Indian Pharmaceutical Industry shall witness ‘Discover in India’ after ‘Make in India’

• Secretary-General IPA expressed during National Webinar on Pharmaceutical Management Emerging Opportunities and Career Perspectives.
• Focus on API and planning for lifesaving drugs to be prepared for the third wave of COVID-19.

Indian Pharmaceutical Industry has always seen an upward moving graph before and even during the Pandemic.

IIHMR University known for Higher Education, Research and Training with a key focus on Health and Hospital Management, Pharmaceutical Management and Development Management conducted National Webinar on Pharmaceutical Management Emerging Opportunities and Career Perspectives.

The webinar focused on career opportunities given the new challenges exposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic and how to deal with such challenges. The webinar also highlighted the career opportunities in the Pharmaceutical Industry and the way forward.

The National Webinar on Pharmaceutical Management Emerging Opportunities and Career Perspectives had panellists such as Mr. Sudarshan Jain, Secretary-General IPA and Ex MD Abbott India Ltd., Mr. AtulNasa, Dy. Drug Controller Delhi, Mr. Tavinder Jit Singh, President and Chief Business Officer, Micro Labs, Global Markets, Mr. Salil Kallianpur, Digital Coach MD Digital Arks Consulting, Mr. Shashin Bodawala, Director Commercial Excellence Boehringer Ingelheim and Mr. Dr. PR Sodani, President, IIHMR. Mrs. GouriChoudhri, Co-Founder Brand Inner World Mumbai and author of the book the Perfect Pill moderated the webinar.

Dr. Sandeep Narula, Assistant Dean School of Pharmaceutical Management, IIHMR University Jaipur co-ordinated the webinar.

Dr. PR Sodani, President, IIHMR University said, “This webinar was designed for industry experts to directly communicate with student and participants. Pharma industry is one is the industry that has seen growth even during the Pandemic.

The Pharma industry in India is very well known across the globe as it is looked up by many other countries globally either developed or those countries with low resources.”

Mr. Sudarshan Jain, Secretary-General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, congratulating Dr. Sodani for building a pioneer healthcare institution and Dr. Narula on building the School of Pharmaceutical Management at IIHMR Jaipur.

He highlighted four aspects, What is the industry, what is the future and what is the kind of job and what is the money involved?

He elaborated and said, “Today 80% of the Pharmaceutical Industry has Indian companies and 20% has Multinationals.

We are proud of the fact that every 4th tablet sold in the USA is from India, likewise, every 3rd tablet sold in European countries is from India and 60% of the vaccines contributions comes from India and we have been making the difference in healthcare across the globe.

The Pharmaceutical industry in India shall grow from $41bn to $120bn. Pharma Industry is the 13th largest in terms of value and 3rd largest in terms of volume. This would give immense opportunities for students as the Pharma industry is going to be the top five markets in the world.” 

Mr. Jain highlighted that the country is now looking forward to focusing on Discover in India where the country would make trends in discovering products in India after the Make in India campaign.  

Mr. AtulNasa, Dy. Drug Control Officer at the Drugs Control Department, Delhi said, “The journey has been a challenge during this Pandemic time. We can say that Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the industries that work for the healthcare system.

We have been exporting various formulations and drugs to the entire world. We faced a tremendous shortage of API during the pandemic.

After the message by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modiji on Aatmnirbhar Bharat, it was suggested that we must not depend on other countries for pharmaceutical requirements but must be able to make our API industry strong.

Strengthening the API industry has helped in strengthening the entire Pharmaceutical Industry.

Once the API Industry, Drug Formulation Industry and the entire Pharmaceutical Industry has been strengthened, students pursuing Pharmaceutical Management, Pharmacy etc. get ample opportunities in Research and Development, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Medical Devices, Clinical Research Organization’s and Marketing.”

Mr. Atul Nasa, Dy. Drug Control Officer at the Drugs Control Department, Delhi further said, the government has been giving tremendous support to the pharmaceutical industry by creating Pharma Parks, offering incentives and growth to the medical device industry by setting up their units in the country.

One of the major challenges seen was the challenge created by Black Fungus where there was a shortage of amphotericin B. Another issue was the mass production of Remdesivir which was still facing a shortage.

From this pandemic we must be prepared for the third wave making our R&D section very strong and planning regarding lifesaving drugs must be done beforehand.

Spending on medicine by product type globally

Mr. Tavinder Jit Singh, President and Chief Business Officer, Micro Labs, Global Markets, said, “I would urge the students to see that the India Pharmaceutical Industry is expected to increase to $1.5 trillion by 2023.

It is envisaged that the global Pharmaceutical industry will reach $130 billion in 2030. The Indian market has seen tremendous growth and I see tremendous potential in this market. Many companies such as Sanofi, Novartis etc do hire talents from India with Indian passports.

Students who wish to pursue a career in Pharmaceutical Industry can seek opportunities in the areas of Supply Chain, M&A, Business Development, Sales Management and even Retailing with structured and chained pharmacies.” 

Mr. Salil Kallianpur, Digital Coach MD Digital Arks Consulting, said, “Digital is one of the fashion statements of the time. It’s time we just don’t think of going digital, but it is important to focus on the strategy.

Students must understand technology must be used to creating business models for the future. To reach a particular benchmark figure of growth, we must be able to scale our operations to reach out to people who do not have access to modern healthcare.

Government schemes are helping us to achieve the same. Pharma Industry must step in to offer products and services with the help of these government schemes to reach the far ends of the country and even countries outside India.

Teleconsultation during the Pandemic has reduced the importance of the Physical model. Diagnostic centres which were earlier in a Brick and Mortar model are now available on phone.

All the models which were earlier in the physical world have now become dematerialized in the digital world thus creating more opportunities for students.

Specialized courses in Digital and Pharmaceutical Marketing must be incorporated by institutes in their curriculum especially in the Management programs. Pharmaceutical Industry had embraced digital long ago in clinical trials, supply chain and drug discoveries, sales data etc.

We have not been able to migrate the technological comfort in the front end or downstream operations in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The roles of marketing managers and sales leadership in the pharma sector will undergo evolution.

It is therefore important to know how technology will evolve the jobs thereby the students must enrol to skill themselves through various programs.”   

Mr. Shashin Bodawala, Director Commercial Excellence Boehringer Ingelheim said, “Jobs and roles in organizations have evolved due to the challenges thrown by the Pandemic. However, these roles and jobs are currently at a nascent stage.

India Pharma’s Export Market

People now speak of channel preferences that would be more hybrid, where there would be a mix of customers who prefer a mix of digital and face to face channels.

The Marketer today must blend the customer value matrix, he needs to blend the channels of preferences of the customer and he must also look at the behaviour and strategic segment. The students must focus that marketing has many aspects to it.” 

Dr. Sandeep Narula, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Management said, “IIHMR University reassures all its stakeholders to deliver quality, contemporary and highly contextual education to the students throughout their lives.”

The pharmaceutical industry is humungous. It has been changing tremendously with hybrid developments which changes that none other industry has been facing in recent time. With it embracing digitization, the focus must be on planning and strategizing on the models that are best useful for the ultimate customer.

The Industry offers multiple opportunities for students in multiple fields such as Management, Research, Strategy, Marketing and many more.

MEDIA RELEASE