Hyderabad, September 24: The Chief Minister, Mr K Rosaiah, on Friday declared that his government would extend full cooperation to the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City being constructed in 2,200 acres in Visakhapatnam.
Participating in the Global Pharma CEO’s Conclave on the occasion of 6th anniversary of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL) at HICC, here on Friday, the Chief Minister exhorted the Pharmaceutical companies to have a tie-up with the colleges in order to encourage the students. He also presented awards to some pharma companies which excelled in various sectors.
Mr Rosaiah said that he was happy to note that Indian pharmaceutical industry, in the last few years, has shown tremendous progress in terms of infrastructure development, technology base creation, and a wide range of production covering almost all therapeutic categories and dosage forms.
Pointing out that India’s pharmaceutical industry was the third largest in the world in terms of volume with a total
turnover about US$ 21.04 billion, with a domestic market of US$ 12.26 billion which is estimated to touch US$ 20 billion by 2015, making India a lucrative destination for clinical trials for global giants, the Chief Minister said that India tops the world in exporting generic medicines worth US$ 11 billion with a growth rate of 17%.
India accounts for 20% of the global generics market. India is a globally acknowledged source of high quality affordable generic medicine with rich vendor base, he added. He said that he was also happy that India is poised to become manufacturing hub for pharmaceutical industry of the world and an emerging hub for contract research, bio-technology, clinical trials and clinical data management.
After establishment of PHARMEXCIL, the exports of the country have grown from $3.8 billion to $8.9 billion. The Chief Minister said that the State ranked first in the manufacturing of bulk drugs and third in manufacturing of formulations in the country.
The State was contributing 40% of the total Indian bulk drug production and 50% of the India bulk drug exports. The sector was creating employment to over a lakh of persons in the State.
There are over 440 pharmaceutical exporters in the State, including the major global players like NEKTAR, DuPont and EISAI. “My government has supported for the presence of PHARMEXCIL in Hyderabad, including seed capital assistance to promote pharma exports in the State. Pharma industry of the State received global recognition in meeting the challenge of H1N1 pandemic.
“Andhra Pradesh has identified the Pharma sector as one of the potential sectors of the State. In order to regulate the zoning of Pharma industry, the State government has romoted Jawaharalal Nehru Pharma City in 2,200 acres at Visakhapatnam with required infrastructure facilities.
Similarly, the State government has promoted five Pharma SEZs and four Biotech SEZs developed by APIIC and
local Pharma industrialists. A cluster for manufacturing of Medical Devices & Equipments called “Medtech valley” has also been launched at Jawaharnagar near Genome Valley, the Biotech Hub of India.
” Mr Rosaiah said that in order to meet the human resources challenges, the State has promoted 255 Pharma colleges with an annual intake of 15,240 students and also National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in association with the Centre to offer post graduate courses & research programs in various Pharma disciplines.
He has appealed to the pharma industry to work closely with the pharma colleges to share the inputs on the industry requirement and ensure the students acquire the right kind of skills to absorb themselves in the pharma sector.
The Chief Minister said that the government has launched most investor friendly industrial policy by offering lowest power tariffs. The State was offering Rs 0.75 paisa per unit reimbursement for five years.
The policy covers, Investment subsidy, reimbursement of VAT, Single Window clearance system and special incentives for mega projects.
The state has witnessed huge investments in recent past through Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) expansions, new projects, and also in the new Pharma SEZs, he added.
Green Chem Herbal Extracts & Formulations Company has bagged Pharmexcil Award in Patents Category for holding many patents in natural, herbal and biotech products. Green Chem has 19 patents filed on various herbal products and nine of them were already granted. Pharmexcil has awarded Green Chem, a
national award in September last for holding many herbal patents. The award was given by the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Mr Anand Sharma. Green Chem was selected by AYUSH for developing specifications (monographs) for herbal extracts. Green Chem was certified for ISO 22000:2005 for high-level food safety.
Mr R. Rajendran, promoter of the company, received the award. Green Chem deals in natural/herbal and biotech products and its activities include organic cultivation, extraction, elaborate testing, quality assurance, patenting and so on. It has a capacity of extracting about 1,500 tons of herbs per year. Green Chem exports its products to the USA, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, Austria, Germany, France and Hong Kong. Green Chem R&D concentrates and constantly works on the development of new products as well as improving the existing products. Green Chem manufactures herbal ingredients for anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti- cholesterol, anti-arthritic, female libido enhancer, male libido enhancer, cosmetics, post-menopausal syndrome, memory power enhancer, nutraceutical supplements of organic vitamins, minerals and so on. Mr Rajeev Kher, Joint Secretary, Dept of Commerce, Mr Smitesh Shaw,Chairman, Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, Dr Jharwal, Chairman, NPPA, Mr Stefan Borgas, CEO, Lonza AG, Dr Appaji, ED, PHARMEXCIL, Mr B P Acharya, Principal Secretary, Industries, and Mr R.P. Meena, Drug Controller, were also present. (NSS)