‘India Pharma 2017’ & ‘India Medical Device 2017’ International Conference inaugurated

The 2nd edition of India Pharma & India Medical Device International Conference was recently inaugurated in Bengaluru by Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Ananthkumar. The three-day event, with the Vision-‘For Responsible Healthcare’, was organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Kumar called the International Conference as a ‘Pharma and Medical Devices Kumbh’. He called upon all the stakeholders present to make India as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’. He said that Bengaluru, being the hub of information technology and skilled manpower, would prove to be the ideal location to set up a pharma and Med Tech Zone and hence the Ministry would work with the state government to establish it soon.

Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka said that this is the second time Karnataka is hosting this conference on medical devices and pharma sector, thus giving the state an opportunity to emerge as the desired destination for investments under pharma and medical devices sector and give a boost to Make in India mission in this sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Mansukh Lal Mandaviya highlighted that the recent approval of the pharma and Med Tech zone in Andhra Pradesh has attracted over 30 investment proposals from domestic and international pharma companies which has the potential to reduce the manufacturing cost of drugs and medical devices by around 30 per cent as compared to global prices.

The India Pharma exhibition, being held as part of the event, covered all the segments of the pharma industry starting from finished formulations, APIs, bio-pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and intermediates, natural extracts and excipients. India Medical Device exhibition showcased med-tech innovations in India across segments from preventive to therapeutic care. Leading pharma and medical devices companies showcased their expertise and products to Indian and international healthcare community at the exhibition. Sessions on biopharmaceuticals include, The New Engine of Growth, Scaling Med-Tech Manufacturing and the Investors Meet, which was a step forward to the ‘Make in India’ mission of the Government of India.

The event witnessed over 250 exhibitors from the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector. Buyers from over 24 countries, international regulators from eight countries (US FDA-USA, PMDA-Japan, MoH-Malaysia etc), over 29 embassy officials and over 10,000 business visitors took part in the event. Karnataka was the host state while Chhattisgarh was the partner state.

Other key dignitaries present during the inauguration function were Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (IC) for Commerce & Industry, DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation, along with Government of Karnataka Ministers, RV Deshpande, Minister of Industries and Dr Sharanapraksh Rudrappa Patil, Minister of Medical Education. The distinguished gathering also included Jai Priye Prakash, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India along with other senior officers of the Ministry and doyens of pharma and medical devices industry.