Indian pharmaceutical sector, one of the largest suppliers of generic medicines across the globe has under gone a lot of transformations in the past decade. This industry is a very integral section in a country’s health system as well as producing and distributing drugs in the world market. This blog focuses on the current general trends of the generic medicine industry in India, government support, and significant figures that indicate the development of the industry.
These are drugs that are bioequivalent to the branded products, as far as the dose, strength, route and use are concerned but are cheaper in the market. These come into the market after the patent protection on the branded drug is over. The pharmaceutical industry in India being the third-largest in the global market is commonly known as the ‘pharmacy of the world ‘because of its best quality generic drugs production.
The India generic drugs market has constituted a size of USD 20-30 billion by 2024. India leads the world in generics and supplies 40 % of the requirement of the US generics. Banking on the trends it is forecasted that Indian generic drug industry will maintain its growth as there is a greater call from across the globe and more especially developing nations where there is emphasis on affordable medication.
The Indian government has put measures in place to encourage the public to use affordable and quality generic medicine through policies. Key initiatives include:
It began in 2008 as one of the key schemes of the government that comes under the Jan Aushadhi initiative with the main purpose of opening more number of Jan Aushadhi centres where quality generic medicines can be available for common people at affordable price.
Achievements: (Janaushadhi.gov)
The NPPA was set up in 1997 as a regulatory body which prescribes and reviews the prices of the essential medical commodities, particularly the pharmaceutical drugs to make them available to a common man.
• Price Control Orders: Some of the functions include the implementation of Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) aimed at setting the prices of essential drugs including generics at a level that can be easily afforded by the average citizen.
Launched in September 2018, Ayushman Bharat is a government sponsored health insurance scheme for the economically vulnerable population of the country wherein the poor families are provided an insurance coverage of up to INR 5 lakh per year. Though aimed at providing health insurance, the scheme also helps in the promotion of generics in a roundabout manner, given that patients will opt for cheaper treatment once they get health insurance.
Despite the positive developments, the generic medicines sector in India faces several challenges:
Sustaining the quality of generic medicines is a major challenge. Situations where there were such drugs as substandard or fakes, have made people develop doubts in the use of generics.
Although the drug prices are controlled through the NPPA, it becomes cumbersome for the pharmaceutical players and quite complex for the firms in the industry particularly small firms. There are threats marked by compliance with strict quality standards and frequent changes to the policies.
Competition between the manufactures of the said drugs has been high due to increase in manufacture of generic medicines. This increases the competition which may at some point reduces the price that are unhealthy for the survival of small companies and the quality of the drugs being produced.
The Indian market for generic medicines that is largely supported by a strong Indian industry, favorable government policies, and objectives of cost and availability. Thus, despite the problems that still exist today, it is possible to hope for the further development of generics in India and the continuation of the efforts to resolve the problems that have been discussed. Thus, the continued growth and dynamics of the healthcare industry is likely to have this major player continue being involved in delivering affordable healthcare solutions in America as well as other parts of the globe.