Theme India dominated the 45th Annual DIA meeting this year.
The only country pavilion in the DIA with 8 Indian companies exhibiting together in addition to other India focused activities, this FICCI initiative was hailed as one of the key highlights of the DIA this year. Ms. Marie Dray, President DIA during her meeting with the Secretary, Dept of Pharmaceuticals Mr. Ashok Kumar at the India Pavillion thanked the government of India for choosing the DIA Annual meeting in the USA for showcasing the Indian Clinical Trials industry, and extended an invitation to the next years’ program.
Earlier at the India Evening Dinner Reception on June 23rd in San Marriott Hotel, Mr. Ashok Kumar unveiled the FICCI-E&Y study titled “The Glorious Metamorphosis – Compelling reasons for doing clinical research in India”. Addressing the 100 plus attendees to this reception the Secretary outlined the larger vision of making India the global hub for Pharmaceutical innovation, and shared the government initiatives of encouraging Public Private Partnerships and invests in capacity building and infrastructure. He pointed out the advantages that India has to offer in conducting clinical research projects in India, and informed the audience about the NIPER initiative for capacity building for the industry. Mr. Bruce Ross, from US FDA, who would be shortly taking over as Country Director in India shared the collaborative training programmed that have been initiated for clinical trial oversight audit in India.
The finale of the India focus activities was the India focus session in the DIA conference on June 24th, titled “Global Clinical Trials- Destination India”. The speakers in this session were Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Ashok Kumar, Dr. TS Rao, Advisor DBT, Dr. Vasudeo Ginde, CEO Diagnosearch and Ms. Bishakha Bhattacharya FICCI. The Secretary shared the vision of India becoming a hub for clinical trials as an extension of the larger vision of excellence in pharma innovation. He highlighted the critical role of clinical research and its vital link to the Drug discovery process.
