Indian Biopharma and diagnostic industry proved to be strategic assets to meet the public health requirements during the COVID pandemic, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, said in New Delhi on January 27, 2023.

Inaugurating the National Summit on Quality of Biologicals, virtually the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare said that the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) is playing a vital role in ensuring that only quality biological products reach the health system, thereby strengthening Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission of ensuring quality health and wellness for all.

Noting that biological drugs have emerged as a choice of therapy along with conventional chemical drugs, the Union Health Minister said, “The medical emergency over the past few years due to the COVID19 pandemic has seen our Biopharma and diagnostic industry prove to be strategic assets to meet the public health requires not only of our country but globally, which has given meaning to the statement of universal brotherhood “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, that is, “the whole world is one family” Dr Mandaviya said.

Congratulating NIB for bringing multiple stakeholders in a single platform, he said, “This summit will provide a base for gap analysis in the currently prevalent quality assurance approaches in India”.

“It will help upgrade the infrastructure and technologies of the country's biopharmaceuticals and in-vitro diagnostic industry and enhance its capacity to develop world-class products and promote public health,” Dr Mandaviya added.

Highlighting that NIB is uniquely positioned to conduct thorough and unbiased evaluations of the quality of biologicals Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar, said in her address, “NIB does not just focus only on testing and evaluation but also plays a key role in promoting good manufacturing practices, monitoring and reporting adverse events, and collaborating with other regulatory agencies and industry partners to ensure the quality and safety of biologicals”.

Highlighting the need to adopt digital interventions in the biopharma industry, she urged the biopharma manufacturers to evolve “keeping these disruptive changes in mind, and build bioprocess models for the future.”

“The regulators as well as the testing laboratories should also keep in pace with these emerging technologies and practices so that these lifesaving medicines are introduced into the market at the fastest possible pathway,” she added.

Calling upon the industry representatives to focus on the increased thrust on research and Development, Dr Pawar said that the industry also needs to focus on innovation, self-reliance in API, upgrading quality standards, increased digitisation, regulatory simplification and increased thrust towards exports.