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Curriculum Pharma & Biotech Economics

Pharma & Biotech Economics

How medicines are invented, tested, made, regulated and sold - the R&D pipeline, clinical trials, biosimilars, contract manufacturing, India's API dependence, rare disease drugs, weight-loss drugs, pharma marketing and AI in drug discovery.

  1. How a New Drug Is Born The long, risky and expensive journey from a lab idea to an approved medicine, and why it shapes how drugs are priced. 📄 Read-aloud
  2. The Economics of Clinical Trials How clinical trial phases work, why they are so costly, and India's changing role as a trial destination. 📄 Read-aloud
  3. Biosimilars: Cheaper Copies of Biologic Drugs Why biologic medicines made from living cells are costly, how biosimilars bring competition, and how Indian firms like Biocon entered the market. 📄 Read-aloud
  4. Contract Manufacturing in Pharma How drug companies outsource research and production to contract firms, and why India hopes to win more of this business as buyers look beyond China. 📄 Read-aloud
  5. India's Dependence on Chinese Drug Ingredients Why India's large generic industry relies on China for active pharmaceutical ingredients, the risks this creates, and the push to make them at home. 📄 Read-aloud
  6. How Drugs Are Regulated in India How India's drug regulators approve medicines and inspect factories, why quality scandals damaged trust, and how rules were tightened. 📄 Read-aloud
  7. Pharma & Biotech Economics: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on drug development, trials, biosimilars, contract manufacturing and APIs. 5 questions
  8. The Business of Making Vaccines Why vaccines are a difficult business with high fixed costs and low prices, and how Indian makers built scale through tiered pricing and volume. 📄 Read-aloud
  9. Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs Why treatments for rare diseases can cost crores of rupees, how incentives encourage their development, and how India supports patients. 📄 Read-aloud
  10. The Weight-Loss Drug Boom How GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide became some of the best-selling medicines in history, why they matter for India, and what happens when patents expire. 📄 Read-aloud
  11. Pharma Marketing and Doctors How drug companies promote brands to doctors, why this can raise costs for patients, and India's rules on gifts and incentives. 📄 Read-aloud
  12. Biotech Startups in India How India's biotech startups are funded and supported, why biotech is a hard business for young firms, and where new opportunities lie. 📄 Read-aloud
  13. AI and the Future of Drug Discovery How artificial intelligence is speeding up drug research, from protein structures to trial design, and a recap of pharma economics. 📄 Read-aloud

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