How pharma giants are investing heavily in R&D to develop patient-friendly drugs

Leading pharmaceutical companies have understood the importance of tech-integration, as they redefine strategies by allocating more funds towards R&D. Particularly, players like Sun Pharma, Lupin, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, and Parmjit Arora’s Health Biotech are investing heavily in Research and Development to trigger renewed growth.

Developing a patient friendly drug is a long and complex procedure involving rapid pace of scientific advancements to understand the diseases at the molecular level. Since it’s a time consuming process that passes through the scientific, technical, and regulatory challenges, it becomes crucial for the drug development companies to focus on their R&D for minimizing the risk of failure.

The process for researching and developing new medicines is often difficult and lengthy, thus, discouraging many players in this generics-driven market to keep themselves aloof from this “high-risk gamble.” Many drug companies spend less than 13 per cent of their annual turnover on Research and Development.

While many drug companies refrain themselves from investing in R&D, Sun Pharma has made promising strides towards its R&D in 2020 that has led its business grow three times faster than others. Additionally, Parmjit Arora’s Health Biotech is also emerging as one of the key leaders of the Indian Pharmaceutical industry that is focusing extensively on its drug formulations to manufacture the finest range of life saving drugs.

Generally, it takes nearly ten years for a new drug to pass through the regulators and reach marketplace for final consumption. The clinical trials alone take six to seven years and the average cost for the R&D of each successful drug estimates to be USD 2.6 billion every year.

This data also incorporates the cost of failure of a million of compounds that may be screened and assessed at the early stages leaving only a few that pass the final stage to get approval. The average probability for the success of a clinical trial is less than 12 per cent.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made the pharmaceutical industry more conscious to integrate new technologies for faster delivery of the patient-friendly medicines at the time of crisis that is both cost effective and efficient on the disease.

Recently, the Indian Health Ministry announced a policy to spur research in this sector, and is exploring ways to offer financial support to pharmaceutical companies engaged in the areas of research and innovation of critical drugs.

Some of the leading pharmaceutical companies have understood the importance of timely delivery, redefining strategies to infuse more funds towards R&D. Major players like Sun Pharma, Lupin, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Parmjit Arora’s Health Biotech are investing heavily in Research and Development to trigger renewed growth.

As per the reports, global drug discovery market is expected to reach USD 12.7 billion by the end of 2030. The success of patient-friendly drugs requires immense resources, best scientific methods, highly sophisticated innovations, continuously evolving manufacturing processes, and efficient delivery mechanism. Ultimately, the aim should be to bring relief to millions of people.