India betting £ 5,000 to transform pharmaceutical R&D. See what that means
Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Coin explanator | India’s big bet: £ 5,000 crore to transform pharmaceutical R&D. See what that means. About 300 projects will be supported, with focus areas, including new medicines, complex generics, biosimylars and new medical devices. (Pixabay) Summary India’s £ 5,000-CR plan Open applications to finance pharmaceutical and Medech R&D, which helps businesses to move beyond low-cost-generic to new medicine, complex therapies and global innovation. India, the world’s pharmacy for low-cost generica, is trying a big upgrade. The Department of Pharmaceutical Products opened applications for the £ 5,000 CRore program aimed at finance research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical and med-tech sectors. The initiative seeks to support businesses and startups in developing new medicines, complex generic and medical devices, which is a great effort to innovation. The scheme, called the promotion of research and innovation in Pharma-Medtech, represents the government’s attempt to move India beyond its traditional role as a low-cost-generic manufacturer and becoming a global innovation center. Mint explains the most important goals of the scheme, funding model and what it can mean for the future of India’s pharmaceutical and med-tech industry. What are the main objectives and financial scope of the Prip scheme? The scheme aims to accelerate India’s shift from a generic power station to an innovation-led Pharma and Med-Tech Hub. It has an approved layout of £ 5,000 crore and is expected to attract a total R&D investment of approximately £ 11,000 crore. About 300 projects will be supported, with focus areas, including new medicines, complex generics, biosimylars and new medical devices. Unlike the £ 15,000 crore-production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), which focused on promoting manufacturing, it is a fresh, independent budget award that is squarely focused on innovation. It was first mentioned in the Union budget of 2023-24 and represents the government’s most direct attempt to plug India’s long-standing gap in pharmaceutical and Medech-and-R&D. How does Prip promote the cooperation of the Industry Academy? The scheme offers incentives for MSMEs, startups and businesses to work with the top academic and research institutions. Applicants with such bonds will be given preference. Firms may also have research outputs of academic institutions in the license, which ensure that discoveries do not remain in laboratories but translate them into commercial products. The scheme also stimulates the use of funds to create public O&O assets within these institutions. What levels of financial aid are offered? Financial assistance is exacerbated based on the project phase. Projects in the early stage (up to £ 9): MSMEs/Startups can receive up to £ 5 crore, with 100% funding for the first £ 1 crore and 50% for the balance. Later phase projects (up to £ 285 crore): Companies can get up to £ 100 crore, covering 35% of the cost. For projects in strategic priority innovation, the support rises to 50%. What are Strategic Priority Innovation (SPI) areas? SPI areas target public health needs with limited commercial yields-such as rare diseases, antimicrobial resistance, tropical vector-borne diseases, vaccines and pathogens that cause pandemics. The scheme offers higher financial aid to 50% of project costs for projects in the later stage in these areas to strengthen India’s health safety framework. What is the application process and timeline? The application window was opened on October 1 by a dedicated digital portal. Applicants must submit a project plan with successive milestones, including associated expenses and timeframes. They must also provide documents that prove the financial closure for the approved total project costs. In addition, applicants must announce all entities within their related group, as the total financial assistance to a single related group cannot exceed 5% of the total layout of the scheme. The deadline to register on the Prip portal is November 3, and the deadline for the submission of applications is November 10. How does the industry react? Industry leaders welcome the move as a milestone. Himanshu Baid, managing director of Poly Medicure Ltd., a manufacturer and exporter of medical devices, calls it a landmark initiative that addresses the missing piece in India’s Medech Growth Story. ” He added: “The responsibility now lies with the industry not only to produce in India, but also to design, design, develop and build world -class medical technologies worldwide. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #india #Pharma #ExPlainer #Academic Research Read Next Story