India has potential in medical device manufacturing, business group says

A US-India business body has said that India has the potential to be a key player in areas of disease prevention and medical device manufacturing if barriers in research and innovation are removed.

Mukesh Aghi, president of US-India Business Council (USIBC) spoke about the country’s proven leadership in the life sciences industry. He said: “India has proven to be a leader in global life sciences space. If the barriers to research and development and innovation are removed, India has the potential to rank even higher in areas of IPR, disease prevention, and drug and medical device manufacturing.”

USIBC recently held an annual conference titled ‘Innovation Driven Expansion of Healthcare Access in India’. The conference brought together policymakers, global experts and industry leaders to discuss the need for constructive interaction between those brought together.

Experts presented their findings at the conference with S, Sridhar, country manager of Pfizer India, saying: “Access begins with the awareness of need, ability to obtain medical advice, a prescription and finally medicines required for treatment. Therefore, innovation to enhance access is not just about a innovative products or pricing but also innovative ways to strengthen each step of this access chain”

The importance of India’s potential as a major healthcare power was highlight by USIBC. In particular the conference examined various parts of the country’s healthcare system, including areas such as intellectual property, reducing cost and expanding access, immunisation challenges and promoting advancements in heatlthcare.