Making India's pharma self-sufficient

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has started examining how to make India self-sufficient in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting material (KSMs) and medical devices and reducing dependence on China and others.The 27-member parliamentary panel held a meeting this week with the industry and sought their suggestions. The government is committed to going into the micro details and putting up recommendations in a considerate manner, officials told ET.“Stakeholders including the industry, associations and government officials from various ministries are involved,” said a person aware of the matter. 78050800Officials from the Department of Chemicals and Fertilizers and the commerce and health ministries are involved in the exercise, the person said.India is the pharmacy to the world, supplying drugs to 206 countries, including the US and Europe, which are its biggest markets. However, India’s pharma companies rely on China for up to 90% of its API requirements, which were worth $2.7 billion in 2019-2020. India is also vulnerable in medical devices, with imports to the extent of 90-95%.The government is working to ensure that India becomes self-sufficient in these areas over the next five years and an exporter of active pharmaceutical ingredients, key starting materials and medical devices.India is expected to be a key supplier of Covid-19 vaccines globally, already producing 60% of the world’s requirements. India meets 90% of the World Health Organization’s demand for DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) and BCG (used against tuberculosis) vaccines.“India should also be able to increase its market share for vaccines – that’s a great growth area and can give a huge momentum to exports,” one person said.The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the chemicals and fertilisers ministry recently announced a ₹10,000 crore production-linked incentive scheme for the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients, key starting material and intermediates in India to reduce dependence on China.In addition to 53 APIs primarily identified under the scheme, the department has taken various product-specific initiatives to encourage self-reliance in manufacturing.“Another scheme to boost manufacturing of formulations on which India is hugely dependent on other countries is in the offing,” the person said.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/32iU8th
via IFTTT