Pharma set for 300% growth, affordability a concern

Hyderabad, Oct 17 (UNI) Drugs Controller General M Venkateswarlu today forecast a three-fold growth in pharmaceutical industry by 2020 in the country even as he expressed concerns over drug affordability.

Delivering the keynote address at ISB Pharma Summit organised by the Indian School of Business (ISB) here, Dr Venkateswarlu said pharmaceuticals were the most controlled commodity offering very little choice for the customer.

In this sunrise industry with phenomenal growth, access was not the main concern as much as affordability.

Elaborating on the industry's spectacular increase in size, he said, ''At the time of Independence, 95 per cent of the country's pharma needs were imported. Today, we have moved from Rs 10 crore turnover to Rs 35,000 crore with a three-fold growth forecast by 2020.'' The official further urged the industry to foster Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and increase mobility of services. A noble idea could be of a pharma company adopting villages.

''We need to increase our bench mark for ethics to meet global standards and review it at regular intervals,'' a press release quoting him said.

UNI