India Allocates Rs 5,000 crore to Push Research in the Pharmaceutical and Medical technology Sectors

In a move aimed to promote research and development (R&D) across the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, the Union Health Ministry has allocated Rs. 5,000 crore for a period of five years. The allocated fund aims to push for research across the private sector by setting up incubation centres. The Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech sector (PRIP) scheme aims to transform the Indian pharma medtech sector from cost-based competitiveness to innovation-based growth. The overall policy comprises two five-year plans, the implementation of which will be overseen by a task force headed by the Union Health Minister.

The first component of the scheme is aimed at strengthening research infrastructure through Centres of Excellence (CoE) in the seven existing National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), Institutes of national importance at a tentative cost of Rs. 700 crore over a period of five years. The seven existent NIPERs are located in Ahmedabad, Mohali, Hyderabad, Raebareli, Hajipur, Kolkata and Guwahati. The second component of the scheme comprises a government engagement with nine established pharmaceutical companies with an outlay of Rs. 125 crores over five years, an aid of Rs. 100 crores to 30 research projects on high-potential products and funding to 125 research projects among startups.

While Rs. 1,000 crore have already been given for bulk drug parks being made in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh; four parks for medical devices are under construction in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, explained that regulatory streamlining is being looked at to ensure regulators come onto one portal, while non-fiscal measures include allowing Private Equity (PE) funds to invest in research and a collaborative research ecosystem aimed at enabling industry-academia linkage. Stressing on the need to take global leadership in innovation drugs as two-third of growth is expected to be seen in that sector, the Health Ministry pointed out that Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes ensured reduction in import dependence on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient APIs for India. From over 90 percent import dependence on a single country for 43 APIs, the Ministry said that 20 such APIs are now being domestically produced while 23 more will soon witness production.