The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 has been approved by the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi, to tap the potential of the sector and facilitate an orderly growth of the medical device sector to meet the public health objectives of access, affordability, quality, and innovation.
Are you aware of the current scenario of the medical device sector in India? The medical devices sector is currently valued at $11 billion and is expected to grow to $50 billion by 2030. The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 is expected to contribute towards achieving this goal.
The policy framework focuses on building an enabling ecosystem for manufacturing along with a focus on innovation, creating a robust and streamlined regulatory framework, providing support in training and capacity building programs, and promoting higher education to foster talent and skilled resources in line with the industry requirements. Encouraging domestic investments and production of medical devices complements the Government’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ programs.
The policy is expected to provide the necessary direction and support to strengthen the medical devices industry in India. It is designed to make the industry self-reliant, resilient, and competitive while meeting the evolving healthcare needs of patients. The policy covers six broad areas of policy interventions, including regulatory streamlining, enabling infrastructure, facilitating R&D and innovation, attracting investments in the sector, human resources development, and brand positioning and awareness creation.
Take a look at the six strategies that have been planned to tap the potential of the medical device sector:
Firstly, let’s talk about regulatory streamlining. In order to enhance ease of doing research and business, measures such as creating a Single Window Clearance System’ for Licensing of Medical Devices, enhancing the Role of Indian Standards like BIS, and designing a coherent pricing regulation will be followed. This will help balance patient safety with product innovation.
The next strategy is to enable infrastructure to support the growth this policy will bring in. The establishment and strengthening of large medical device parks and clusters equipped with world-class common infrastructure facilities will be pursued. These will be in proximity to economic zones with requisite logistics connectivity. This will help with better convergence and backward integration with the medical device industry. The Indian government has given its approval to set up 157 nursing colleges alongside medical colleges established in the country since 2014, at a total cost of Rs 1,570 crore.
Facilitating R&D and innovation is the third area where the policy aims to promote research and development in India by establishing centers of excellence in academic and research institutions, innovation hubs, ‘plug and play’ infrastructures and support to start-ups.
Attracting investments in the sector is another focus area of this policy. Along with recent schemes and interventions like Make in India, Ayushman Bharat program, Heal-in-India, Start-up mission, the policy encourages private investments, series of funding from Venture Capitalists, and also Public-Private Partnership(PPP).
Then comes human resources development. The policy anticipates a steady supply of skilled work force across the value chain. To achieve this, the policy will support skilling, reskilling, and upskilling of professionals in the medical device sector. It will also promote dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices in existing institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing, and research.
Lastly, brand positioning and awareness creation are critical for promoting the medical device sector. The policy foresees the creation of a dedicated Export Promotion Council for the sector under the Department, which will be an enabler to deal with various market access issues. The policy will also promote more forums to bring together various stakeholders for sharing knowledge and building strong networks across the sector.
The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 has been welcomed by industry leaders. These strategies will provide a holistic approach to promote the medical device sector in India. The policy interventions will enhance ease of doing research and business, facilitate R&D and innovation, attract investments, and develop skilled manpower. All these measures will create a favorable ecosystem for the growth of the medical device industry in India.
Source: Express Healthcare
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Dr. Nidhi Khurana holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and leverages her knowledge of science and marketing to build thoughtful partnerships with industry leaders. Currently, Dr. Khurana serves as the Head of Marketing at GV Research Platform, where she is responsible for driving growth and building the company’s brand. Alongside, she is passionate about writing and uses it as a medium to educate the community on the latest trends and technologies in the drug discovery and development space.