2021 will be all about vaccines and improved therapies to fight the virus

This year was all about Covid-related suffering and disruption, while the theme for the coming year (2021) would be about vaccines and improved therapies to counter the virus.

Additionally, like a lot of other industries, going digital will be very important for the pharma sector and this will be fast-tracked by way of key functions of manufacturing, supply chain and even sales in the coming year.

According to sources, the pace of this change will speed up in the coming year as e-pharmacies, telemedicine, video consult and virtual care will witness a huge growth bringing in savings and convenience for consumers. For the government, vaccine making companies and hospitals, the focus will be to bring in a safe and efficacious vaccine and thereafter a successful mass immunization.

The regulatory pressure on drug prices, diagnostics and hospitals is expected to spill over to the New year which should cap treatment costs for patients. There were also substantial savings on medicine purchases with more consumers tapping e-pharmacies during the year than ever before.

Nine million households (an increase of over 60 per cent) from the pre-Covid level in FY20 purchased medicines from e-pharmacies during the lockdown, according to a Ficci e-pharmacy report. This is expected to reach around 70 million households by FY25 that is 1.4x the pre-Covid-19 estimates.