Govt to set up Rs20 bn rupees pharma VC fund
Govt to set up Rs20 bn rupees pharma VC fund
Mumbai: Federal government is in the process of setting up a Rs2000 crore venture capital fund to support drug discovery, said Mukul Joshi, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals.
“Initially the corpus would be about Rs5000 crore and it would grow over a period of time," he said, adding that the fund would be run by a board of professionals.
The government is in the process of appointing a consultant for the fund, he said.
India will also set up 740 low-cost medicine stores in the country over next two years, Joshi told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of an industry conference.
“As of now there 79 Janaushadi outlets operational and we plan to have at least one in each district of the country." The government will invest Rs900-950 million for these stores, which will sell non-branded generic drugs, Joshi added.
The initial investment would be made by the federal government, while space and operational expenses would be handled by respective states, he added.
The federal government is in the process of firming up a code of ethics for drug promotoion and distrubution, he said.
“The code is to be voluntarily observed by the drug companies and later on could be (made) mandatory."
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