ISB Pharma Summit Focuses on Access, Growth & Economics

ISB Pharma Summit Focuses on Access, Growth & Economics

The Healthcare Club at the Indian School of Business (ISB), hosted the ISB Pharma Summit on October 17, 2007, at the ISB campus. In its third year, the Summit this time focused on the coming of ‘AGE’ of the Pharma industry in India. Eminent industry personalities attending this conclave, addressed three key areas of Assess, Growth and Economics of the Indian Pharmaceutical industry.

Present on the occasion was Dean M. Rammohan Rao who extended a welcome to all the participants and mentioned that the ISB was exploring the possibility of offering a specialization in Healthcare in the coming future.

The Keynote Address was delivered by Dr. M. Venkateswarlu, Drugs Controller General of India. "Pharma is the most controlled commodity and drugs are not a favourable purchase by the customer and, hence, is an indirect sale, as a customer has no choice about the product he is buying," he said. Venkateswarlu pointed out that in this sunrise industry, which is growing phenomenally, access is not the main concern as much as is affordability. "At the time of Independence, 95% of the country’s Pharma needs were imported. Today we have moved from a 10 crore turnover to a 35,000 crore, and a three fold growth is forecasted by 2020," he said.

He further urged the industry to foster Public Private Partnerships and increase mobility of services. "A noble idea could be of a Pharma company adopting villages," he suggested. He also added that we need to increase our bench mark for ethics to meet global standards, and need to review it at regular intervals. He also perceived huge potential in the market of traditional Indian medicine if one can 'rationalize, generate data and bring in documented sciences'.

Pharma is no more a small scale industry, according to the Drugs Controller General, and its time to encourage medium and large scale production. He also pointed out the immense scope of clinical trials, adding, "We need to move from reverse engineering and discover drugs for the diseases of developing countries."

The days proceedings were divided into three sessions, each specifically for 'Access', 'Growth' and 'Economics'.

The First Session saw speakers discuss the current and future emerging trends in this industry to accelerate growth. Industry experts discussed how Indian companies are thinking of innovative ways to expand their reach and market in India.

Anil Matai, CEO, Pharmaceuticals Division, Novartis India Ltd., presented to the audience an overview and current scenario of the Indian Pharma sector. "A 30,000 crore industry, ranked globally as fourth in volume and 14th in terms of value, 80% of the sector being prescription market," he noted.

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Contributed by -
Ms. Bhuvana Ramalingam,
Director - Communications,
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

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