India is, at the moment, a leading pharma producer in the pharmaceutical market. Its cost of production is significantly lower than that of the US and almost half of that of Europe and that gives to India a competitive edge over others.

A report on this growing marked was issued in July 2018 by the Indian brand equity foundation. Here the principal topics about India:

  • one of the highest exports
  • among fastest growing industries
  • rapidly growing healthcare sector
  • high potential generic market
  • robust growth in Biotech industry

Generic market

India is, globally, the largest provider of generic drugs. In particular, the indian pharmaceutical sector industry supplies:

  • <50% of global demand for various vaccines,
  • 40% of generic demand in the US,
  • 25% of all medicine in the UK.

The government plans to allocate US$ 70 million for local players to develop Biosimilars. Moreover, the domestic market is expected to reach US$ 27.9 billion in 2020 and US$ 40 billion by 2030.

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Domestic API consumption is expected to reach US$ 18.8 billion by FY22. In April 2018, a high-level task force was constituted to create a roadmap for increasing domestic production of APIs. Currently India imports over 60% of its APIs from other countries.

Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS)

That is a fragmented market with more than 1,000 players. CRAMS industry is estimated to reach US$ 18 billion in 2018 and expected to witness a strong growth at a CAGR of 18-20 per cent between 2013-18.

Market Size

The pharmaceutical sector was valued at US$ 33 billion in 2017. Based on moving annual turnover, Anti-infective, Cardiac, Gastro Intestinal had the biggest market share in the Indian pharma market in 2017. The country’s pharmaceutical industry is expected to expand at a CAGR of 22.4 per cent over 2015–20 to reach US$ 55 billion. India’s pharmaceutical exports stood at US$ 17.27 billion in 2017-18 and are expected to reach US$ 20 billion by 2020.The biggest export destination for Indian pharma product is the US. In 2017, 38% of India’s formulated product exports were to the US, followed by 20% to sub-Saharan Africa. In FY18, 31% of total pharma exports from India went to the US.

Indian companies received 304 Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in 2017. The country accounts for around 30 per cent (by volume) and about 10% (value) in the US$ 70-80 billion US generics market. India’s biotechnology industry is expected to rise at an average growth rate of around 30% a year and reach US$ 100 billion by 2025. Biopharma, comprising vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, is the largest sub-sector contributing nearly 62% of the total revenues (US$ 1.89 billion).

Government Initiatives

The Government of India plans to set up a US$ 640 million venture capital fund to boost drug discovery and strengthen pharmaceutical infrastructure. The ‘Pharma Vision 2020’ by the government’s Department of Pharmaceuticals aims to make India a major hub for end-to-end drug discovery.