The concluding session of the two-day Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit 2022, organised by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), witnessed leaders of the Indian pharma industry discussing the ‘Sustainable end-to-end Operations and Quality Excellence,'.

Moderated by Gautam Kumra, Senior Partner, McKinsey, the session witnessed though leaders like Pankaj Patel, Chairman, Zydus Lifesciences; Umang Vohra, CEO, Cipla; G V Prasad, Co-Chairman, Dr Reddy's; Nilesh Gupta, MD, Lupin and Dilip Shanghvi, MD, Sun Pharmaceuticals sharing their vision to outline the roadmap for the industry.  

Covid-19 has fast-tracked automation and digitisation and pharma companies have understood that it’s the way forward in the highly digitised age.

Speaking on automation and digitisation, Patel, said, “Covid-19 has enabled us to have a deeper understanding of the digital process and it demonstrated the difference that can accrue to not only manufacturing but also across other functions such as supply chain.’’ He added, that it is his dream to build a plant that’s fully automated and he expects to commission one soon. He also said there are newer technologies available to manufacture APIs in an efficient manner and the question is whether we can do the same in biosimilars.

Vohra, said, "Earlier we all thought automation was only at the plant. But now you automate the labs and the mantra of On-time Real-time testing is the way of the future and a few years from now the plants will look very different with automation and we will see touchless factories being set up.”

Prasad said that automation and digitisation are inevitable, adding, “If we have to automate, we need an underlying process that’s highly developed. We need to get deeper into the process and then digitise. Digitisation needs people who understand the process. Companies will have to create real capabilities and Centres of Excellence and even at the management level, we need to reimagine the process. All the core processes have to be reimagined and use science and commonsense.”

Speaking on Lupin’s journey on digitisation, Gupta, informed that the companies started the process one-and-a-half years ago as there was no option.

Shanghvi, added : “I share the excitement and concerns as well. Our success in the past has been on our ability to market products and draw attention to them. The game has changed. Success now depends on consistently high quality in all aspects be it production, sigma quality and supply chain.”

On the adoption of ESG, Sanghvi, said, “we have a relatively easier path to achieving Net Zero compared to other industries. We have to do it smartly. At Sun we are reviewing our processes and we need to be creative in our solution”

Patel meanwhile sees a challenge in the use of plastic. He said that the pharma industry uses a lot of plastic for packaging and we have to address that issue. Similarly, in sourcing, raw materials and also supply chain issues need to be addressed.

Explaining the importance of quality, which was the theme of the conference, Gupta said, “Quality and compliance was a very company-specific issue, and it has changed due to forums such as this, which have allowed us to work towards a collective goal. Information sharing has been an enormous support system. We are known to be Pharmacy of the World and we are fortunate to have achieved this position. In the next 5 years, it will be great to be known as best in class with the help of forums such as this which promote open dialogue.”

Prasad was of the view that all innovations require clinical evidence and the eco-system needs to keep pace. Regulatory frameworks should be modernised. He concluded, “the cost of creating biologics is huge and the industry needs an enabling environment to achieve it.”