Emerging Careers in Pharmaceutical and Supply Chain Management
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has demonstrated continuous growth in double digit CAGR with export sales as much as domestic consumption. The size of India's pharmaceutical market is INR 1.8 Lakhs Crore, witnessing an equal contribution from the domestic and foreign manufacturers. Over the past five years, the industry has seen a CAGR of 14%. This sector is recession free as medicines and health products are basic needs. There are over 10,500 registered manufacturing units which cover almost every therapeutic category of drugs, out of which around 8000 formulation plants produce generic medicines. These formulation plants are self-sufficient. India has one of the best developed pharmaceutical industries and produces about 20 per cent of the world's drugs. Over 500 manufacturing plants in the country have US FDA approval which is second only to US. Over 1000 companies are WHO GMP approved. India is among the top five producers of bulk drugs in the world, 3rd in (10% in global sales) terms of volume and 14th (1.5%) in terms of value. Some lifesaving, new generation technology patented drugs which are largely imported, make up approximately 8% of total market sales in India and thus, 92 % of Indian drugs market is out of patent. On account of providing highly significant proportion of cost-effective quality medicines under internationally funded programs in HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and otherwise as well, India is regarded as the "Pharmacy of the Developing World". In case of bulk drugs, there are almost 2500 manufacturing units with estimated turnover of about USD 12 Billion that accounts for approximately 10% of the global bulk drug market. The bulk drug industry has witnessed a better CAGR of 17% over the past three years, although CAGR of imported bulk drugs has had an improved rate of 18% during the same period. At this point in time, major issues faced by the industry are total dependency on import of certain key intermediates.
Vision 2020
According to Mohammad Ameel, associated with Healthcare Technologies in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Indian pharmaceutical industry aspires to become double its size by 2020 under 'Make in India' initiative with a specific focus on the bulk drug sector. This has an immense scope as this can be well achieved by building proper infrastructure to promote growth and address the HR requirements of the sector. The Government would be required to revive the PSUs and bring stability in regulatory and pricing policies. Although the government is already looking into the industrial representations for the need of committed pharma parks to promote manufacturing, skilled human resource availability still remains a major challenge. The advent of dedicated pharma parks would create a viable taxation and financial environment for R&D that will further give a thorough boost to the manufacturing sector.
Challenges in Medical Devices Industry
The medical devices industry is estimated to become USD 7 billion, and India may account for domestic production only in the low tech equipment(s) category. It is estimated that the need for approximately 70% of the medical devices used in India are met by imports. The domestic industry is self-reliant in the category of small segment of medical X-Rays, syringes, gloves etc. However, major challenges faced by the local manufacturers are lack of regulatory structure, harmonized standards, accreditation and adverse custom duties which the government is expected to resolve through 'Make in India' initiative. The Government is seriously looking into these matters under the 'Make in India' initiative. The Commerce Ministry of the Government of India is also looking to set up three medical device testing laboratories in different parts of the country to boost export potential of the sector.
Medical Equipment Manufacturing and supplies
India is already has the presence of world's leading medical equipment suppliers and manufacturing companies like Johnson & Johnson (J&J), GE Healthcare, Siemens and Boston Consultants which have not only established manufacturing facilities in the country but have also invested a lot in research and development in the country. On the other hand, there are industry giants who have set up only marketing offices in India, with R&D and manufacturing facilities set abroad to ensure ease of business.
Opportunities associated with IPR, Health Promotion and Supply Chain Management
Constant upgradation of the regulatory standards by the ICH counties (more significantly USFDA and EU MHRA) has made pharmaceutical industry more complex and competitive in the past decade as the industry is required to match their specifications to sustain growth in profits through exports. Some of the most exciting advances in healthcare have been the result of research and development efforts of pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and medical device makers.These life-enhancing discoveries have fueled amazing growth in pharmaceutical industry, creating a new demand for talented, motivated individuals with a special knowledge of the pharmaceutical sector. Managing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) related issues under Regulatory divisions of the pharmaceutical companies and health promotion through nutraceuticals require additional talents and skills. In view of current national and international thrust on Universal Health Coverage by ensuring access to pharmaceuticals, health technology and health products, there would be great demand for trained professionals for managing procurement and supply system so that right products of right quality in right quantity are made available at right place in right time at right prices. The supply chain management assessment carried out by the United States Agency for the International Sevelopment (USAID) through its Deliver Project indicates a major need to strengthen human resource capacity to ensure effective supply chain management. There is a significant shortage of staff responsible for health commodity management, especially pharmacists. There is no formal logistics training being provided for existing supply chain management personnel. In order to have efficient and skilled human resources needed to carry out supply chain management functions, there is a need to create a logistics management unit at the state level to coordinate all supply chain functions and activities. Further, the Mc Kinsey report - India Pharma 2015 "Unlocking the Potential of the Indian Pharmaceutical Market" said that the Pharma industry has immense opportunities and has a projected market growth of US$ 24 billion by 2015 and US$ 55 billion by 2020. Various sectors that will be creating most of these jobs in the Pharmaceutical industry would be, sales, marketing, supply chain management, KPO, health and Insurance, medical value travel/tourism, corporate hospitals, contract manufacturing (CRAMS), consumer health care. The allied industries that will be creating jobs would be Banking (evaluating projects for loan related to health and pharma), state health sector, general insurance etc.
Addressing Manpower Requirements
Current and emerging manpower requirements in terms of talent and skills are not nurtured by the academic pharmaceutical institutions in the country and there is big mismatch between the passed out graduates and requirements of the industry. To address manpower needs of the industry, the School of Pharmaceutical Management at IIHMR University, Jaipur offers MBA programs in Pharmaceutical Management and Procurement & Supply Chain Management (PSCM). It is a unique gateway to one of India's most respected and socially beneficial industries. The degree features a pioneering curriculum designed in collaboration with industry that is constantly changing to meet current demands of the market. Established in 1984 in Jaipur, the Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) has been dedicated to improvements in standards of health and well-being through the better management of health care systems, and related programs. In recognition of its contributions over the years, in 2013 IIHMR was formally granted University Status, and is now called IIHMR University. IIHMR-University has incubated the School of Pharmaceutical Management (SPM) because of the inherent synergies between the domains of Health and Pharmaceutical Management with the vision to serve the needs of those who aspire to achieve leadership positions in pharmaceutical and allied industry. The school will strive to continuously work towards providing students and industry with the tools that they require for becoming true leaders. The school will build a cohesive "learning culture" with industry and will ensure the curriculum is innovative, relevant and responsive to industry changes. The program aligns the strengths of IIHMR University with the academic needs of students and those of the pharmaceutical industry. Passed out graduates can expect managerial career in a pharmaceutical company (Sales Officer/ Executive, Management Trainee, Product Executive/Manager/ Specialist), market research company, clinical research organizations (CRO), regulatory affairs (prepare Dossiers for Product registration,Audit reports, documents for Plant certification, dealing and handling drug laws and IPR related matters), hospitals, knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and join consultancy organizations, besides entrepreneurship.