PremiumNEW DELHI : India is taking concerted and coordinated efforts on Research & Development and innovation in the Pharma-MedTech sector to indigenously develop cutting-edge products and technologies, said Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
Addressing the roundtable discussion on “Opportunities in R&D and Innovation in Life Sciences at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Mandaviya said that a large share of global value capture (nearly 40% of a market of 6.65 trillion USD) in the life sciences sector lies in innovation-based products.
“Promoting drug discovery and innovation will unlock this value and will also enhance the industry’s contribution to Indian economy (additional USD 10-12 Bn in exports every year) and create a large pool of jobs to enhance India’s differentiation vis a vis other developing economy.
The union government is focusing on three major areas which includes—strengthening the regulatory framework to facilitate innovation and research in product development.
“Indian regulators are now working towards establishing global harmonization in this regard, with modifications in the regulatory provisions. Incentivizing investments in innovation through a mix of fiscal and non-fiscal measures, thereby matching risks with remunerative financing options.
“We are looking at a range of interventions that would facilitate funding support for innovation such as schemes to support investments into R&D innovation, reimbursement of R&D spending and designing appropriate fiscal incentives to promote R&D", he stated.
India is creating a facilitatory ecosystem to support innovation and cross-sectoral research as a strong institutional mechanism for sustainable growth in the research and development and innovation sector.
He also informed about the Govt’s support to the Medical Devices sector by a production-linked incentive scheme and underlined that the bio-pharmaceuticals sector has delivered a 5-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 50%.
The Union Minister reiterated Hon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ i.e “Self-reliant India" and highlighted that India can only achieve self-reliance in pharmaceuticals and medical devices by strengthening its R&D infrastructure that would drive the expansion of access to life-saving medicines and drugs and help India become a global pharmaceuticals and medical devices exports hub.
Dr Mandaviya encouraged the Pharma-MedTech industries to adopt innovation as a driving feature of their business strategies. “India is now poised to take on the global arena and move from high-volume to high-value products", he stated.