Pharmaceutical Machinery and Equipment: Growing Significance in India

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is emerging as the largest supplier of generic drugs and vaccines. While the European Union manufactures the highest number of vaccines (approximately 15.5 million kilograms per year), India is the second largest manufacturer (approximately 14.5 million kilograms per year). Owing to its robust and flexible manufacturing base, the Indian pharma sector can meet domestic demand and contribute to international markets. This growth is primarily supported by the growing importance of pharmaceutical machinery and equipment in India. 

As companies understand their importance in the global pharma market, they invest in cutting-edge machinery and technological advancements that will help them manufacture products with more agility, cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

Although several factors trigger this investment, Pharma Now highlights the three main drivers: 

The Key Drivers of Growth

Global demands:

Today, the world is looking toward India for pharmaceutical innovation and development. Currently, India is the largest supplier of low-cost vaccines, contributing to 60% of the global vaccine production. India also manufactures 70% of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DPT) vaccines and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccines required by the WHO and 90% of the measles vaccines required by the WHO, which are commonly distributed in other developing countries. To meet and exceed this demand, Indian pharma companies must continuously upscale their machinery and equipment.

Improved government support:

In recent years, government support for pharma manufacturing has improved. The Indian government has launched several schemes to support pharma manufacturing.

• The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme supports the domestic production of 41 key starting materials, drug intermediaries, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Out of 51 applicants, 22 projects have already been commissioned and funded by the government.
• The PLI scheme for Pharmaceuticals funds pharma companies. It has funded 20 MSMEs for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• The Indian government has also launched the Scheme for Bulk Drug Parks, which provides financing for common infrastructural facilities for bulk drug parks. The scheme offers funding for installing standard pharma machinery, including solvent recovery plants, distillation plants, power/steam units, and common effluent treatment plants.

The launch of these schemes, as well as other regulatory support (e.g., an update in regulatory guidelines to match international/USFDA requirements, which helps pharma companies sell their products in other countries), has boosted growth in the pharma sector.

Contract manufacturing and outsourcing:

Global pharmaceutical companies are looking to outsource product manufacturing to keep up with customer demands. In such a situation, India has emerged as a good option. International companies are outsourcing their manufacturing requirements to India because of several reasons:

1. Indian pharma companies have access to low-cost labour and production facilities, which leads to overall cost savings on manufacturing.
2. Indian companies can increase their production capacities with little or low investment.
3. Indian regulatory guidelines for pharma manufacturing are being aligned with international standards, allowing companies to manufacture products that comply with various markets.

Consequently, Indian pharma companies are increasingly investing in better machinery and equipment. This growth in pharma machinery and equipment in India has had an overall effect on the market.

The Effect of Growth

The effect of this growth in pharma machinery and equipment is reflected in three simple advantages:

1. Improved quality: Pharma companies can now produce products with better quality that have better compliance with regulatory guidelines. Improved machinery also results in improved drug efficacy. In turn, patients receive more effective medicine.

2. Improved quantity: The implementation of better machinery and equipment directly results in improved production efficiency, which allows companies to reach their manufacturing targets faster and produce more doses per day.

3. Improved costs: The use of better machinery results in better production quality, improved consistency, higher precision, and better quality control, all of which means there are fewer reject batches that don’t meet the quality standards, improving the cost of production.

However, while this growth has had a sizeable impact on the Indian pharma sector, there are still some challenges that companies need to overcome to realize the growth potential fully, like: 

High initial investment

The fact is the implementation of any new tech is expensive. Pharma companies have to invest considerable amounts to set up facilities or upgrade existing ones. This considerably hinders the adoption of new methods because each upgrade is an added expense. The integration can be a burden on MSMEs or startups with limited funding. Beyond installation, the machinery requires regular maintenance and system updates to reduce downtime and ensure smooth operation, which means more expenses.

Regulatory compliance

The biggest hurdle, unfortunately, in the pharma space is always regulatory compliance. The growth in pharmaceutical machinery and equipment is no exception. When developing and implementing new equipment, pharma companies must ensure compliance with local and international guidelines. As Indian pharma companies look into catering to global demand, this regulatory compliance with international bodies becomes a bigger hurdle, especially if there are contradictory guidelines.

Conclusion

The rapid growth of the Indian pharmaceutical sector has triggered an increase in pharma machinery and equipment development. There are three primary drivers of this growth, the most important of which is the emergence of India as a global supplier of generic drugs and vaccines and its growing potential as a vendor for pharmaceutical outsourcing. 

However, as companies look to integrate new equipment, they are limited by two primary challenges that they must overcome: high investment and regulatory difficulties. Thankfully, if the growth in this sector is any indication, it may be easier than expected for many companies.

FAQs

1. What are the common types of equipment used in pharma facilities?

Pharmaceutical machinery includes a wide range of equipment, such as tablet press machines, capsule filling machines, granulation machines, packaging equipment, coating machines, and sterilization devices. Refer to types of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Equipment and their uses on Pharma Now for more information. 

2. What are the additional costs associated with pharma machinery and equipment?

Additional costs associated with machinery and equipment include maintenance costs, upgrade costs, labor training costs, electricity and fuel costs, cleaning costs, and downtime.

3. How often should pharma machinery and equipment be upgraded?

There’s no specific formula for how often equipment should be upgraded or replaced. Companies must adhere to the regulatory guidelines and ensure all equipment is in its best condition.