More than APIs, Indian pharma industry needs to reduce dependency on drug intermediates: Premchand Godha

To reduce country’s dependency on import of active pharma ingredients (API), drug intermediates (DIs) from China, and become a self-reliant industry, there is a need for revised thinking on government policies, said Premchand Godha, Chairman and MD, Ipca Laboratories, during a webinar, “Pharma Intermediates & APIs: Chemistry of Growth Ingredients’.

Godha highlighted that the country’s dependency for drug intermediates is much larger than APIs, because, in the formation of an API, several drug intermediates along with solvents are required. So considering this aspect, significant efforts need to be put into reducing our dependency for drug intermediates as well.

He added that to grow as well as remain competitive in the global pharma market, the industry needs to focus on formulating strategies from the long term perspective. He continued that there are many drugs which need considerable focus to reduce their import dependency, and hence, pharma companies need to identify those drugs and scale up their capacity accordingly.

He also mentioned that the future of the pharma industry is not only dependent on bringing change chemically, but also on making significant investments in adopting newer advanced technologies because the future is largely dependent on cutting edge technology. However, he pointed out that considerable working capital will be required for continuous tech up-gradation, but overall it will give better returns.

Summing up, he highlighted that there is a need for a broad-based approach and policies should be framed not only from a short term perspective but also from the long term point of view. In the future, while the government is formulating any new scheme for the pharma industry, they should consider the overall industry and design the schemes accordingly.