need to improve our focus
on health economics and
impact measurement.
Such a data driven
approach will put any
concerns to rest on
criticality of immunization
programs for public
health concerns where it is
an appropriate measure.
We should also assess
if the specific products
we are using in the
immunization programs
are economically effective
in addressing our goals
and means to do so
more effectively. A great
example could be the BCG
vaccine that has been used
for prevention of TB. It
will be a worthwhile for
us to assess economic
merit of a more effective
TB vaccine and this
would justify renewed
and significantly higher
investments in a critical
research area.
Lastly, on private vaccines
that are now driven more
by a pharma styled sales
approach, the clinical
utility could be debated in
several cases. However,
as these are out of net
of public expenditure in
a largely out of pocket
market, these are less
likely to be part of this
debate.
What are the major
policy related
challenges that are
acting as bottlenecks
for further growth?
From our interactions
with the industry for the
regulatory round table,
the main challenges we
note are misconstrued
inclusion of vaccines in
National List of Essential
Medicines (NLEM),
dearth of funding
mechanisms for scale-up
and technology access,
several redundancies
in current regulatory
pathways and lack
of defined timelines
causing undue delays in
new product launches.
Eliminating redundancies
in the regulatory process
and creating efficiency in
the approval pathway is
critical to ensure that the
country realizes benefits
of the current pipeline of
high value vaccines such
as PCV. These are high
public health priorities
and delay in approval
of Indian vaccines only
extends the period of
dependency on couple
of multinationals whose
vaccines are currently
priced at more than Rs
3000 per dose for a 3 dose
schedule.
How do you look at
the future trends that
would shape up Indian
vaccine industry?
We expect India vaccine
industry to continue on
the current accelerated
growth path for the next
decade as well. It is
critical that the current
strength to proactively
embrace innovation and
build pipeline of complex
products is channelized
and intensified in an
appropriately rewarding
ecosystem. On the
commercial front, we
anticipate two key
developments - greater
participation in private
market and the holy
grail in value realization,
entering regulated
markets. While we
currently dominate
low and middle income
vaccine supply, in the
next decade Indian
vaccine industry is poised
competitively to make
its mark in regulated
markets.
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