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Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (File) Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the pandemic taught India’s pharmaceutical industry to become self-reliant, but there was a need to focus on innovations so that the sector grows and captures the global market. The Minister also said that there was a need to focus on not only low-value generic medicines but also patented drug manufacturing.
Speaking at the India Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Conference on Friday, he said, “Recent pandemic scenario has shown the resilience of this sector and we must work towards strengthening it further. We will engage with industry and academia to chalk out a roadmap for pharma and medical devices for the next 25 years. Indian pharma industry is known globally for its affordable and quality drugs. We shall soon get the competitive edge in medical devices, too, with research and innovation,” he said.
In addition, he said there was a need to also make the country self-reliant in manufacturing not just the finished products but also key materials. “We identified several Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and started their manufacturing in the country. We now must look forward to be agile against the global competition,” said Mandaviya.
Union Minister of State of Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said, “Our government has taken commendable steps to ensure a supportive and enabling ecosystem for the industry, including incentives in the form of production linked scheme for pharmaceuticals and medical devices to catalyse the supply. It will also enable us to move up the value chain from being manufacturers of generics to high-value patented drugs, new technologies like cell and gene therapy, precision medicine. Our competitive advantage over other nations is price competitiveness and quality.”
S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, said that these measures are expected to increase the value of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry to US$ 50 billion by 2025.
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