Incentives of Investment in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in The Republic of Georgia.

Republic of Georgia is located strategically in the middle of Eastern Europe and Central Asia to cater to the needs of both the regions; however despite its favorable location on the globe investment in pharma manufacturing of finished dosage forms has been less than ordinary in the region. This article highlights the current status of pharmaceutical industry in Georgia, explores in brief the overview of various regulations and finally concludes with analyzing the scope of investment in the country. Introduction Blockbuster medicines going off patent has made the term �cost savings� to be taken more seriously by CEO's of many big global pharma companies both innovators and generic. Innovators such as GSK and AZ have set ambitious targets of annual cost savings ranging in billions of dollars. Top generic drug maker Teva has decided to half its manufacturing plants from 75 to 38 in order to be more efficient (save $2 billion by 2017) - this is in response to their blockbuster drug Copaxone which has gone off patent recently, Copaxaone sales were equivalent to half of Teva's revenue. But the point over here is, drug sales will eventually drop further in future and cutting jobs and closing down manufacturing plants will always be a temporary solution, In order to cater to increased demand from emerging markets and also to tackle the criticism of pricing of drugs, big pharma intern will have to scout for low cost and strategically located manufacturing regions. Republic of Georgia is one such region that offers several incentives for investment in pharmaceutical production as well as it is suitably placed to cater to the needs of Asia as well as Europe. Georgia's pharma sector Pharmaceutical production in Georgia is characterized mainly by production of, herbal medicines and dietary supplements. Out of the 70 pharma manufacturers very less companies have capability to manufacture pharma finished dosage forms. Many companies possess the capability of secondary packaging and some others operate their own retail chains. No pharma manufacturer is into API production.The graph below highlights the current value of pharmaceutical production in the country and its growth rate which despite the production value being very low is quite impressive at 42% per annum. This growth rate suggests at a growing consumption of pharmaceuticals. Author: Piyush Tiwari