Pharma industry walks the talk at Milan

India has emerged as one among the top two sourcing hubs for the global pharmaceutical industry along with China, if the trends at CPhI Worldwide "� the largest global pharmaceutical ingredients meet "� are any indication.

The Indian contingent constituted more than a third of the total 22,000-plus visitors and 1,900-plus exhibitors to this three-day annual event at the Rho Fiera exhibition centre in Milan, Italy, last week.

According to sources with CMP, which organised the event, this is one of the largest ever participation by the Indian industry in the more than a decade-old history of CPhI.

India is the fourth largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical products in the world and the 12th largest in value terms. India could emerge as the second largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), next to China, within two to five years, overtaking Italy, according to various estimates.

CPhI Worldwide is the key meeting place of pharmaceutical producers and buyers from different parts of the world, for new businesses and renewing supply contracts.

"India's problem was marketing. Though many were producing good pharmaceutical products. The trend which I see this year is the aggression of Indian companies to impress clients with quality presentations and professional approach," said a top professional with Codexis, USA.

Except for Cipla and Torrent, nearly all of India's leading drug makers exhibited their products at the event, with 40 top-level executives canvasing business. While Dr Reddy's team had about 45 people, the Ranbaxy contingent numbered 25, one of the largest groups at CPhI.

Other major Indian companies, which brought large teams for the event were Aurobindo, Dishman, Zydus Cadila, Orchid, Shasun, Sun Pharma, Wockhardt and Lupin. Even upcoming Indian API producer Arch Pharmalabs had a 15-member team with two stalls to display products.

"The increasing participation by India shows the growth of Indian industry. We exhibited for the first time in Paris and many Indian visitors there turned out to be exhibitors this year," said Ajit Kamath, chairman and managing director of Arch Pharma Labs.

"Now India's leading drug companies have extensive presence in Europe through acquired facilities or subsidiaries. This is one main reason for Indian companies dominating the show," said T S Jaishankar, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industries (CIPI), a regular visitor to the CPhI shows.

According to Raghuveer Kini, a senior official with the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), the exclusive India pavilion constituted 41 small and medium scale companies, the largest ever so far in CPhIs.

"Many of the exhibitors with us have booked for the show in Frankfurt next year," he said.

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VISION STATEMENT

India is one among the top two sourcing hubs for the global pharmaceutical industry

At the CPhI Worldwide meeting, Indian companies made efforts to impress clients with quality presentations and professional approach

While Dr Reddy's team had 45 members, Ranbaxy was one of the largest participations at CPhI