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The Indian pharmaceutical major Cipla Ltd has urged the Central government to increase expenditure for the healthcare sector, and formulate policies that will aid the domestic pharmaceutical industry.
Addressing the shareholders in the company's annual report for 2018-19, Cipla chairman Y K Hamied said "Our pharmaceutical industry’s prime role is to save and improve the quality of patients' lives. We need to provide affordable essential drugs to safeguard a stable and healthy India."
The Indian pharma industry sales were valued at $33 billion in 2017 and are on course to touch $50 billion by 2020 and the exports of the Indian pharma sector are estimated to exceed $20 billion by 2020, says Y K Hamied in the annual report.
"India should formulate legislation on healthcare to suit the specific needs of the indigenous pharma industry as also the healthcare required in the country. An increase in the Government's public healthcare expenditure is the need of the hour”, the Cipla Chairman said.
"Cipla is well positioned to extend its expertise from general generics to more complex generics and niche specialty products. Cipla believes that access to medicines at affordable prices is a fundamental human right and that none should be denied medication, not only in India, but globally. In our overall Research and Development programme, we are closely monitoring the repurposing and repositioning of existing drugs,” added Cipla chairman.
Cipla executive vice-chairperson Samina Vaziralli said "With the new Central Government in India returning for a second consecutive five-year term armed with a strong mandate, expectations are high. FY 18-19 was a good year for Cipla. Our businesses delivered strongly, our US specialty pipeline was greatly bolstered, and decisions taken a few years ago on our portfolio and our global footprint are paying off well."
"As a pharma company, we look forward to support in strengthening infrastructure and ease of doing business, developing a robust regulatory framework, increasing healthcare expenditure, and balancing of pricing controls with provision of accessible and affordable healthcare. We are also eager to explore ways to partner with the government in its ambitious healthcare schemes to ensure coverage to the maximum extent possible." she said.
One of the biggest paradigm changes that technology has enabled is that it has made our industry as a whole more patient focused. There is a lot to do and the future is more exciting than ever, both for Cipla and for pharma, Samina Vaziralli said in the annual report.
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