India is looking at greater market access for its pharmaceutical products in Australia as its top drugmakers are set to visit the country in the first week of February, News18.com has learnt.
The tour is a part of the pharmaceutical supply chain resilience initiative following India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia.
The team
The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) — an arm of the ministry of commerce and industry — will lead a delegation in collaboration with the Australia-India Business Council. Overall, about 20 companies are part of the delegation. These companies represent formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), herbals, ayurveda, and veterinary medicines, among others.
All the top drugmakers of India such as Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo, Lupin, and Cipla already have a presence in Australia and their representatives will also join the outgoing delegation to further boost the business relationships.
The other representatives travelling as part of the delegation include RK Agrawal, president of the bulk drug manufacturers association (BDMA), SV Veerramani of Fourrts Labs, representatives from Trident Life Sciences, and others.
Starting on February 6, the business delegation is scheduled to meet government officials, drug procurement agencies, the pharmacy guild, and the local regulatory agency of Australia.
“Free trade agreement (FTA) has already been ratified by the Australian government and will take effect from December 29, 2022. Both countries are extremely interested in the diversification of the pharma landscape, especially after taking their own learnings in handling the latest pandemic, Covid-19,” Lakshmi Prasanna, director of regulatory affairs at Pharmexcil, told News18.com.
“It is a big opportunity for both countries,” she said and added, “while India is strong in the drug manufacturing front and will be able to provide a strong partner to provide APIs, Australia, in turn, is strong in clinical research and provides a good opportunity for R&D collaborations.”
What will India gain?
According to government data, Australia’s pharma market stood at around $14.6 billion (Rs 1.16 lakh crore) in 2021 and is largely a patent-driven market with a share of 70%, generic drugs capture a share of 12%, valued at $1.7 billion (Rs 13,600 crore).
Data shows that India exported medicines worth $387 million (around Rs 3,000 crore) in the financial year 2021-22 with a growth rate of 11.6%.
India and Australia have signed an agreement as part of the FTA under which the pharmaceuticals sector apart from information technology was considered the biggest beneficiary of the pact.
FTA allows fast-tracked mechanisms to get approval in the Australian regulatory system for medicines, which have gone through the rigorous approval process by the USA and UK.
“FTA will open the pathways for fast-track approvals for Indian pharmaceutical products and manufacturing facilities having approvals from their regulatory agencies,” said an industry veteran, requesting anonymity as deals are still evolving.
India is also keenly looking at collaborating with Australian institutions for boosting the research and development in medicines and biological products.
FTA will also provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery apart from pharma.
The agreement said that the Australian drug regulator, Therapeutic Goods Regulator (TGA), will work together to facilitate trade in human prescription medicines and medical devices.
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