VATIS UPDATE Article

Serving the twin purposes of providing affordable drugs to patients and making Indian biotech industry globally competitive, the department of biotechnology (DBT) will soon unveil biosimilar drugs for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. “With manufacturing of indigenous drugs, an ecosystem will be created for innovative indigenous product development by researchers, startups and SMEs to make Indian biotech industry globally competitive,” said Renu Swarup, at DBT.

India which today occupies only 3% of the global market aims to reach 5% by 2022. According to a recent report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) under department of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry, there is a market shift to diseases like cardiac conditions, diabetes and cancer which have treatment options with complex biotech drugs. A rise in number and quality of tertiary care centres is leading to greater usage of biotech products.

“In India, there is a large pool of patients that consumes these drugs. With biosimilars, the indigenous drugs will be available at a much less price which will in turn benefit patients in the long run,” said Swarup. According to government, the Indian biopharmaceutical industry is around 10-15 years behind its counterparts in the developed countries and faces stiff competition from China and Republic of Korea in respect of innovation.