IRM India Affiliate to strengthen risk-readiness in the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector
Mumbai : Globally, the pharma industry has undergone a rapid change over the last year, with the demand generated from the COVID pandemic overshadowing other treatment areas and given the operational challenges posed by the lockdown. However, the past year has also underscored the importance of the sector. While other sectors struggled in 2020, the global pharma industry revenue reached USD 1.27 trillion, slightly up from USD 1.25 trillion in 2019. As the largest provider of generic drugs worldwide, and with over 50% market share in the vaccines segment, India is a vital part of the global pharma supply chain. Consequently, it is incumbent upon pharma companies in the country to fortify their defences against various risks, in order to combat any future crises and continue contributing successfully to global healthcare.
With this aim of strengthening the risk ecosystem of the Indian pharmaceutical sector, Institute of Risk Management, India Affiliate (IRM India Affiliate), the leading global professional body for ERM qualifications, will work together with Cipla, a leading Indian multinational pharmaceutical company. It will focus on building risk awareness and a robust risk management ecosystem in collaboration with leading organisations across various other sectors. This will include multiple thought leadership and content platforms including webinars, research papers, and panel discussions.
Elaborating on the collaboration, Hersh Shah, CEO, IRM India Affiliate, said, “The Indian pharmaceutical sector is a world leader, both in terms of products and services. This, coupled with the nature of the industry, also exposes the sector to various risks pertaining to multiple regulations. At IRM India Affiliate, our goal is to help pharma companies build a framework for robust, data-driven, and long-term Enterprise Risk Management practices, to mitigate risks in this expanding sector. As a pharma giant, Cipla has more than proven its expertise in managing different global markets and leading in product development, all while building one of India’s largest multinational companies.”
Sanjay Himatsingani, Director of Training and Business Development for the IRM, explains: “We are very pleased about this initiative with Cipla. Our enterprise risk management thought leadership and education offer is well respected and we work with a wide variety of organisations from all sectors, throughout the world. We’re delighted that the pharmaceutical sector in India will now have the opportunity to increase risk management capabilities and to build resilience for the future.”
IRM India Affiliate aims to leverage its globally-acknowledged expertise in ERM and Cipla’s insight into the emerging risks in the global pharma sector. This is the fourth such knowledge initiative by the professional body, which earlier this year has also signed agreements with ICICI Lombard, Eduvanz and JB Boda Group. The organisation has also partnered with NI-MSME, part of the Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India, to build a robust, resilient, and more risk-aware Indian MSME sector. Several candidates have been passing IRM’s global enterprise risk management examinations in India and supporting the development of an ERM culture across sectors.