Venkataraman S describes entrepreneurship as a scholarly discipline and defines it as, “seeking to understand how possibilities to bring into existence future goods and services are identified, developed, and exploited, by whom, and with what repercussions.”(1) Pharma industry has offered a plethora of entrepreneurial opportunities. Many have explored the opportunities to become successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship, or having an entrepreneurial spirit, is crucial in today’s economic climate for generating innovation and establishing a prosperous society.(1,2)
The pharma sector and bio-medical research rely heavily on innovation. Every medical or therapeutic product that is produced and delivered to the market is the result of an intellectual curiosity that necessitates a proof of concept and takes years. The pharma and wellness industries have had a huge impact on Indian society. Moreover, entrepreneurial activity is becoming a key factor of growth and development in every country. According to statistics from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there were times when the life expectancy rate was abysmal, at 42 years. The progressive advancements in the medical sector, on the other hand, have aided in the expansion of India’s life expectancy rate. This was possible due to the advances in the field of pharmacy and healthcare.
The Indian pharma sector is rapidly adopting new technologies and medical procedures. Because the pharma industry is still in its growth phase with fewer companies in the market today.
By amending FDI restrictions (for the pharma business), the government has made it plain that it wants entrepreneurial excursions into the sector to help it grow. Entrepreneurs should take advanatage of this opportunity and start looking into the pharma industry. The industry has a wide range of applications, making it an appealing prospect for private investors. The drug manufacturing firms that can manufacture quality medicines, the dearth of medicinal products, especially with respect to rare diseases and lacunae in supply chain can be explored by the interested.
Many entrepreneurs make up the Indian pharma sector. Suppliers, stockists, distributors, retail pharmacists for example, are critical components that run the healthcare system. Entrepreneurship in pharma industry evolved over the years encompassing not only the industry as whole but each of the fields that are associated with it. Two very different areas of the Indian economy have generated immense riches and produced a record number of billionaires in the last decade and a half. The software services business is one of them, and it has been in the spotlight for a long time. The pharma and healthcare sector, on the other hand, is only now starting to get the attention it deserves.
A few who have started their entrepreneurial journey went on to build significant empires and became billionaires. One among them, Dilip Shanghvi became the richest man in the country. A fifth of India’s 100 wealthiest families now work in the pharma and healthcare industries. Some of them, like Shanghvi, have become household names; Ajay Piramal, who sold Piramal Healthcare’s formulation division to Abbott for $3.7 billion in 2010, the Singh brothers of the Fortis healthcare chain, who sold Ranbaxy to Daichhi Sankyo (the latter has sold it to Shanghvi), the Reddy family of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Dr Prathap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, Deshbandhu Gupta of Lupin, Y.K. Hamied of Cipla, Cyrus Poonawala of Serum institute, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, to name a few.
There are quite a few entrepreneurial opportunities that are closely associated with the pharma sector, to name a few, 24-hour pharmacies, mobile pharmacy, online pharmacies, medical devices manufacturing, App developers, natural home remedies services, educational and training institutions, publishers, consultancy services, counselling centres. Each of them have the potential to become a successful business enterprise.
The government has acknowledged the importance of entrepreneurship and has developed programmes such as Start-up India and Make in India to encourage people to pursue their dreams. Because these programmes have also opened the doors to innumerable chances for entrepreneurs, now is a better time than ever to start a business in India and to be a successful entrepreneur. Overall, India’s startup ecosystem is thriving, yet entrepreneurship remains a major struggle for many creative minds, as there are numerous exceptional challenges that cannot be overlooked. While the government has taken some positive moves, there are several challenges that are making it difficult for startups to grow quickly.
Overall, the Indian pharma sector is flourishing now because of successful entrepreneurs in India who support initiatives like Make in India. They have been working relentlessly, especially during COVID-19, to ensure that there are no drug shortages on the market. Every day, this country’s entrepreneurs teach us lessons on perseverance.
Entrepreneurs are wealth generators, and self-created money protects against disasters such as recession. It is past time to understand the importance of allowing entrepreneurship to thrive and to provide an atmosphere that allows it to do so without hindrance.
References
1. Venkataraman S. The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research: an editor’s perspective. In: Katz J, Brockhaus J, eds. Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence, and Growth. Greenwich CT: JAI Press; 1997.
2. Stinchcomb AL. The role of entrepreneurial activities in academic pharmaceutical science research. J Pharm Sci.
2010;99(6):2532–2537
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