AP: Sunrise State for global pharma sector

Visakhapatnam: A discussion on pharmaceutical sector in post-pandemic situation at the Bizz Buzz Business Conclave on Saturday saw an encouraging participation by experts from various segments of the industry, who painted a rosy picture about the future saying India being the third largest manufacturer of generic medicines by volume accounting for 20 per cent share in global exports, has the prospects to become global leader with the support from the policy-makers. The two-day conclave, the largest offline congregation of experts from multiple domains, supply chain, policy-makers and investors post-Covid-19, was organised by The Hans India and Bizz Buzz in association with World Trade Center-Visakhapatnam.

Setting the pace for discussion, Dr Jitendra Sharma, MD and Founder-CEO of AP Medtech Zone (AMTZ), India's largest medical devices park located here, said during the pandemic they rose to the occasion by producing 11 lakh RT-PCR kits per day against the demand for 12 lakh kits during the peak of the pandemic and supplied 1,000 oxygen cylinders per day by making it affordable for everyone by engaging Uber drivers to deliver for a few days on rental basis.

He said the 40-month old medical devices park has made a major headway by producing medical devices including MRI machines worth Rs8,000 crore.

"We are confident of reducing importance dependence totally by supplying medical equipment made indigenously in the zone. We will have zero dependence on imports om three years." The medical devices market used to be estimated at Rs40,000 crore before the zone was established.

He said AMTZ has now become a grand success story despite hard times during the pandemic. "It has now emerged as the world's largest medical devices manufacturing park in a single location in a short span of 342 days because of our belief that more than scale, speed and innovation are important," he stated.

A Leela Rani, Director, Lee Pharma, laid emphasis on R&D saying the allocation by the government as well as private entrepreneurs and academic institutions need to be enhanced substantially to make healthcare diagnosis and treatment affordable and cost-effective. She said there is an urgent and growing need to embark a vision for the universities and research institutes to address complex problems being encountered in healthcare sector. For instance, she pointed out specific clinical trials are required to solve problems faced by women considering their genetics. Innovation is required to find out molecules for lifestyle diseases particularly in the backdrop of the pandemic era. K Hemalatha, co-founder, Grabbit Live, who moderated on the theme 'catching a breath-lessons from pandemic,' said AP being a Sunrise State in pharmaceuticals with several bulk drug, API and formulation firms located in and around Visakhapatnam have a window of opportunities to consolidate its position internationally.

Thakasi Devi Kalyan Kumar, COO, Amogen Pharma, said as the diabetic population is expected to rise from 77 million in 2020 by manifold in 2040, it has become imperative to to develop more effective and affordable medicines. He said work is going to develop an injection which if taken once a week will help patients from avoiding any other drug.

Lavleen Gupta, Technical Director, Zealous Health Pvt Ltd, added that special focus is required to popularise alternative medicines and antiviral preventive medicines to keep side-effects at bay.