Made in India: Is Indian Tech an Opportunity for Pharma?

At the end of November 2023, we had the opportunity to attend one of the largest pharma sector exhibitions of raw materials, materials and equipment, manufacturing and packaging. It is called “The CPHI – PMEC of Asia.,” and was held in New Delhi, India. We attended at the invitation of Pharmalab, a company that has been in operation for more than 62 years  and that has manufactured high-tech equipment used in various pharmaceutical and food manufacturing processes for three generations.

The CPHI-PMEC is an exhibition that takes place every year in Europe, with each edition in different venues, including Barcelona, Frankfurt and Milan; however, this was the first time we faced the Asian market, and materially I have to say, in all its expression.

Pharmalab, an Indian company, invited us because they represent and distribute several lines from European manufacturers and, since we have a common manufacturer, BORER CHEMIE AG of Switzerland. Additionally, we would have the benefit of being able to meet with companies from Asia and Mexico for whom we handle similar processes. As we can have similar projects and problems, we can take advantage of the experience lived in these very different latitudes to offer solutions from both countries, according to the processes we manage.

Visiting the Pharmalab stand at the exhibition were experts from France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa and Mexico. In our case, together with experts from India, we identified viable business opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry in Mexico. Therefore, for eight hours a day from Nov. 28 to 30, we walked several kilometers of corridors, seeing and visiting everything on display in terms of equipment, materials and raw materials available in those regions of the planet.

During the following days of our stay in India, we had the opportunity to visit the three Pharmalab equipment manufacturing plants in the city of Ahmedabad, and finally, we visited the company's corporate offices, located in Mumbai, which today is the financial center of the country. After this very illustrative visit, I think it is worth making several comments about what we saw and learned about India.

India is a country that has enormous challenges to solve on a daily basis, and it must generate solutions to all these problems simultaneously. Besides the overpopulation, the chaotic traffic, the garbage and pollution problems that exist in all large cities (and there, the concept of “large” can exceed our imagination), there are also issues of water limitations, and cultural, social and religious differences — amongst others. 

What I observed is that India moves, produces and generates business opportunities, despite all the challenges it faces every day. Today, we cannot close our eyes to this country; we must accept the fact that India is the largest generator of people with academic degrees of master's and doctorates, they know and are prepared to present in the national and global labor market, and are ready to participate in high-tech projects that comply with the demanding global regulations established by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA, WHO, and EMA. We all know that today, India is the No. 1 producer of APIs, manufacturing and supplying these raw materials to the entire world.

A second reflection is that in the Pharmalab manufacturing plants, I came across staff from the different areas of manufacturing, quality and validation who were willing to do everything necessary to demonstrate to any person or organization that what they do is well done. As an example, I had a conversation with the Quality and Validation group at one of the plants. When asking about  the number of tests they are willing to carry out on the equipment they manufacture as part of the FAT (Factory Acceptance Tests), they responded that they would “carry out all the tests that the client/end user requests.” I asked if they were considering a percentage limit, or a time limit, and their response was: “We will do all the tests that the client requests and in the time it takes us to execute them.” As a comparison, I must comment that in other countries, manufacturers consider running only 20% of the tests established in the protocols, and they expect this execution to be done in a maximum of three days, since otherwise, the result would be additional costs and runtime.

My third reflection has to do with costs. Operations, supplies, services, salaries, materials and a long list involved in costs are lower than in other countries, but this does not mean that they are sacrificing quality. I confirmed that there are elements or parts that they do not have available locally, and these must be imported from source. As an example, I mentioned the controllers, microprocessors, or the sanitary valves that they do not produce locally which they  import from Germany, because that is the world standard. Their technological proposal does not imply reducing or putting at risk the quality of what they manufacture. In a few years, India is expected to become the third-largest economic power in the world.

For all these reasons, I am convinced that there are business opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector with technologies of Indian origin. If we add to this their iron will to make one's way in the world, I believe there are similarities in character with Mexicans. We also suffer from setbacks in our market, and as always, we look for alternatives to open ourselves to new opportunities, and gradually, we are achieving it.