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The current pandemic has brought the entire world to its knees and the whole world has observed the adverse catastrophe of this Global Pandemic. As the healthcare sector across the globe is growing, it has opened great career opportunities to thousands of students of pharmaceutical science because the rate of growth of the pharmaceutical sector is interlinked and is directly proportional to the growth of the healthcare sector.
According to IBEF, the Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50% of global demand for various vaccines and also states that India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. In the current scenario, the demand for medicines is increasing day by day, so employment in the pharma sector is also rising. According to sources of government statistics, over 300 institutions impart diplomas or degrees to nearly 20,000 students in India every year. Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the largest pharma industries in the world and this widens the scope of Pharma studies in India and abroad.
As per the report of IES (Indian Economic Survey )2021, in the next decade, the domestic market is expected to grow 3x. The pharmaceutical industry is currently valued at $41.7 bn. India’s domestic pharmaceutical market is estimated at US$ 41 billion in 2021 and likely to reach US$ 65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach US$ 120-130 billion by 2030.
In India, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is the regulatory body that has been designing the Education Regulations about Pharmacy which outlines the conditions to be followed by pharmacy colleges, Institutions, and Universities. PCI grants approval to the universities and colleges in India to run the various programs in the domain of Pharmacy. The PCI has well-defined standards, norms, and guidelines to be followed by the entities seeking approval from the regulatory Council.
The Indian Pharma industry is worth about $37 billion, with exports accounting for about $18 billion. As compared to other countries, the prices of medicines in India are amongst the lowest in the world. Although having some of the medicine’s lowest prices in the world, leading firms of India also cannot only serve the Indian market for essential drugs but also supply their drugs to the world.
Challenges in Pharma Industry
Price Fluctuation and Policy Environment: Price fluctuation and policy environment are the challenges created by unexpected and frequent domestic pricing policy changes in India. One of the biggest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry in India is analyzing the shifting customer behavior and fluctuating prices, due to this vague environment of innovations and investments has created in Industry. According to The Indian Pharmaceuticals Alliances (IPA) to produce affordable Indian patients’ drugs, the government and stakeholders work together.
A paucity of proficiency in the Innovation Space: Due to the limited government Supported research ecosystem the Indian pharmaceutical companies have been slow to grow in the innovation space. To overcome this hurdle government needs to invest in research & Development initiatives and talent to expand India’s innovation. A talent pool with advanced skills is limited in India as compared to other countries. There is also a huge gap between the college curriculum and the industry’s requirements. Clinical trials should also be supported and subjectivity in certain regulatory decision-making removed.
Generic Market exporting: Just like any other industry, the pharmaceutical industry is also sales-driven. With the help of AI technology, companies can gather information regarding targeting audiences and create unique marketing strategies for them. This way they can understand the needs of the market and can convert most leads into revenues. AI can help in protecting the success or failure rate of the marketing strategy.
Effect of External Market: More than 50% of Pharmaceutical Ingredients are dependent on other countries such as China. Slight changes in policies can bring a big difference in the production of medicines and equipment (e.g., to fulfill domestic consumption, America delays the export of raw material for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines which creates an extra burden on manufacturers in India). For a developing country, our government needs to create an environment for the healthcare startup, so that companies and patients can co-exist without burdening each other.
Conclusion:
Due to growth in the Pharma industry in India, both directly and indirectly about 2.7 million jobs have been created for the citizens. The government needs to make India a life sciences innovation hub to promote innovation by creating a research ecosystem and expanding & upskill the talent pool to handle complex technologies with advanced resources.