5th Express Pharma Pulse Awards

Q&A : 'The government plans an independent drug authority'

Presently in the limelight for his stand on banning onscreen smoking Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, took a little time away from his busy schedule to honour the winners at the 5th Express Pharma Pulse Awards. As the chief guest of the evening Ramadoss had some encouraging words for the fast growing industry. He speaks to Deepali Gupta about his experience at the awards night and his views on the pharma industry.

Why did you choose to attend the Express Pharma Pulse Awards, and how would you describe your experience?

Express Pharma Pulse has given away awards to some of the leading pharmaceutical firms in the country, and I am very happy to be associated with it, because pharma is a growing industry. The Indian pharma industry is the fourth largest in the world by volume, and perhaps it has the highest FDI interest.

These awards recognise pharma companies and people who have been working for 40-50 years and they are doing the country proud. That is why I agreed to come, to motivate them and acknowledge their efforts.

This is the first award function I have participated in and I am really impressed. Through the evening I saw many enthusiastic faces, of winners as well as those awaiting awards. Such functions need to be encouraged.

Where do you think the Indian Pharmaceutical industry is headed?

I am sure Indian pharmaceutical firms will lead the world. It is only a matter of time. Wherever in the world I go there is a buzz about Indian pharma companies. In fact when I spoke at Chatham House a few months ago I met enthusiastic people who wanted to associate with the Indian pharma industry. The post-patent regime has made India even more interesting and people are inquisitive about the environment here. They may want to move here for pharma research and business.

Besides, medical tourism in India has already increased. 10 years ago patients went abroad for treatment but now they come here instead. Our hospitals are some of the best in the world, not just in Asia, which is being recognised as far and wide as the US. Indian pharma products are also cost-effective, they are about one-seventh the price of those in other countries.

Professionally, we see doctors are returning to India from Europe and the US because today we have hospitals and proper equipment. India is a land of plenty in terms of doctors, hospitals, facilities and technology. We want to ensure a quality-oriented approach to the future.

You said you planned to establish an independent drug control body. By when do you plan to do that, and how is it being developed?

You could say that India has the most cost-effective pharma products in the world. To help with this, the government is trying to set up an independent drug authority, which will circumvent some of the present government procedures.

We plan to instate a regulator in about two years though it may be earlier. This government proposal was part of the suggestions made by the Hathi and Mashalker committee since 1972, but nobody took it up. We want to create two bodies, one for the pharma industry and another as a national disease turbulence authority, and delink the two functions.

Today we are modernising 20 drug facilities and labs; we are also training drug controllers, inspectors and other authorities, so development is a continuous process.

How do you think the change in patent laws has affected the Indian pharma industry?

I would not say patents have affected the industry, as the term 'affected' has several meanings. Ultimately it is the quality orientation of the Indian products that matters and it is just a question of time before the patent regime gains acceptability.

On one hand you could say that the new patent laws provides more scope for R&D. On the other hand the costs will increase. However, the government will always support the social sector, because the rural population, which comprises 73 percent of the Indian people, cannot afford medicines. We will always consider this and act accordingly.