Despite challenges pharma sector to grow and generate high employment: Experts

To further discuss the opportunities and challenges in the Pharmaceutical sector, IIHMR University Jaipur invited experts such as Atul Kumar Nasa, President, Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association,  Rajendra Talele, Head Clinical Development Services- Accutest Research Laboratories, Deve Babre, Associate Vice President, Tata Consulting Services, Mumbai, Sachin Tadge, Project Manager, Cognizant Mumbai during its Pharma Summit 2017 held on Saturday.

SD Gupta, Chairman, IIHMR University Jaipur said, “Despite price capping, demonetization and GST implementation – all of which are perceived to impact the Pharma sector adversely, this industry will continue to grow and the major growth engines will be domestic sales, exports, an ageing population, Health insurance coverage, increases in per capita spending, Medical tourism etc. All these factors combined together put more pressure on the effective management, governance, availability and accessibility of pharmaceutical products, especially in remote areas.  This poses increasing challenges for Pharmaceutical managers not only in term of demanding effective Leadership Skills but also in the sector’s demand for quality manpower that can hit the ground running. In this context, IIHMR University’s MBA Pharmaceutical Management program fills this vacuum to a great extent because it imparts managerial skills that are relevant for the Pharma sector.”

Deve Babre, Associate Vice President, Tata Consulting Services said, “Due to high growth rate in domestic and overseas market, there is a strong need of Pharmaceutical Management Graduates in Sales, Marketing, KPO’s, Medical writing and Communication, Medical devices, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hospital Industry, Healthcare Communications and Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing business categories. The pharma sector is emerging and is mostly chosen by young candidates for fast career progression, thereby being the number one choice for both Pharmacy and Non-pharmacy graduates, which later on choose formal Pharmaceutical Management education program and get domain expertise which is needed in Pharma and Healthcare sector.”

The Pharmaceutical segment is an integral part of the Indian healthcare market, a market worth approximately Rs. 100 billion, growing with a CAGR of 22.9%.  Healthcare delivery includes hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostics centres, and pharmaceuticals, constitutes 65 per cent of the overall market.

Globally, the Indian Pharma market is the 3rd largest in terms of volume and 13th in terms of value. By 2020 the Indian Pharma market will be touching $55bn with a CAGR of ~15.9%, with Generics occupying 70% market share followed by OTC 21% and patented drugs capturing 9% market share. To this Dr. Gupta added, “The industry inspite of many challenges will create 58000 more job opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector and we expect the industry to grow upto 45% by 2025.”

Ashok Peepliwal, Associate Professor at School of Pharmaceutical Management, IIHMR University Jaipur said, “In the last 5 years, there has been a growth in non-communicable diseases.  Segments like Cardiovascular, Anti-Diabetes, Anti-cancers, Anti-depressants are the fastest growing areas of concern due to rapid urbanization and changes in life-style patterns. The Union Budget of 2017 addressed this issue, and prompted the government to recommend tertiary and secondary hospitals to launch “Wellness Centres” and to make the Indian public aware of “Public Health” challenges.  It is notable that these actions have shifted the onus on to prominent educational institutions to deliver healthcare management professionals especially in the field of Primary Health, Hospital Administration, Pharmaceutical Management and Public Health.”

The IIHMR University, which pioneered cutting-edge research in Healthcare Sector, has been meeting the demand for these professionals through their MBA programs in Health Management, Hospital Management, Pharmaceutical Management, Rural Management and Masters in Public Health (MPH) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

According to AWACS, a total of 55 Companies have been launched in last 36 Months, where 5 Companies have crossed 10 crore in Revenue. These new companies are now being led by Saffron Therapeutics, Brinton Healthcare, Innovcare Life Sciences, Jubilant Life Sciences & Emenox Healthcare. With the rise in Government taking various initiatives and the exports of the Pharma sector rising, According to the India Skill Report 2016-17, the gender diversity in Pharma and Healthcare sector is 71.72% males and only 28.28% females.

Rajendra Talele, Head Clinical Development Services- Accutest Research Laboratories, said, “Keeping in mind the surge in the Pharmaceutical sector, one must not neglect certain aspects of the Indian pharma sector which is highly unorganized and fragmented in nature. It has nearly 25,000 companies, only 330 are organized. Total employable candidates with B. Pharm degrees were 42.3% in 2016 as against those 40.62% in 2015. Also as per the Industry wise hiring targets for women in Pharma and Healthcare sector the total target is about 38.67% women as per the India Skill Report and the total employability of women is only about 28.28% which calls for the need of gender diversity to be maintained in the Pharmaceutical industry.”

In view of the national push to “formalize” all sectors of the economy—of which the Pharma sector is a critical component, Management education in the health sector can play a vital role in facilitating the push towards greater professionalization and formalization. There is a growing demand for Pharmaceutical Management Graduates in Sales, Marketing, KPO’s, Medical writing and Communication, Medical devices, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hospital Industry, Healthcare Communications and Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing business categories. This sector is emerging as a choice sector for GenY, for whom careers as professionals and management trainees with good starting salaries have emerged as attractive career option.  It is therefore not surprising that the Pharma industry, which employs ~5.5-5.7 Lakh people, hired approx.1.34 Lakh people in 2016 and the same momentum is expected to continue in the coming year.

The Pharma Summit was concluded by discussing trends alongwith various other aspects that could give impetus to the growth of the Pharma sector. Biosimilars and Biologics are burgeoning sectors in 2017 also major scientific and technological advances, coupled with socio-demographic changes and increasing demand for medicines will revive the pharma industry’s fortunes in another 10 to 20 years. Other trends like increase in coverage of health insurance, advancement in medical technology and penetration of mobile health services will give further impetus to the growth of the Indian pharma industry.