India Pharma 2020 and India Medical Device 2020 focuses on clarity on changing regulatory scenarios

Ahmedabad: The 5th edition of India Pharma 2020 and India Medical Device 2020 organized by FICCI in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India has over 1200 delegates and visitors from all over India meeting with buyers to provide an exclusive platform for various stakeholders to present their offerings through exhibition, international conference, B-2-B meetings, MSME vendor development program and the DPIIT investment lounge. 

This year to give a boost to innovation and to showcase the growing start-up ecosystem in healthcare, FICCI organized an exclusive Med-Tech Innovators’ Session to foster conversation and collaborations between emerging innovators in the medical devices space with private equity investors and healthcare providers to support their growth. 

The Department of Pharmaceuticals also announced the launch of Pharma Bureau a body of technical experts, which will act as a single-point interface for the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry for issues relating to the Government of India and various State Governments. The Bureau will coordinate with different ministries of the Central Government as well as the State Governments for providing solutions to the Industry in a time bound manner. In partnership with Invest India, the Bureau will also help facilitate both foreign as well as domestic investment in the Pharmaceutical and Medical devices industry in India. The bureau will also act as a policy think tank to support the Government as well as the Industry. 

The three-day event organized with an objective to have an integrative system of healthcare and wellness for the world. In addition to this objective, various plenary sessions were organized on the vision for the pharmaceutical industry; Ecosystem for R&D, Innovation & Start Ups in the Pharma Sector; Regulatory meet with pharmaceuticals & medical device industry; Affordability, accessibility and availability of quality drugs & medical devices; Emerging trends in healthcare; a Panel discussion on Innovate to Make in India for the world; amongst others. 

In the plenary session, Drug Regulatory Meet with Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Industry the panelists spoke about the way forward on industry issues related to regulatory practices restricting import / export between countries and also problems faced by the industry with  various state drug regulators. The panel further spoke about the ways to increase cooperation and uniformity amongst the Indian state drug regulatory system. 

During the joint session on Affordability, Accessibility and Availability of Quality Drugs & Medical Devices, the panelists spoke about the increasing need to acknowledge how innovation can deliver patient outcomes through new technologies and treatments; it can bring more efficient ways to organise and manage care; and how innovation can find avenues to extend care to the bottom of the pyramid. The panelists further spoke about the importance to understand how a predictable pricing mechanism by rationalizing trade margin for medical devices from first point of sale will ensure affordability and quality care with continued innovation across all segments of population including AB-PMJAY

The Joint session on Emerging Trends in Healthcare moderator by Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Co-Chair-FICCI Medical Device Committee and Managing Director, India & Neighboring Markets, Roche Diagnostics India, focused on technology being the driving force over the past two decades enabling remarkable innovation and transformation in nearly every healthcare sector. The adoption of digital services in healthcare in India has been slow, but the advent of newer technology and increasing significance of healthcare data be it processes or integration with diagnostic decision making which has made digital health impossible to ignore.