Pill for China plus one

China for all manner of things, most crucially, medical supplies. That it was also China where the coronavirus originated made for macabre irony as Beijing tried to use the people's suffering for geopolitical gains.

World leaders recognised that the scale of reliance — fatal attraction, rather — was a national security threat. They devised a new lexicon to stay awake. 'De-risking', 'China plus one', 'friendshoring', 'resilient supply chains', 'trusted partners' and 'reliable geographies' became buzzwords. While progress was made to deny China the edge in semiconductors and critical minerals, focus on health security has been sporadic.

Both the US and India acknowledge that pharma supply chains are too concentrated in one country and the need for diversification is urgent. But little has been done to address the issue. A partnership on health security similar to the one forged on critical and emerging technologies could be an idea. Good thing is the building blocks are already in place.

Consider the facts.

• The US is the world's largest buyer of medicines and India one of its largest suppliers of generics.
• In 2022, of the 9.7 bn prescriptions filled in the US, 90% were for generics, of which 47% came from India, according to a study by IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.
• In the top 10 therapy areas by prescription volume, Indian companies supplied more than 50% of drugs for five, including hypertension, mental health and lipid regulators.
• Overall savings to the US healthcare system was to the tune of $219