India’s oncology pharma market, one of the most significant in global anti-cancer treatment, is thought to be suffering due to mighty supply chain challenges. Approximately 50 percent of all oncology drugs in India are brought in from other countries, with China and the United States among the majority of these sources. This excessive import dependence creates a vital concern that directly affects patient care.
Since the rate of incidence is expected to go up 25 percent in the next ten years, remedying these challenges cannot wait anymore. Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing companies solve many of these issues by enabling a platform to aid oncology pharma drug manufacturers, providing the necessary expertise and scalability in building the process while ensuring timely delivery to the patients.
India’s Oncology Drug Supply Chain
India is listed as one of the top generic producers of oncology drugs: There are now 1,351 drugs available on the market that are primarily focused on blood cancer/leukaemia. The projected market is likely to increase at a CAGR of 7.25 percent from 2025 to 2029 and will reach a market volume forecast of USD 2.62 billion in 2029.
On the other hand, the supply chain faces multiple critical challenges. To reduce these allegations, India is making huge efforts:
- Largely, API import comes from China. The moments of supply chain disruption spell the risk of dependency. To stop this, the Indian government established a production-linked incentive PLI scheme to boost domestic API production and reduce dependence on imports.
- Timely and safe delivery has become complicated with cold chain infrastructure. Investments in temperature-controlled packaging and real-time tracking systems enabled the easy distribution of sensitive medications
- Adhering to goods manufacturing practices has become mandatory. As drug safety is paramount, so is its availability. companies must adhere to quality control measures to ensure patient safety with good quality oncology medicines.
The Role of Contract Manufacturing in Strengthening the Oncology Pharma Supply Chain
Ensuring a Stable Supply of Oncology Drugs
A secure and steady supply of oncology drugs and subsequent care gives assurance of successful treatment. Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing companies play a critical role in dealing with several hastening challenges:
1. Preventing Drug Shortages
Continuous production is quintessential to avoiding shortages in oncology drugs. Pharma contract manufacturing organisations assist in the following ways:
- Streamlining Processes: Adoption of optimised production practices to ensure continuous supply.
- Diversifying Manufacturing Sites: Establishment of multiple sites of manufacturing to reduce risks arising from single-source production.
2. Reducing Dependency on Single-Source Production
Excess reliance on single sources of manufacturing can make the supply chain rather vulnerable. CMOs tend to counter this by:
- Broadening the Supplier Network: Collaborating with several suppliers to ensure continuous raw materials and API availability.
- Taking risk management initiatives: Developing plans for risk management that would guide problems arising in supply chains.
Managing Raw Material Procurement and API Production
Procurement of raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is an eminent area of manufacturing for oncology drugs. India has been heavily dependent on importing APIs, exposing itself to several challenges, such as:
- Supply Chain Disruption: Since API is imported, global happenings may affect availability.
- Quality Variation: The import of APIs can cause inconsistencies that might potentially vary quality and thus influence the efficacy and safety of oncology drugs.
In order to curb those challenges, CDMO pharma companies have adopted others:
- Establishment of Local API Manufacturing Units: Facility for the home production of APIs for dwindling dependence on imported ones on the way.
- Collaborating with Global Suppliers: Ensuring the unbroken supply of quality raw materials with international suppliers.
- Investing in Quality Assurance: A very unrelenting regime of quality control to maintain the quality standards of APIs and finished products.
Improving Manufacturing Scalability and Efficiency
Advanced manufacturing technology is leveraged with the right processes by pharma contract manufacturing companies (CDMO pharma companies) to arrive at higher-value compute production processes. Efficiency is essential in oncology due to the intricacies of the drug formulated and complexes posed by the stringent quality-based cuts. This demands precise manageability of resources.
Enhancing Distribution and Logistics
A well-coordinated distribution network is necessary for the punctual delivery of oncology drugs. Pharma contract manufacturing organisations provide expedited logistics by means of:
- Temperature-sensitive Transportation: Most oncology drugs need strict temperature regulations for their entailed activity. Built on solid transport principles over the cold chain, they employ specialised packaging and transport solutions to maintain the ever-important product within the required temperature range.
- Close of Delivery: CDMOs take care of the situation of delivery, having been the coordinating point for the last mile delivery of oncology drugs into the actual hospitals and pharmacies. Coordination in this regard has to do with assuring that the patient getting treatment is not delayed, in some cases, quite too critically for patients with underlying cancer.
Regulatory Compliance and Supply Chain Transparency
Contract manufacturers ensure verification of WHO-GMP and US FDA standards in compliance with international quality regulations. Such compliance is important; it assures the safety and efficacy of the oncology drugs.
As well as being involved in every aspect of the supply chain, these CDMO pharma companies set their traceability systems so that products can be traced from the point of production to the point of delivery, which prevents the circulation of counterfeit drugs such preventive measures guarantee that treatment options made available to patients are legitimate and efficacious.
Key Challenges in India’s Oncology Pharma Drug Supply Chain
- Cold storage issues, poor warehousing, and last-mile delivery woes can lead to spoilage and shortage of oncological drugs, resulting in restructuring that affects timely treatment.
- To get all sorts of designs and to make an introduction into the Indian market, one must, however, battle through the complex regulatory approval processes, failing which patients would be denied access to life-saving drugs when needed the most.
- If your APIs for making chemotherapy drugs come from an imported source, this can get you much delayed, making it tougher for you to supply the demand.
- To curb other businesses from diluting the market with counterfeit oncology drugs, instances of weak supply chain traceability systems raise legitimate questions across the health and efficacy frameworks designed for the patients.
Conclusion
Pharmaceutical contract manufacturers like Pinnacle Life Science are essential in addressing key challenges in India’s oncology drug supply chain. By investing in local API production and improving logistics, we can ensure timely access to life-saving treatments. Ready to navigate these challenges with a trusted partner? Pinnacle Life Science is here to streamline your oncology pharma drug manufacturing needs.
