DCGI, Dr. V G Somani announced that the central government is ready to introduce a research-linked incentive program similar to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage research and development of biotech products in the country. 

The PLI scheme aimed to offer incentives to companies based on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units. The head of India’s apex drug regulatory agency, CDSCO, praised the accomplishments of the Indian pharmaceutical sector during the COVID years. 

He further added, “firstly, the urgency to identify the virus (coronavirus) and secondly to develop vaccine, medicines, and diagnostics for COVID-19 was not an ordinary challenge. But, with the encouragement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian pharmaceutical industry accepted this challenge and successfully developed the vaccine that not only saved millions of lives in India but also in many other parts of the globe.” 

A dynamic path for the upliftment of the pharma sector and ensuring patient safety have been curated with the introduction of the new Indian Pharmacopoeia 2022 and many amendments in rules for drugs and medical devices.