Dear All,
We are pleased to announce a six-part (March 2020 – Aug 2020) webinar series titled, "Blurred frontiers b/w states and markets for pharmaceutical technologies". The series will bring together six young scholars from across the globe who will look at the development, production and distribution of pharmaceutical technologies from different angles and under varied contexts of intersection between states and markets.
Our first presenter, Dr. Yves-Marie Rault Chodankar will take us on a journey to India and talk about the small pharma players who don't own a manufacturing plant but are highly involved in the pharmaceutical supply chain. We are looking forward to your participation and engaging discussion.
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Topic: Small Pharma: hyper-specialization in India’s pharmaceutical industry**
Time: March 3, 2020, 11:15 (Timezone: Europe/London)
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://ysi.wisdmlabs.net/project/5e32c399a953855d12fd91dc/event/5e42e059af8e9a25bd3b3dcf
Thank you for spreading the word.
You can find more details below
Best Wishes,
Cecilia & Sauman
Blurred frontiers b/w states and markets for pharmaceutical technologies
Affordable access to safe and effective pharmaceutical technologies like drugs, diagnostics and vaccines is necessary for the realization of health as a fundamental human right. It is the moral and sovereign right as well as the obligation of states to guarantee the health of their citizens. However, states are far from facilitating moral markets for medicines. On the contrary, pharmaceutical markets are driven by profit maximization based contemporary capitalism. It is rife with inefficiencies at all levels of the value chain including research and development (R&D), production and delivery to patients. The problem of access to suitable medical technologies disproportionately affects the Global South, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Most developing countries are far from being self-dependent in local pharmaceutical production even for the most basic essential medicines. Poor regulatory environment and corruption make the already complex supply-chain even more incomprehensible. The gap is being further widened by stricter intellectual property laws pushed through trade agreements. Nevertheless, access is becoming a significant concern for patients in developed economies as new technologies such as biologics are marketed at extorting prices which are unsustainable even for the most efficient and responsive healthcare systems.
This webinar series aims to bring together young scholars from a broad range of disciplines working on different pharmaceutical issues in an open space to discuss current and future challenges in a collaborative way. The initiative also intends to reach out to young scholars who are interested in learning about the pharmaceutical system and enhance knowledge-networks related to pharmaceuticals.
Webinar 1
** Small Pharma: hyper-specialization in India’s pharmaceutical industry by Dr. Yves-Marie Rault Chodankar**
India counts 12477 companies (MoCA 2016) for 5099 factories (ASI 2016). This statistical gap cannot be solely explained by registration tactics or data errors; it illustrates how India’s firms are not only restricted to manufacturing activities. Some firms do not possess any manufacturing unit, yet they are actively involved in the design, packaging, branding, promotion, logistics and licensing of generic drugs. Although they are instrumental in the diffusion of India’s pharmaceuticals, particularly in low and middle-income countries, their hyper-specialized activities have never been documented and remain a blind spot of pharmaceutical studies that often focus on large multinational groups. In this presentation, we will draw on extensive fieldworks in Ahmedabad and Mumbai and semi-structured interviews with directors of micro, small, and medium enterprises headquartered (n = 114) to highlight this little-known facet of India’s pharmaceutical industry. Generally, you will learn about the activities of these firms, their positions in South-South value chains, and their role in the development of India’s pharmaceutical industry.