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How is the Indian Pharmaceutical industry gearing up for 2022-2023?

The Indian pharma industry plays a vital role in supplying affordable drugs to people worldwide and contributes significantly to global health. While the pandemic brought tough challenges, the industry with stand by strengthening its infrastructure and gained momentum by showing strength and commitment. This gave rise to two important aspects:

1. Rapid drug discovery and development.
2. Contribution to other areas, including sanitation, preventive healthcare, and quarantine facilities.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has underscored the importance of safe and effective medicines to support sustainable healthcare delivery. Aided by technological advances, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is well-poised to create an eco-system conducive to innovation.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry, including pharmaceutical exports from India, is growing at a CAGR of over 10%. According to a FICCI-PWC report - The Indian pharmaceutical sector will be worth $65 billion by the end of 2022, and the API pharma companies in India are expected to grow at a healthy 16% pace over the next five years [1].

The Indian API industry is the most extensive and complex manufacturing sector. Its size, complexity, and diversity of products are hard to comprehend. It has an annual turnover of over 2 trillion U.S. dollars, has over 58,000 manufacturers, and generates employment for close to two million people directly and indirectly. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is growing steadily in the field of various therapies. In FY22 (2021-2022), the sector recorded a 9-11 percent growth, mainly driven by market access to developing nations and emerging economies like India [2]. The key drivers of revenue growth expected over the forecast period include:

Pursuant to global trends and progress of API pharma industry, we believe that highly innovative drugs will be developed within the industry, aiding rapid discovery & development. In 2022, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to focus on R&D and innovation and provide novel drugs that address unmet medical needs in cardiovascular, oncology, neuroscience, diabetes, and obesity. It is also hoped that the industry will leverage the strengths of scientific research organizations and efficiently carry out drug discovery programs to strengthen its presence in global health further.

The pandemic outbreak re-shifted the industry’s focus on leveraging digital technologies. Presently, digitization is a crucial component in delivering life-saving drugs to patients. Utilizing technologies like AI, Big Data, Machine Learning, IoT, and analytics will help accelerate the pharma industry’s vision of ‘Make and Discover in India.’

Beyond drug development, top API pharma companies in India are now leveraging digital technologies to connect with patients. Through intelligent automation, companies can now gather comprehensive insight into a patient’s journey, from diagnosis to disease management. This data-based insight, in turn, helps improve drug development and subsequently improves patient outcomes.

The fast-paced growth of the Indian pharmaceutical industry has witnessed several disruptions, which has led to a new wave of technological advancement. Digital technologies are now catering to both large drug manufacturing companies and SMEs in the industry, creating ways to help them improve productivity, deliver drugs faster and improve the lives of patients. As a result, 2022 is marked as promising for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. The industry is gearing up to meet all challenges, from developing new therapeutics to curbing rising healthcare costs [3].

References:

1. https://ficci.in/
2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/indian-pharma-industry-estimated-to-grow-9-11-in-2021-22-icra/articleshow/88691254.cms
3. https://www.ey.com/en_in/health/how-the-indian-pharmaceutical-industry-may-transform-post-pandemic