainable strategy for the competitive enhancement of the Pharmaceutical Industry. What are your thoughts on the contribution of cluster-based manufacturing to the pharma sector’s growth?

The vision of a cluster-based approach is to catalyse and encourage quality, productivity, and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector and to enable the Indian pharmaceutical industry to play a leading role in a competitive global market. World-class quality manufacturing facilities with a high level of productivity with innovative capabilities are required.

  • Increase competitiveness, easy access to standard testing facilities, and value addition in the domestic pharma industry, especially to SMEs, through the creation of world-class facilities.
  • Strengthening the existing infrastructure facilities to make the Indian Pharma industry a global leader in pharma exports.
  • Reducing the cost of production, better availability, and affordability of medicines in the domestic markets.
  • To help the industry meet the requirements of environmental standards at a reduced cost through innovative methods of common waste management systems.
  • To exploit the benefits arising due to optimisation of resources and economies of scale and to provide information on the latest global developments in the sector related to regulations, IPR issues, new products, new markets, etc.

This will be a game changer in the pharmaceutical industries.

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