Express Pharma hosts Sikkim Pharma Summit in Gangtok

Discusses ways forward for Sikkim as pharma hub

Swati Rana and Sanjiv Das

The first edition of Sikkim Pharma Summit 2018, recently held in the picturesque city of Gangtok, discussed ways to improve Sikkim’s destination as the pharma hub. The event having the theme ‘The gateway to growth,’ had more than 80 delegates from across the pharma sector who have their base in and around Gangtok.

The summit started with the lamp lighting ceremony by Dr IL Sharma, Director cum Drug Controller, HCHs & FW, Sikkim, who was also the chief guest with Dr TK Rai, Deputy Drug Controller, Department of Healthcare Human Service and Welfare, Govt of Sikkim and Sanjiv Das, Deputy Copy Editor, Express Pharma.

Dr Sharma during his speech emphasised on the need to not compromise on the quality. He mentioned that the State Government of Gangtok has taken a lot of initiatives to create a conducive environment for pharma companies to set up their base.

The first session of the day was by Ramanuj Samal, Application Specialist – Particle Characterization and Counting, Beckman Coulter. He gave a lecture on facility monitoring and formulation particle characterisation study and talked about the company’s principles.

One of the important element of the summit was a panel discussion on ‘Sikkim’s Journey as a Pharma hub: What is the way forward?’ The panel discussion had P Ramesh, Plant Head, Micro Labs; Dr Upendra Quenim, Plant Head, Swiss Garnier; Dr TK Rai, Deputy Drug Controller, Department of Healthcare Human Service and Welfare, Govt of Sikkim and Deepak Verma, GM, Zuventus Healthcare as a panelists. The session was moderated by Sanjiv Das, Deputy Copy Editor, Express Pharma.

Das started the discussion by asking the panelists about Sikkim’s progress made so far in the pharma space and how the state will fair in days to come. Dr Quenim spoke about the challenges being faced by pharma companies which were agreed upon by Ramesh from Micro Labs and Deepak Verma from Zuventus Healthcare.

Dr Rai from Government of Sikkim elaborated on the benefits which the Government of Sikkim is offering and a slew of measures which will eventually help pharma companies in the long run. Tax incentives, easy approval for plant set up, conducive environment were some of the examples which Dr Rai mentioned.

P Ramesh from Micro Labs emphasised on the need for technological upgradation which will help pharma companies. He discussed about the challenges which pharma companies face in Sikkim.

Dr Quenim mentioned that Sikkim is very much in the limelight and the state has its own charisma. He talked about the requirement of QbD and the need to follow the guidelines Verma  laid emphasise on the need to upgrade the learning skills of people and embibing good practices. He talked about the importance of data integrity and the need to adapt newer technologies.

The panel discussion was followed by a talk by Dr Anoop Kumar, Market Development Manager, Pharma/CRO Vertical, SCIEX India on SCIEX LC-MS/MS based solutions for various Qual and Quant workflows in Pharma/Small Molecules Application.

Neelam Lalwani, Global Quality Head- ACG Films & Foils was another speaker at the summit. She briefed the audience on emerging manufacturing technologies.

Suprateem Datta, Professor Head and Coordinator ADR Monitoring Centre, Department of Pharmacology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of MedicalSciences in his speech talked about stringent compliance to good manufacturing practices, which will be instrumental in obtaining approval of US FDA and other regulatory agencies. “Strong quality management system, with focus on elements such as data reliability, good documentation practices and process validation will be imperative in achieving operational excellence,” he said.

Sandeep Vadakattu, Deputy General Manager – Life Sciences Sector at Domino Printech India was gave an insight on ‘Improving machine readable code quality as part of a reliable Track & Trace solution.’

Dr Prashant Dour, Application Support Manager, Separations division, SCIEX India, talked about ‘Analysis of small molecule drugs, excipients and counter ions in pharmaceuticals by capillary electrophoresis’.

This was followed by the last session of the day by Tulasi Krishna, Sales Leader- Particle Business, Beckman Coulter who gave a lecture on ‘Anatel TOC analysis in Pharmaceuticals waters.’ The event ended on a high note with cocktails.