Mr. Luizinho Faleiro Hon'ble Minister for Industries, Education and Factories & Boilers Government of Goa, inaugurated t he two-day long “Pharma Summit 2005” - India Pharma Inc, - New Collaborative growth Models at Bombay Exhibition Centre Hall 2 (A/C) Goregoan (East). Present on the occasion was Mr. Ajay Piramal - Chairman – Pharma Summit 2005, National Committee on Drugs & Pharmaceuticals and Chairman Nicholas Piramal India Ltd., Dr. Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson CII Maharashtra Council and Director Nicholas Piramal India Ltd., and Mr. Gaurav N Nanavaty Past Chairman, CII Western Region and Managing Director Anup Industries Ltd

The two-day Pharma Summit will address topics like India Pharma Inc - Analysis and Prognosis, Future Potentials, New Collaborative Growth Models, Indian Pharma Market, Global Strategy and perspective, Overseas acquisitions, Research and Development, Vision for the Pharma Sector, Regulated, Unregulated and Semi-regulated Markets, Co-marketing, Co-promotion, In Licensing, among others.

The eminent speakers at the summit will be Ms. Shalini Pillay, Associate Director - KPMG Advisory Pvt. Ltd , Mr. G.S. Sandhu- Joint Secretary, Dept of Chemicals & Petrochemicals Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers , Mr. J.V Dore, Managing Director - Sandoz Private Limited , Mr. Kewal Handa, Managing Director - Pfizer Ltd ., Mr. Suresh G. Kare, Chairman & Managing Director Indoco Remedies and President Drugs Manufacturing Association , Dr. D. B. Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Lupin Laboratories are among some of the eminent speakers at the Summit.

The demand for medicines in the domestic as well as in the international markets has given a big thrust to the Pharma industry.

With US$4 billion in domestic sales and over US$3 billion in exports in 2004-05, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is showing tremendous progress in terms of infrastructure development, technology base and product use. The world market is expected to exceed $55billion by 2005. India is set to capture a large portion of this market by leveraging its inherent strengths.

At the same time, the Pharma sector is grappling with a spate of issues including a new product patent regime, VAT, MRP based pricing and shrinking profitability – both in domestic as well as international markets. Experts forsee a consolidation of the industry in the coming years. We already see novel and unconventional business partnerships and alliances beginning to take shape.

This year's “Pharma Summit” would go beyond opportunities and focus on specific challenge and how they can be addressed given the external pressures. The platform will also be used to set a vision for India to move up the volume and value chain from its current global ranking of 4 th & 13 th respectively.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is currently undergoing a period of transformation driven by changes in Intellectual Property Rights and the new regulatory regime. While there are big challenges to surmount, India has tremendous potential and a lot of opportunities, too. The opportunities in the Pharma and biotechnology industries are knocking at our door for outsourcing, capturing the generic market, entering into tie-up operations with multinational companies and export into high volume product markets. The industry must gear up to exploit these opportunities with the right government policies and support. In the process there will be some natural attrition and consolidation as well.