The Centre may shift two crucial
drug industry related departments
to the health ministry from
the ministry of chemicals and
fertilisers as it steps up efforts to
cut red tape and improve the ease
of doing business. The National
Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
(NPPA) and the Department of
Pharmaceuticals (DOP) are the
two departments that could soon
be shifted to the health ministry,
according to people close to the
development. This will satisfy
a long-standing demand of the
industry and health rights group
who have been clamouring for one
ministry to take care of all related
issues.
“This restructuring was
discussed at meeting held with
Prime Minister’s Office on March- The PMO is keen about this
merger,” an industry official who
did not want to be quoted said. The
chemicals and fertiliser ministry
is not believed to be happy about
the idea and has proposed status
quo and the addition of the Drug
Controller General of India (DCGI)
under its purview. “However,
the merger with health ministry
is most likely as there is a major
cabinet revamp that is expected
which would take care of these
issues,” one of the
people aware of the
discussion said.
The proposed structure may
end up curbing some of the powers
of NPPA. Instead of an additional
secretary who presently heads the
body, the NPPA post will become
on par with the DCGI which
is led by a secretary,
scientific director. Any
order or decision
taken by NPPA would
be reviewed by the
DOP.NPPA, pharma dept may
come under health ministry
Pharmas optimistic on Indo-US deal corridor
Despite the increasing protectionist tendencies in
the US, domestic pharma sector, which saw 51 deals
worth US $4.6 billion in 2016, is cautiously optimistic
about the inbound deals from the American shores
this year, says a report. According to an Ernst &
Young report, outbound and domestic transactions
drove most of the deal activity in 2016, with 21 deals
each. In terms of disclosed deal value, the deal size
stood at US $2.1 billion each.
Domestic deal making was dominated by smaller
value bands with a deal value of $US 342 million, of
which US $272 million (four deals) were restructuringones, it said. “Given the recent policy announcements
in the US on drug price control, bidding processes
for generics, a potential border adjustment tax, and
degrees of outsourcing/offshoring by US pharma
companies, we remain cautiously optimistic on the
US-India inbound deal corridor at this time,” said the
report without putting a number.
On the outbound deals, it said 2017 may be
promising for outbound activity from India to the US,
given that US valuations have significantly corrected
and there aren’t too many US-based acquirers with
adequate financial strength.
India continues to offer
competitive advantages to US pharma
as a development and manufacturing
base for generics and the country
continues to enjoy a prominent
position in the global generic pharma
space, due to the large number of
USFDA approved sites coupled with
low capex and operating costs. The
recent change in FDI regulations also
augurs well for deal sentiment, the
report said as brownfield investments
of up to 74 per cent, up from 49 per
cent earlier, are now allowed under
the automatic route.http://www.biospectrumindia.com | May 2017 | BioSpectrum l POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS^9