ERP at Indian Pharmaceutical Industry – Surat

Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Reigning the Global Market !

According to the Indian Economic Survey 2021, the domestic market is expected to grow 3x in the next decade. India’s domestic pharmaceutical market stood at US$ 42 billion in 2021 and is likely to reach US$ 65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach US$ 120-130 billion by 2030. 

In the global pharmaceuticals sector, India is a significant and rising player. India is the world’s largest supplier of generic medications, accounting for 20% of the worldwide supply by volume and supplying about 60% of the global vaccination demand. The Indian pharmaceutical sector is worth US$ 42 billion worldwide. In August 2021, the Indian pharmaceutical market increased at 17.7% annually, up from 13.7% in July 2020. According to India Ratings & Research, the Indian pharmaceutical market revenue is expected to be over 12% Y-o-Y in FY22.

Challenges faced by Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

• Policy and regulatory challenges
  • IPR regime of India not favourable to Pharma industry
  • Drugs price control order puts pressure on prices
  • MRP based GST levy >> burdens companies with higher tax
  • Low data collection on drugs coupled with insufficient training to drug inspector leading to huge malpractice among drug sellers 
• Dependence on imports for Active Pharma Ingredients (API)
  • Example : 77% of APIs are imported from China
• Quality issues
  • This is evident from ban on certain drug on ground of poor quality by EU
  • Lack of quality enforcement standards
• Marketing side
  • Pharma companies often resort to unethical practice of providing freebies and gifts to Doctors to promote their drugs
  • Lack of adequate training to medical representatives along with prevalence of Quack(fake doctor) increases risk of life of patients.
• Poor research and development
  • Due to fund constraint and lack of academia-industry linkage

Some of the Initiatives taken by the Government to promote the Pharmaceutical Sector in India are as follows :

• As per the Union Budget 2022-23:
  • Rs. 3,201 crore (US$ 419.2 million) has been set aside for research and Rs. 83,000 crore (US$ 10.86 billion) has been allocated for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • Rs. 37,000 crore (US$ 4.83 billion) has been allocated to the ‘National Health Mission’.
  • Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 1.28 billion) has been allocated to Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.
  • The Ministry of AYUSH has been allocated Rs. 3,050 crore (US$ 399.4 million), up from Rs. 2,970 crore (US$ 389 million).
• In March 2022, under the Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI) Scheme, a total financial outlay of Rs. 500 crore (US$ 665.5 million) for the period FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26 were announced.
• India could restart deliveries of COVID-19 shots to global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX in November-December 2021 for the first time since April 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO), which co-leads COVAX, has been pushing India to resume supplies for the programme, particularly after it sent ~4 million doses to neighbours and allies in October 2021.
• In November 2021, PM Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Global Innovation Summit of the pharmaceuticals sector. 
• In June 2021, Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman announced an additional outlay of Rs. 197,000 crore (US $26,578.3 million) that will be utilised over five years for the pharmaceutical PLI scheme in 13 key sectors such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, drug intermediaries and key starting materials.
• To achieve self-reliance and minimise import dependency in the country’s essential bulk drugs, the Department of Pharmaceuticals initiated a PLI scheme to promote domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants with minimum domestic value addition in four separate ‘Target Segments’ with a cumulative outlay of Rs. 6,940 crore (US$ 951.27 million) from FY21 to FY30.
• In May 2021, under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0, Mission COVID Suraksha was announced by the Government of India to accelerate development and production of indigenous COVID vaccines. 

Role of ERP in Pharmaceutical Industry of India

Pharma is an extensive domain comprising multiple segments like sample testing, R&D, clinical trials, Drugs, Vaccines, biotechnology, and medical equipment. Including good and reputed manufacturing software can prove highly useful in sustaining the ultra-competitive scenario. 

Streamlining the business operations under a centralized management system is the core reason to adopt ERP for pharmaceutical businesses. It helps manage various departments like purchasing, planning, marketing, distribution, sales, and inventory.

Incorporating the  ERP Solution into pharma businesses is helping them to become more efficient, profitable, and future-ready with added features such as GMP Compliance, quality management, batch tracking and yield reconciliation. In addition, it helps is adopting maximum benefits of the technology under a single cover.

Modern age ERP solutions are also helping to manage business challenges and is becoming an imperative part of the recent business transformation.