The Indian pharmaceutical industry is likely to witness a shake-out with mergers, acquisitions and closures in the months to come in order to cope with the challenges of the new product patent regime from the year 2005, according to R A Mashelkar, the director- general of CSIR and secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India. | |
| Disputing the WHO figure of 20,000 pharma companies in the country, he said a study by the government placed the number at 5,700. Even this number is quite huge and there would be rationalisation of the numbers, he observed. |
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| Mashelkar was inaugurating the two-day Pharmacophore 2004, an international symposium on 'Innovating Drugs: Emerging Perspectives,' being organised by Dr Reddy's Research Foundation to mark 10 years of drug discovery research. |
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| Apart from the restructuring of the industry, there would be put in place a world class regulatory mechanism to ensure adherence to international standards and by the industry, Mashelkar said, while mentioning the government's initiatives to further the development of the sector. |
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| The CSIR director-general also informed that great developments were in the offing on the front of research in the traditional medicinal systems of the country. |
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| CSIR had embarked on a major exercise, involving 20 of its member laboratories and around 20 universities across the country to engage research in the traditional medicine. |
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| Mashelkar also pointed to the 'brain gain' phenomenon with a large number of Indian professionals coming back from foreign shores to contribute to the nation's development. |
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