Eminent industry personalities like Dr M Venkateswarlu, Drugs Controller General of India, Anil Matai, CEO, Pharmaceuticals Division, Novartis India Ltd, Viraj Gandhi, CEO, Medicine Shoppe, Priyanka Aggarwal, Healthcare practice, McKinsey & Company, Dr Mark A Goldberg, President, Clinical Research Services, PAREXEL International, where the speakers at the conclave.
The key note address was delivered by Dr M Venkateswarlu, Drugs Controller General of India who threw light on pharma being a controlled commodity and affordability of drugs still remaining a major concern. He further urged the industry to foster Public Private Partnerships and increase mobility of services.
The days proceedings was divided into three sessions, each specifically for ‘Access’, ‘Growth’ and ‘Economics’
The first session saw speakers discuss the current and future emerging trends in this industry to accelerate growth.
Anil Matai, CEO, Pharmaceuticals Division, Novartis India Ltd, presented to the audience an overview and current scenario of the Indian Pharma sector. He talked about the ‘clutter’ in this mushrooming sector. Some of the concerns of this sector, due to the growing clutter, he pointed out, were sub- optimal share of voice, brand recall, customer retention and expansion etc. To rise above this clutter, he shared with the audience an internal strategy of Novartis India – an exercise in brand building, which rested on facts like innovation, action, speed, relationship, pride in brand etc.
Viraj Gandhi, CEO, Medicine Shoppe focused on creating access at the bottom. Giving an example of Sehat, low income health care centre initiative of Medical Shoppe, he said, “We have taken a solution focused approach rather than a product focused one. The focus of Sehat is lowering the cost of getting well.”
During the second session speakers discussed the key trends and drivers contributing to the growth and also about the emerging patterns in Contract Research Organisations (CRO), and how they will contribute to the growth of Indian Pharma.
Priyanka Aggarwal, Healthcare practice, McKinsey & Company categorized six factors that will fuel the growth of this industry – “growth in income, increase in health insurance coverage, growth in medical infrastructure, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, patent legislation and lastly aggressive market creation by local players.” “Shift focus from market share to market creation, adopt different business models for different opportunities and ensure continued access to products,” she cued in for the local players. “For the MNCs, they need to clarify aspirations for the Indian businesses and invest in local organisations,” Aggarwal said.
Speaking on Contract Research Services, Dr Mark A Goldberg, President, Clinical Research Services, PAREXEL International said, “Pharma growth is under pressure globally due to reasons like R&D; inefficiencies, pricing pressure, failure of the blockbuster model and major pending patent expirations.” He added that clinical trails are growing in the Asia Pacific regions because of factors like lower costs, increased outsourcing, large markets for products, rapid patient recruitment etc.” He noted that India and China are the most attractive destinations to perform clinical trials outside the US and that India’s attractiveness is going to grow with expected regulatory improvements.
The third session comprised of a panel discussion on the theme of Economics. Speakers debated issues surrounding incentives to innovation versus challenges of affordability. A Panel of industry experts, comprising Ranga Iyer, MD Wyeth, Sanjeev Dani, Senior VP and Regional Director , Asia, Ranbaxy and Venkat Jasti, Chairman & MD Suven Life sciences, respectively brought perspectives from an MNC, a Indian Pharma company and consultancy view point. The discussion was moderated by Utkarsh Palnitkar, Partner, and Ernst & Young.
The Summit also saw an interesting talk by Dr Ajit Dangi, Director General OPPI, on how businesses can effectively utilize Intellectual Property Rights to create a competitive advantage for themselves. “If an Indian scientist discovers insulin that can be inhaled or taken as a pill, he will not get a patent in India because it does not increase efficiency,” he said. The management of IP, according to him, should be best a “boardroom issue and not left to scientists and lawyers.”
The event came to a close with felicitation of the winner of the Pharma paper writing competition on various topics related to the Pharma industry – a debut event inviting papers from the best of management Schools across India.