India moves to secure pharma market share

NEW DELHI India’s pharmaceutical industry and the Government have focused their collective efforts toward sustaining the sector’s export growth trajectory, the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) said. IBEF is a trust established by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry s to promote and create international awareness of the “Made in India” label in overseas markets.

Around 220 countries source pharma products from India, valued at close to $15 billion in 2013-14. To safeguard its increasing market share of these pharmaceutical markets, India has made a robust commitment to implement a range of regulatory and quality measures designed ensure products meet international standards.

In addition to markets in developed economies, India is also looking to expands its markets in Latin America. Argentina, for instance, has recently fully opened-up its $6-billion drug market to Indian companies, increasing the scope to supply finished pharmaceuticals formulations. This inclusion in the list of countries that can supply medicines to the market is expected to boost India’s current 8% share of the Latin American region in the long term.

On a macro level, India's top 20 pharmaceutical companies are expected to increase capital expenditure by 40% to over Rs 50,000 crore ($ 8.3 billion) by 2017-18. The investment is expected to be directed towards greater attention to regulated markets, particularly to take advantage of substantial patent expiries expected in the medium term and an ever increasing demand for generics.

The top 20 Indian pharma companies contribute close to two-thirds of the country's total pharma exports.

In light of these developments, the Government of India and industry have taken measures to create a more export-friendly ecosystem for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. For one, India is one of the first few countries to launch the Trace and Track mechanism for its pharma products. The system involves affixing barcodes on the primary, secondary and tertiary levels packaging labels in phases following GS-1 global standards. The barcode helps in tracking and tracing the origin of drugs, which in turn minimises the chances of genuine drugs being considered spurious, substandard or counterfeit.  

The Department of Commerce, Government of India, also implements a zero-tolerance policy for maintaining high quality in the Indian pharma exports.

“Quality is a major focus for pharmaceutical exports from India. India looks at healthcare as a holistic issue rather than just commercial business,” said Mr Sudhanshu Pandey, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India.

These recent measures taken by the Government of India and the other stakeholders are expected to reinforce India’s credibility as a “Responsible Healthcare” provider. With the opening up of new markets and continued investments from Indian pharmaceutical companies, the global pharma industry is expected to continue to benefit from the strong talent base and cost efficient manufacturing capabilities that the country offers.