Indian medical devices market to reach $50 billion by 2025: Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Gujarat to strengthen pharma, medical devices sector by setting up dedicated parks: Gujarat chief minister

‘India Pharma and India Medical Device 2020’, organised by FICCI, jointly with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India is currently undergoing in Ahmedabad. The three-day event will witness a conglomeration of policymakers, national and international leaders from medical technology industries, academic and research fraternity.

DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, said that the Indian pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector has the potential to become the world leader and government will provide all necessary support. According to him, India today is a major hub for medical devices and diagnostics. There have to be certain interventions by the government as far as polices are concerned.

He said that affordability of the medicines is one of the prime concerns of society. “In developing countries where a large section of the population is poor and out of pocket expenses are very high, affordability of the medicines is one of the prime concerns of the society,” he added.

Gowda emphasised that the government is making all efforts to boost the Indian pharma and medical devices sector. He said, “In countries where R&D are taken care of, where academia and industry collaborate in order to build a strong R&D ecosystem. In India, we need to follow this. The government has initiated various steps for strengthening the Indian pharma and medical devices sector.”

Speaking on the COVID-19, Gowda said that it is challenging times and we should all stand together at this time. Govt has and is taking all necessary steps in this direction. “There is no shortage of medicines. We have sufficient medicines and sufficient APIs so that for another three months to ensure there is no shortage in producing medicines,” he said.

Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister, Gujarat while highlighting the state’s contribution to the national GDP said that Gujarat is one of the few states in the country to provide all necessary support to strengthen the pharma and medical devices companies. He said that the state government is planning to come up with two dedicated parks, one for bulk drugs manufacturing and other for medical devices.

“In India, pharma and medical devices sector are growing rapidly. Gujarat has become a hub in the manufacturing sector, agriculture and social sector. Now, Gujarat is ready to take the lead n pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector,” added Rupani.

Mr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India said that today when the world is in recession, the Indian pharma sector is growing at 10 per cent and Indian medical devices sector is growing at 20-25 per cent. “India has a lot of opportunities and this is not only encashed by Indian companies but also global players are also investing in these sectors,” he added.

He further added that the government is working on bringing the new policy to strengthen the Indian API market.

Dr PD Vaghela, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, said that government will be setting up a ‘Pharma Bureau’, which will help facilitate both foreign as well as domestic investment in the pharma and medical devices industry in India. “Pharma Bureau will act as a policy think tank to support the Government as well as the Industry,” he said.

MK Das, Principal Secretary, Industries & Mines Department, Government of Gujarat highlighted the growth of Gujarat’s economy and enumerated various policy initiatives which enabled the state to attract 51 per cent of the country’s FDI.

Pankaj R Patel, Past President, FICCI and Chairman, Zydus Cadila while highlighting the current challenges of the sector said that this is a wake-up call for the sector. “The pharma industry in India is today the pharmacy of the world,” he added.

Badri Iyengar, Chairman, FICCI Medical Device Forum said that India contributes to 1.2 per cent of the global medical device market and about 6 per cent of the total healthcare market globally.

On day two, a panel discussion on ‘Innovate to Make in India for the world’ was also held.

In the plenary session, ‘Drug Regulatory Meet with Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Industry,’ the panellists spoke about the way forward on industry issues related to regulatory practices restricting import/ export between countries and also problems faced by the industry with various state drug regulators. The panel further spoke about the ways to increase cooperation and uniformity amongst the Indian state drug regulatory system.

During the joint session on ‘Affordability, Accessibility and Availability of Quality Drugs & Medical Devices’, the panellists spoke about the increasing need to acknowledge how innovation can deliver patient outcomes through new technologies and treatments; it can bring more efficient ways to organise and manage care; and how innovation can find avenues to extend care to the bottom of the pyramid. The panellists further spoke about the importance to understand how a predictable pricing mechanism by rationalising trade margin for medical devices from the first point of sale will ensure affordability and quality care with continued innovation across all segments of the population including AB-PMJAY.

The joint session on ‘Emerging Trends in Healthcare’ was moderated by Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Co-Chair-FICCI Medical Device Committee and Managing Director, India & Neighbouring Markets, Roche Diagnostics India, focussed on the technology being the driving force over the past two decades enabling remarkable innovation and transformation in nearly every healthcare sector. The adoption of digital services in healthcare in India has been slow, but the advent of newer technology and increasing significance of healthcare data be it processes or integration with diagnostic decision making which has made digital health impossible to ignore.

FICCI-EY report ‘Reshaping India into a life sciences innovation hub’ was also released during the event.