The answer simply lies with the kind of research and development work along with manufacturing and exporting of core and allied pharmaceutical products, that has been carried out by India, at a time when the entire world was losing out hope to the novel coronavirus.
A pharma manufacturing company in India is now more driven to provide more and more healthcare solutions across the globe.
India
was already pacing up in the global market with its exports of generic drugs to
almost every corner of the world, and now the corona virus-induced hard times
that the entire world has fallen into has in a way, helped to bring out the
hidden revolutionary possibilities in the realm of medical science, especially
in terms of pharmaceutical manufacturing. Interestingly, among the many
services provided by the pharmaceutical companies in India, P2P manufacturing has also evolved as a key
service.
R&D and Manufacturing Milestones post Covid pandemic
The way mass vaccination got successfully carried out from January 16, 2021; with Covishield, restored hope in many of us to fight out the catastrophic disease. Covishield was indigenously prepared by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in line with the Oxford-AstraZeneca, ChAdOx1 developed at Oxford.
SII also takes credit for another name i,e Covovax. With more than a 90% of efficiency rate in a late-stage US-based clinical trial, this vaccine happens to be a local version of the Novavax vaccine.
Apart from Covishield, there are two more vaccines that have been quite popularly used in India’s fight against Corona; namely Covaxin and ZyCoV-D. The former is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's Bio-Safety Level III high containment facility, whereas the latter one is developed by Zydus Cadila.
Another
highly efficient vaccine name that definitely deserves a mention here is
Corbevax. It comes from the Indian pharma company Biological E, which has been
developed in collaboration with US-based Dynavax and Baylor College of
Medicine. This vaccine happens to be India's first indigenously developed
recombinant protein subunit vaccine; as it is made up of the coronavirus' ‘spike
protein’, which the virus uses in order to hook onto and enter the human cells.
Yearly projected Performance Numbers of the sector
● Over the last 10 years,
Sensex has returned a projection of around 12.72% for each year.
● BSE Healthcare index has
shown only a steady rise of CAGR at 12% for each year.
● Nifty Pharma returned a projection at around 10.94% for each year.
Current Position in Global Market
India is the 12th largest exporter of medical goods in the world. Presently, the country happens to be the world's largest supplier of generic medications, accounting for 20% volume of the worldwide supply and about 60% volume of the global demand for vaccines.
Indian Pharmaceutical Export Analysis
● India’s pharmaceutical
exports stood at US$ 24.44 billion in FY21.
● The sector contributes
6.6% to the total merchandise exports.
● As of May 2021, India
supplied a total of about 586.4 lakh COVID-19 vaccines, comprising grants of
around 81.3 lakh, commercial exports of approximately 339.7 lakh, and exports
under the COVAX platform of around 165.5 lakh, across 71 countries.
Indian Pharma and Foreign Direct Investment
● In between April 2000 and
June 2021, the foreign direct investment or FDI inflow in the sector of Indian
pharmaceuticals flashed at US$ 18.12 billion.
● The same reached US$130 million between April 2021 and June 2021.
What all are there in Indian pharma’s pipeline?
● In November 2021, US-based
Akston Biosciences announced to start the clinical trials of its
second-generation COVID-19 vaccine ‘AKS-452’ in India anytime soon.
● In June 2021, Sun Pharmaceuticals acquired the patent license for Dapagliflozin from AstraZeneca. The company will be distributing and promoting the drug under the brand name ‘Oxra’.
Union Budget 2021-22 for India Pharma
● Approximately US$ 10.35 billion (Rs. 73,932 crores) has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
● About US$ 365.68 billion (Rs. 2,663 crores) has been allocated to the Department of Health Research.
● Around US$ 5.10 billion (Rs. 37,130 crores) has been stipulated to the 'National Health Mission’.
● PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana was allocated roughly about US$ 8.80 billion (Rs. 64,180 crores) for the next six years.
● The Ministry of AYUSH
(Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy ) was allocated
about US$ 407.84 million (Rs. 2,970 crores), up from US$ 291.39 million (Rs.
2,122 crores).
