 "Centre rolls out Rs 5,000 crore RLI scheme for pharma, med-tech sectors")
The Centre has rolled out a Rs 5,000 crore research-linked-incentive (RLI) scheme for pharmaceuticals and med-tech sector to strengthen the research infra in the country and promote more industry-academia linkages for research and development (R&D).
The government feels that with the right growth enablers, the Indian pharma industry can touch a 5 per cent share of the global market by 2030 from the 3.4 per cent now.
The scheme has two components; the first being strengthening the research infrastructure by setting up Centres of Excellence at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPERs). The Centres of Excellence will strengthen the research infrastructure in pharma and med-tech sectors by providing advanced facilities to conduct research and will help in nurturing talent pool by promoting industry academia linkage, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said in a gazette notification dated August 16. This has an outlay of Rs 700 crore over a period of five years.
The second component deals with promotion of research in the pharma and med-tech sector in six priority areas. The first product area is for new chemical or biological or phytopharmaceuticals (natural) entities. This apart the product areas include complex generics, precision medicine (targeted innovative therapeutics), medical devices, orphan drugs (drugs for rare diseases), and drug development for antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Prioritisation will be done within and among the categories based on future potential, opportunities and national importance, the Centre said. The total outlay of the scheme would be Rs 5,000 crore over a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
The funding disbursed for the projects would be recovered through benefit sharing either through royalty or equity. The government can charge a 10 per cent royalty on net sale of the product or technology till the patent is effective, or it can take equity.
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The Centre said the Indian pharma industry constitutes 3.4 per cent market share of the global pharma industry. If the industry adopts a business-as-usual approach, the market value would grow to $108 billionn by 2030, at an 11 per cent CAGR.
Meanwhile, the global pharma market would grow to $3206 billion by 2030. India can grab a 4 per cent share of the global market reaching a $130 billion market size and 5 per cent share at $160 billion market size, given there is focus on growth enablers.
Similarly, the market size of medical devices in India is estimated to be $11 billion (approximately Rs 90,000 crore) in 2020 and its share in the global medical device market is estimated to be 1.5 percent with a CAGR of 10-12 per cent over the last decade.
The Indian pharma industry has largely remained confined to generic drugs where they are holding global leadership. “In the financial year 2021, the investments in R&D by the top 10 Indian pharma companies amounted around 7.2 per cent of their sales. There is a need to increase the R&D expenditure in the country by further promoting the research and innovation,” the notification said.
Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), said: “This is a very important milestone to move up the value chain and catalyse innovation in the pharma industry. Funding, regulatory simplification, and industry academia collaboration will facilitate the overall ecosystem for R&D in the country.”