India’s Pharma Industry Expected To Reach US$55 Billion by 2020 Posted by Lucy Brake on Mar 18, 2013

A new study details how India’s exports of pharmaceuticals is predicted to rapidly expand in the coming decade, reaching US$25 billion by 2014 and US$55 billion by 2020.

The report, prepared by Cambridge Consultants, describes how the Indian drug industry currently produces over 10 per cent of the world’s medicines, and that there are over 20,000 Indian pharmaceutical companies employing in excess of 300,000 people.

The pharma sector in India revolves around the country being a major exporter of high-quality generic drugs and according to Ghulam Nabi Azzad, India’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare, the country is expecting to see the value of its drug exports double by the end of 2014.
It is considered that India’s pharma companies have fewer new generic opportunities because of declining numbers of US Federal Drug Agency new chemical entity filings and a peaking of expiring innovator patents. There is also plenty of competition from other emerging nations, such as China, and increasing threats from counterfeit medicines.

A pharma workshop held in Mumbai last week discussed how Indian pharmaceutical companies should focus on adopting innovative technologies and thinking strategically so that they stay competitive and continue to grow. Dr Cyrus Karkaria, president of the biotech division at Lupin Pharma India, said at the workshop: “Indian pharma companies must remain competitive and look to innovate and adopt technologies that can complement and accelerate the uptake of drugs for better health management”.

Continue reading here