Why Indian pharma companies should reduce dependency on import of APIs from China?

Updated Jul 02, 2020 | 15:39 IST | Pankaj Poddar

Pharma Industry in India has been dependent on API imports from China in recent years as much as 65% of the raw materials for Indian drug makers worth $3.5 billion are being sourced from China.

Why do we need to be self-reliant in APIs? | Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Mumbai: With every passing decade since 1970, India’s pharmaceutical industry has gone from strength to strength in terms of broadening of scope to offering with every passing year. Despite these strengths, India has seen increased competition in the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) segment.

India imports several intermediates and APIs today, which has resulted in an erosion of domestic manufacturing capacity for several APIs and intermediates.

Pharma Industry in India has been dependent on API imports from China in recent years as much as 65% of the raw materials for Indian drug makers worth $3.5 billion are being sourced from China.

ET Now spoke to Sudarshan Jain, Senior Advisor, Former MD, Abbott Healthcare & Krishna Prasad Chigurupati, CMD, Granules. Both believe that recent policy push for investments in API has been an encouraging step for the sector, but policy push can only act as a catalyst for investment. Scale and size of API & intermediates will need to be achieved to be competitive. According to Granules, this API manufacturing is a huge opportunity for Indian pharma companies to reduce the dependence on China for the import dependence of API.

Here's the full discussion on how Indian Pharma can invest in API manufacturing