BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
Trend:
The Embassy of India in Baku organized an online interactive webinar on Indian pharmaceutical products on 18 December 2020 with participation of four major Indian pharmaceutical companies, namely, Lupin Limited, Cadila Healthcare Limited, Glenmark Limited and OPES Healthcare Limited. The webinar was attended by business representatives of India and Azerbaijan, including major pharmaceutical importers from Azerbaijan.
Addressing the webinar, Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan, Mr. B. Vanlalvawna underlined the prominent position Indian pharmaceutical companies occupy in the world and said that India’s export of pharmaceutical products to Azerbaijan at US$ 11.5 million in 2019, which was around 3.9% of the total imports, was below the potential which existed between the two countries in this sector. The Azerbaijani market is important as it has the potential to emerge as a hub for pharmaceutical products for neighbouring CIS countries. Thus, immense opportunities exist for Indian pharmaceutical companies to increase their footprint in Azerbaijan.
Dr. Amrut Naik, President - International Business, Cadila Healthcare Limited, which has strong commercial footprint in US, France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and expanding its operations in Latin America, Africa & Middle East, Asia Pacific, introduced their company and products to the participants. He informed the participants that Zydus Cadilla's COVID-19 vaccine "CyCov-D" is in the final stage of the clinical trial and will be ready for marketing in the first quarter of 2021.
Mr. Deepak Sharma, Head-CIS Business, Glenmark Ukraine LLC, which has a portfolio of over 165 generic products, represented Glenmark at the webinar and gave a comprehensive overview on the businesses of Glenmark, manufacturing and marketing capabilities of the company, its specialty and innovative R&D works being undertaken by the company.
Representing Lupin Limited, Mr. Ram Iyer, Senior General Manager, gave an introduction of Lupin Limited and its specific portfolio of Anti-TB and ARV Products and future plans in this therapeutic area. Mr. Hitesh Soni, Director, OPES Health Care Limited, introduced his company, which has strong presence in Latin America, Europe, US, China and CIS countries. OPES was able to register 9 of its medicines, 7 supplements and 21 are under registration process in Azerbaijan. Mr. Anar Latifov, Director and Ms. Ulviyya Azmammadova, Macromedicine of Azerbaijan, briefly spoke about the Azerbaijani pharmaceutical market, its size, government regulations, law, and explained the pharmaceutical pricing system of Azerbaijan.
India has a prominent and rapidly growing presence in global pharmaceutical industry. It is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20% share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 62% of global demand for vaccines. India is the only country with largest number of US-FDA compliant Pharma plants (more than 262 including APIs) outside of USA. The country is home to more than 3,000 pharma companies with a strong network of over 10,500 manufacturing facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, India emerged as the "Pharmacy of the World" by supplying medicines to over 150 countries. Indian pharmaceutical industry is currently valued at US$ 41 billion.