India officials may have found a way to tap into what is either the second- or third-largest pharmaceutical market in the world, Japan, where India-made generics generally are shunned.
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| Pharmexcil director general P.V. Appaji |
The head of India's Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil lodged in the Commerce and Industry Ministry said about 20 Japan-based companies have shown an interest in contract manufacturing in India. P.V. Appaji said Pharmexcil expects to hold discussions with the Japan companies in July.
If the tactic is successful, Japan's lucrative market could provide a windfall for Indian drugmakers, whose sales in Japan, including herbal medicines, are only $62.6 million in a market said to be worth more than $14 billion.
Appaji told the Business Standard the contract manufacturing and clinical trials plan still fits with his agency's responsibility to promote generics in international markets.
He blamed Japan's stringent regulations for helping to form an unflattering reputation for India's own generics. For several years, Japan's policy has been to emphasize prescriptions for generic rather than branded versions of drugs to lower its national health-insurance costs.
- here's the story from Business Standard