Page 9 - Pharma Darpan August 2021 Anniversary Issue

EXPERT REVIEW Volume -II Issue -1 August-2021

New chemical entities (NCEs) and new biological entities (NBEs)
Novel drug development promises high returns, but it also requires high investment of time and resources. While Indian companies
have started the journey, there is a need to build a strategic approach in order to move from incremental innovation to becoming a
global player in innovative drugs. These products are the major focus for leading multinational pharma companies. Indian companies
are beginning to improve their in-house novel drug development with the aim of launching new blockbusters. Developing NCEs and
NBEs put Indian companies in direct competition with global innovators. Some of the large Indian pharma companies, such as Zydus,
Glenmark, and Sun, as well as clinical research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations
(CDMOs) are already engaged in researching new drugs10.

Fig. 1 Stronger growth in pharmerging market will lift global medicine spending through 2025, offset by developed market LOEs (Loss of
exclusivity) which includes small molecules and biologics. other includes rest of world and OTC/other products in developed markets
and ex-rate impact. Year values shown in US$ with historic and forecast exchange rates; growth in constant US$. Ex-rate impact -$48Bn
for 2016-20, +25bn for 2021-2515.
Key challenges:
There are several challenges which we need to mitigate and seize the opportunity in coming days, Inadequate training and motivation
for conducting the research mindset: One of the biggest challenges hindering the growth of R&D in India is the dearth of talent with
requisite training, expertise and skill across the entire research and development life cycle in the realm of pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology and life sciences. There are several reasons for this shortfall. One of the most important reasons is that the education
and academic institutions are still guided by rote learning instead of practical innovative thinking and the overall lack of resources
dedicated for furthering biomedical research. Less than 0.5% of Indian students pursue a PhD or equivalent level of education. As of
2018-19, only 35% of Indian higher education institutions offered postgraduate programs and just 2.5% offered PhD programs. India is
also behind other countries in terms of total number of researchers – according to recent Brookings India report, India has only 216.2
researchers per 1 million population compared to 1,200 in China, 4,300 in the US and 7,100 in South Korea1. Need for increased
alignment between academic curricula and industry needs: In addition to the already limited availability of talent, there is also a
misalignment between the industry needs and academic curricula in Indian universities – both in terms of the curriculum and exposure
to the real-world needs. As a result, most talent coming out of the educational institutions is not ready for the demands of the pharma
industry.
Brain drain: Due to the limited infrastructure and opportunities, students often seek universities outside India for further studies,
especially in science and technology fields. In 2018, more than 750,000 Indian students were studying abroad and about 28% of these
students went to the US12. India is the second largest place of origin for international students for the US with about 18% of all
international students in the year 2018-19 originating from India (China is the top place with 34% of the US international students
originating from the country). However, the real issue is not studying abroad. The challenge is that the majority of these students find
jobs overseas and never return to India, resulting in ongoing loss of the country’s intellectual capital.

https://aptimumbai.blogspot.com ASSOCIATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL TEACHERS OF INDIA MUMBAI-REGION 7