November 5, 2020: Telangana’s pharmaceuticals industry currently stands at around $12 billion. Hyderabad accounts for almost 40 per cent of India’s total bulk drug production and 50 per cent of total bulk drug exports, with exports contributing towards approximately $500 million out of the State’s $1.6 billion bulk drugs industry.
Telangana is amongst the biggest contributors towards pharmaceutical exports from India, with roughly $3.5 billion worth exports in 2019. Moreover, Telangana has the first-of-its-kind life sciences infrastructure in India in the Genome Valley, Hyderabad Pharma City and Med Tech Park.
Further, it is one of the most cost-effective manufacturing destinations in India.
It is amongst the top three States in India with the most number of US FDA approved manufacturing plants.
Vaccines hub
Dubbed as the “Vaccine Hub of the World”, Hyderabad has some of the country’s leading vaccine producers, including Bharat Biotech, Biological E, Indian Immunologicals, Shantha Biotechnics (subsidiary of Sanofi) and VINS Bioproducts who have built strong intellectual property and are critical suppliers to about 100 countries. Telangana contributes to over 33 per cent of India’s vaccine exports.
The State has been home to several major vaccine innovations including the first completely indigenous vaccines for rotavirus and Japanese Encephalitis which also received WHO pre-qualification, and the world’s first typhoid conjugate vaccine. Continuing the legacy, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech developed the first Indian Covid-19 vaccine candidate to be given approval for human testing and has also been recognised by the WHO in its repository of vaccines under clinical trials.
Biological E, Indian Immunological are in preclinical stages of Covid-19 vaccine research, making Telangana one of the foremost hubs of Covid clinical research in the country.
Taking advantage of the cluster approach, Genome Valley has attracted top Indian and multinationals including Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Sai Life Sciences, Syngene, SYNEOS Health (erstwhile INC Research and inventive Health), Parexel International, Vimta and many more. Telangana’s biotechnology market stands at around $0.8 billion. The State is home to more than 25 biotechnology companies.
Medical devices
Telangana’s medical devices market is making rapid strides by attracting investments in R&D. Medical Devices Park, launched in 2017, has become one of the leading destinations for top medical devices companies.
Spread across 276 acres in Sultanpur village of Sangareddy district, the park offers dedicated ecosystem for Medtech innovation and manufacturing. About 25 companies are in the process of establishing their R&D and manufacturing units including Sahajanand Medical Technologies (SMT), Promea Therapeutics, Arka Medical Devices, Virchow Biotech Private Limited, among others. Recently, Medtronic has committed to expanding the existing R&D centre with Rs 1,200-crore investment.
Further, Telangana became home to prominent forums such as Pharmexcil, the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA), BioAsia and NIPER.
Source: Telangana Today
