India Pharma and India Medical Device 2023 places India as leading international healthcare hub

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) today successfully concluded the 8th international conference on Indian pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector. The conference, which was inaugurated by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya along with Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilisers Mr. Bhagwanth Khuba, was aimed to attract international collaboration and investments in the India pharma and medical devices sector.

The two-day conference witnessed the launch of National Medical Device Policy along with the launch of Medical Devices Export Promotion Council, Assistance to Medical Device clusters for common facility scheme, and the release of reports on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices sector commissioned by Department of Pharmaceuticals under PMPDS scheme.

The conference featured a variety of informative sessions, workshops and CEOs roundtable spread over the two days. The theme for the conference on day one was Sustainable Medtech 5.0 : Scaling and Innovating Indian MedTech on which three sessions were conducted on Practical Commercialization Strategies for MedTech: Pilot scale to Production scale. The session was chaired by Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade where key takeaway was Scaling manufacturing for commercial requirements and ensuring regulatory compliance of medical devices and strategies for securing funding for product development and manufacturing in the medical device sector. Another session was on Propelling the Innovation and R&D Growth: Efficient Quality Management in MedTech which was chaired by Dr N Yuvaraj, Joint Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals. The key takeaway for the session was the analysis of the National Medical Device Policy and proposed R&D policy, understanding the gaps in the current R&D ecosystem in the MedTech industry, and the implementation of research outcome-linked fiscal incentives to support innovation in India and globally among others. The third session of day one was based on Capacity & Skill building in MedTech: Industry-Academia Integration and was chaired by Mr. K Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India where key takeaway was the importance of mapping the gaps in the workforce and developing a future-ready workforce in the medical device sector.

The theme for the second day session was on Indian Pharma Industry: Delivering value through Innovation under which three sessions were taken place. The first topic for the session was Pharmaceutical industry as pillar of India's growth and quality as the key foundation growth driver which was chaired by: Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, GoI which discussed the role of Indian Pharma industry in driving India's economic growth and What kind of Innovations, quality, and global reach India should focus to contribute globally – more from value perspectives then volume. Another session on Digital transformation shaping the pharmaceutical Industry valuechain was chaired by Mr. S Gopalakrishnan, Special secretary, (Health) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI where the Key discussion points were the Digital Transformation in the Pharma Industry look like?, opportunities and challenges related to the digitalisation process: to put a spotlight on what digital transformation means for the pharmaceutical Industry among others. The second day event concluded with the discussion on Leapfrogging into the future of Indian pharma: Capitalizing on global biosimilar opportunity and was chaired by Dr. Y.K. Gupta, Chairman, AIIMS Bhopal and AIIMS Jammu, GoI with the key discussion points of measures to compete with other developed countries in terms of regulatory aspects and export of biosimilars and other related subjects.

About Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India: The Department of Pharmaceuticals was created on 1st July 2008 to be a focused Department of the Government of India for fostering the growth of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. The Department has been assigned several functions including inter-alia promotion of Research, Education and Training, Public Private Partnership, International Cooperation, Inter-Sectoral cooperation, Industrial Cooperation, Environment and Hazard Management and Pricing and Availability of Medicines. The Department of Pharmaceuticals discharges its functions through active consultations with stakeholders to formulate new schemes/ proposals/ strategies for promoting the growth of the Pharmaceutical Industry.