Innovations in the Pharma and Biopharma Industries: Role of Academia–Industry Interactions

Global investments in biotech have increased remarkably, with a combined value of $2.0 trillion by the end of 2021. The pharma and biopharma industries in India have been global players in the area of generics and biosimilars, but with no significant entry into original innovations, which are the major cash cows. Innovative discoveries toward novel product development have always been associated with high risk, long gestation, and huge expenditure. These hurdles have been overcome globally through fruitful academia-industry interactions with innovative discovery research and risk mitigation by academic institutions, with the industry stepping in for the later part of drug development. The Indian government has set up several universities and institutes as well as launched several initiatives to promote industry-academia collaboration. Even though these efforts have led to the creation of several breakthrough items, they are yet to have a global impact. This overview seeks to present some of the success stories in driving innovative product development, highlight the issues and challenges, and provide strategies to move forward.