New Delhi: With 13.7 percent contribution to the global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce, India has emerged as the second largest market for the industry, a report by professional networking giant LinkedIn has revealed.
The report, detailed in the newly released e-book "The Indian Pharma and Biotech Industry", showed that while New Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh are thriving grounds for talent in this sector in India, talent migration is highest to the US.
As per the report, the most in-demand occupations in pharma and biotech are trending in the areas of data, research, and regulatory affairs. Bioinformaticians, clinical research specialists, regulatory specialists, research analysts and data analysts are some of the most in-demand professionals in the pharma and biotech industry in India. In addition, talent in sales, operations, and research & development are highly sought after.
The report also suggests that in order to stay competitive globally and locally, Indian companies have increased their research & development (R&D) spends,
leading to increased job opportunities and demand for R&D talent, making up for 15 per cent of total job switchers. This is aligned with the Central Government’s initiatives to encourage R&D in the pharma industry.
In fact, the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER), has also been set up in locations including Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Hajipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Raebareli as part of this initiative.
The report shares insights on the state of the pharma and biotech talent pools in India, how it is moving and where to find them. According to the report, while India’s top metros, such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru have traditionally been hubs for biotech and pharma talent, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh are thriving grounds for talent in this sector
.
The US is the most popular country for talent migration with respect to India. Close to 48 per cent of the talent from this sector in the US is moving to India and 36 per cent is migrating to the US from India. Moreover, 75 per cent of the talent outflow from India is to International HQ companies, with senior individual contributors and individual contributors accounting for 77 per cent of the migration out of India, even though they contribute 68 per cent of the total pharma and biotech talent pool in India.
LinkedIn’s report further reveals that the pharma and biotech workforce in India is remarkably active on social media and increasingly aware of opportunities. More than 67 per cent of pharma and biotech professionals on LinkedIn follow a company (India average 50 per cent). Moreover, 68 per cent of the workforce follows an average of eight companies and this has been coupled with a 55 per cent increase in the number of jobs posted on LinkedIn by pharma and biotech companies, over the last 12 months.
On the other hand,
The Indian pharmaceuticals market is the third largest in terms of volume and thirteenth largest in terms of value, as per a report by Equity Master. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally with the Indian generics accounting for 20 per cent of global exports in terms of volume. Of late, consolidation has become an important characteristic of the Indian pharmaceutical market as the industry is highly fragmented.
India enjoys an important position in the global pharmaceuticals sector. The country also has a large pool of scientists and engineers who have the potential to steer the industry ahead to an even higher level. Presently over 80 per cent of the antiretroviral drugs used globally to combat AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) are supplied by Indian pharmaceutical firms.
The UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool has signed six sub-licences with Aurobindo, Cipla, Desano, Emcure, Hetero Labs and Laurus Labs, allowing them to make generic anti-AIDS medicine TenofovirAlafenamide (TAF) for 112 developing countries.
Market Size:
The Indian pharma industry, which is expected to grow over 15 per cent per annum between 2015 and 2020, will outperform the global pharma industry, which is set to grow at an annual rate of 5 per cent between the same period!. The market is expected to grow to US$ 55 billion by 2020, thereby emerging as the sixth largest pharmaceutical market globally by absolute size. Branded generics dominate the pharmaceuticals market, constituting nearly 80 per cent of the market share (in terms of revenues). The sector is expected to generate 58,000 additional job opportunities by the year 2025.
India’s pharmaceutical exports stood at US$ 16.4 billion in 2016-17 and are expected to grow by 30 per cent over the next three years to reach US$ 20 billion by 2020, according to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (PHARMEXCIL).
Investments:
The Union Cabinet has given its nod for the amendment of the existing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in the pharmaceutical sector in order to allow FDI up to 100 per cent under the automatic route for manufacturing of medical devices subject to certain conditions.
The drugs and pharmaceuticals sector attracted cumulative FDI inflows worth US$ 14.71 billion between April 2000 and March 2017, according to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
Government Initiatives:
The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to be a game-changer for the Indian Pharmaceuticals industry. It will lead to tax-neutral inter-state transactions between two dealers, thereby reducing the dependency on multiple states and increasing the focus on regional hubs. It is expected to result in an efficient supply chain management, which is expected to reduce its cost considerably. The cost of technology and investment is expected to reduce on account of tax credit which can be availed now on the duties levied on import of costly machinery and equipment.
Some of the initiatives taken by the government to promote the pharmaceutical sector in India are as follows:
• The Government of India unveiled 'Pharma Vision 2020' aimed at making India a global leader in end-to-end drug manufacture. Approval time for new facilities has been reduced to boost investments.
• The government introduced mechanisms such as the Drug Price Control Order and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to deal with the issue of affordability and availability of medicines.
• Mr Ananth Kumar, Union Minister of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, has announced setting up of chemical hubs across the country, early environment clearances in existing clusters, adequate infrastructure, and establishment of a Central Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology.
The Indian pharmaceutical market size is expected to grow to US$ 100 billion by 2025, driven by increasing consumer spending, rapid urbanisation, and raising healthcare insurance among others.
Going forward, better growth in domestic sales would also depend on the ability of companies to align their product portfolio towards chronic therapies for diseases such as such as cardiovascular, anti-diabetes, anti-depressants and anti-cancers that are on the rise.
The Indian government has taken many steps to reduce costs and bring down healthcare expenses. Speedy introduction of generic drugs into the market has remained in focus and is expected to benefit the Indian pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the thrust on rural health programmes, lifesaving drugs and preventive vaccines also augurs well for the pharmaceutical companies.
Reference:
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www.hrkatha.com
www.ibef.org
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