HYDERABAD: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Group has said that India needs to move from low-risk drug research and innovation to high-risk research and innovation.
While speaking at the BioAsia Summit 2022 during panel discussion on ‘Drug research & development: Yesterday, today, tomorrow’, Kiran Mazumdar said, “While we are labelled as the preeminent pharmacy of the world, we also want to be known as the innovators of the world.”
“For this, we need innovative financing and policies that will drive Indian industries investing in high-risk innovation. When you want to create value, it starts with a patent. The patent is the one currency we have on value,” she said.
On the occasion, Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, said that R&D is a big expenditure that goes into sustaining the current business, the rest of which probably goes into innovation." Considering the headwinds such as US pricing pressure, it becomes more difficult to allocate incremental spending when it comes to R&D."
“But is there also a view that the Indian companies have enjoyed so much success in terms of the generic medicines and the vaccine market that we probably lack the risk appetite and the risk of failure,” he added.
Hub of innovation in next decade
Acknowledging the urgent relevance of BioAsia 2022’s theme ‘Future-ready’, Gorsky said “I couldn’t agree more with the theme of the conference, it is forward-leaning.
There are tremendous developments for the rest of the world that are coming out of Asia now. We will be influenced by the innovators in Asia with the talent, ingenuity, and agility”. A home for over 4 billion people, Asia was noted to be the most exciting hub for innovation. Gorsky believes that the region will be at the global forefront over the next decade.