"Novel drug delivery system is driving the demand for innovative excipients"

Recently, Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the US-based chemical major Dow Chemical Company, announced the establishment of a Pharma Task Force to collaborate with the industry for discovering the un-met needs of the sector. Task force aims to bring together allied Dow businesses to deliver well rounded, innovative solutions that will pave way for the growth of the pharmaceutical sector.

 

In conversation with Rakesh Rao, Veena Singh, Regional Commercial Manager, Dow Pharma & Food Solutions, Dow India, elaborates more on this task force and the excipients market in India.

 

How is the market for excipients in India?

Over the last few years India has been an important hub for pharma developments.  By virtue of this, the industry here has been a seat for excipient usage and development as well. With novel drug delivery system (NDDS) and various innovative delivery systems being explored by pharma companies, the need for innovative and performance excipients is always on the rise.  India is known for its quick adaptability to new excipients and associated technologies.

 

We therefore feel that the market for excipients in India is definitely growing on two counts:

With close to 30% share of demand in cellulosic ethers (CE), globally we are in a leading position in functional excipients market and hold a similar position in India as well. We are well poised to register a double-digit growth over the next 5 years. Dow India has multiple assets with an unmatched product mix of excipients worldwide and can effectively service the Indian market.

 

How important is the pharma sector for Dow – globally and in India? 

The allied businesses of the pharma sector contribute to approximately 8 - 10 percent of Dow India’s overall business.

 

Healthcare and medicine constitute one of the mega trends identified globally by the company. India is one of the most strategic regions for the pharmaceutical market. We are keen to invest and grow preferentially in this sector along with our key customers.

 

What is the idea behind formation of Pharma Task Force?

Dow Indiais constantly looking at mirroring its global capabilities of innovation and customer centric application research for the Indian market. This includes building a knowledge base with the customer, bridging demand & supply gaps based on an understanding customer needs and providing with relevant solutions.

 

The global pharmaceutical markets are in the mid of major transformation. While growth in developed markets is tapering off, emerging markets like India are becoming increasingly important in the coming decade. India is now among the top five pharmaceutical emerging markets of the world – third largest in terms of volume. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 12% for the next five years. 

 

Dow India is well equipped to ride this growth. We have always been at the fore-front of collaboration with customers for delivering innovative solutions that make a difference to healthcare industry. In one of the firsts, Dow India has established a ‘Pharma Task Force’ - to collaborate with its key customers for discovering and addressing the unmet needs of the sector.

 

The task force will act as a unified interface enabling customers to benefit from our cross business offerings. The combined force of the businesses like Dow Pharma & Food Solutions (offering excipients), Dow Water & Process Solutions (offering ion exchange resins), various performance materials (like amines & glycols), Dow Consumer and Industrial Solutions (offering reagents and specialty intermediates for active pharmaceutical ingredient synthesis); will help in delivering well rounded, innovative solutions which will pave the way for the growth of the pharma sector. The key purpose of establishing the task-force is to understand the changing trends within the Indian pharma industry and to discover and address the unmet needs of the customers through a holistic offering. 

 

How is it different from your earlier initiatives to tap pharma market?

The Dow Pharma and Food Solutions (DP&FS) business growing at a CAGR of 19 percent has doubled its presence in the Indian marketover the last four years. Dow India, participates in the oral drug-delivery system – immediate release and controlled release formulations market. Globally, the company holds 5 of the top 10 excipient chemistries applied to a total functional excipients market which are valued at $4.4 billion.

 

Till now, we were offering differentiated products to the pharmaceutical market in a mutually exclusive manner. While this approach helped us in fostering close relationships with the customers, it prevented in presenting the gamut of offerings under one umbrella. This initiated internal collaboration among the allied businesses which resolved to address the customers in a synchronised manner. 

 

Hence establishing the pharma task force was the next logical step inproviding holistic solutions for joint developments between the two (customers and allied businesses). The pharma task force will enable its customers to have a well-rounded discussion with cross-functional teams which will be involved in pro-active product development.

 

Have you identified challenges, which are currently facing the Indian pharma companies, for which Dow can offer potential solutions?

We at Dow India have been active in the Indian pharma industry for a while now and have a fair understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by the industry. 

 

Over the years, we have provided solutions for sustained release, polymorphism, taste masking of APIs which were being actively sought by the pharma industry. We are also focused on some of the emerging needs of pharma industry like API solubilisation and are confident of leveraging our global expertise to offer suitable solutions.

 

What will the task force bring on to the table for pharma companies?

The pharma task force will bring the company’s global innovation and application development capabilities to its customers in India. The task-force aims to provide ingenious and market-facing solutions to the un-addressed needs of the customer. The key pharmaceutical companies will be able to access the latest technologies with necessary local technical support for new product development.

 

The allied businesses have been developing sturdy business relationships with key players in the Indian market. This task force will tap into the top 10 pharma companies and look at ways of partnering with them as they look to develop a global footprint. We have always seen this as an opportunity as the pharmaceutical market has dominant Indian players. In 2011, we established a scientifically-advanced customer application development center in Mumbai to address the needs of the regional customers. In the next five years, DP&FS targets establishing India as a global Centre of Excellence (CoE) for pharma application development. We expect the business to grow at more than 18% by introducing innovative products in the market. 

 

How will Dow’s allied businesses bring in synergy to offer solutions to pharma industry?

The allied businesses of Dow India are constantly exchanging industry insights and market information to assess the needs and demands of the sector. By coming together, the businesses provide holistic solutions to customers across the value chain. From the customer’s point of view having a one-stop-shop is all about convenience, technology is available at a faster pace and an overall reduction in cost of production for the manufacturer are added benefits.

 

For instance, pharmaceutical companies look for excipient solutions for sustained dosage release or solutions for taste masking or hot-melt extrusion (which reduces manufacturing costs) etc. We hold expertise in the fields of food-preservation, water purification, packaging, etc which are useful in providing holistic solutions for these specific requirements.