Sandipan Mandal, Group Product Manager, Emcure Pharmaceuticals
The recent revision of the Market Access Initiative by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be helpful to the pharma sector in India. Most of the major top pharma companies from India have global sales and marketing operations. However, with the revised policy in place, the newer companies that have come up in the last four to five years and do not have global operations, would be most benefited. The other set comprises the manufacturers willing to invest to upgrade the set and get the accreditations required for export of drugs.
The pharma export is also expected to rise in the coming years due to $ 55 billion of drugs going off-patent between 2019-2020, giving an opportunity for the Contract Manufacturing sites to export and supply finished pharma products to the US markets. Taking benefits from the MAI revised policy, CRAMs (Contract Research Manufacturing and Services) can see double digit growth and should start showing their capabilities in these markets to attract investments and manufacturing opportunities. Another important factor which will help the Indian pharma exporter is the trade war between the US and China. The additional tariffs imposed on Chinese products, which includes many pharma products like active pharma ingredients and finished formulations will definitely help India under the new MAI guideline.
With the revision of MAI Scheme the market is also expected to grow in countries like China, which is also recently opening its market to the world. Newly developed economies like Myanmar, Cambodia and others would also give the Indian Exporter an ample opportunity to grow in the world markets. This is apart from the opportunities that exists in the African, CIS and South American markets.