The Indian pharmaceutical industry should garner 10 per cent share of the global pharma trade by 2010, according to Homi Khusrokhan, president, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) and managing director of market leader Glaxo India.
In his keynote address titled, 'Translating a vision into Reality' at the Chemtech-organised PharmaIndia '99 exhibition Khusrokhan observed, "The Indian pharmaceutical industry has clearly come of age. But we cannot afford to be complacent, the industry now needs a vision for the future. Strategies to implement the vision will follow."
He proceeded to define the vision along three dimensions - globalisation, innovativeness, and contribution to healthcare needs. He said the measure of country's success would be its share of world trade, the number of domestic companies listed on international stock exchanges, the number of drug discoveries and strategic alliances that these would forge and the reach and access of drugs to the common people.
More From This Section
Elaborating on what he called "the power of 10", Khusrokhan said there should be at least 10 pharma companies listed on international stock exchanges, and 10 significant new, indigenous drug molecules from being commercialised by the end of the decade. He also said the country should target a 10 per cent share of transnational alliances in the pharma industry. Last but not the least, he emphasised the need to increase reach and access of medicines to the Indian population by 10 per cent every year.
The inaugural session of PharmaIndia '99 was chaired by Omar Abdullah, Union minister of state for commerce and industry. Abdullah said we expected a growth of 15 per cent in the domestic consumption of formulations, and 20 per cent growth rate in the export of bulk drugs and formulations in the ninth five year plan period. He stressed the need for industry to have an efficient back up service.
"Quality guarantee, product replacement to bear the losses because of defective products, total technical assistance, and after sales service can give an edge to our products," he observed.
He also emphasised the importance of developing eco-friendly processes and products, keeping in mind the stringent environment regulatory legislation in developed countries.