India is a prominent and rapidly growing presence in global pharmaceuticals.
It is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20% share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 62% of global demand for vaccines. India ranks 3rd worldwide for production by volume and 10th by value. India is the only country with largest number of US-FDA compliant Pharma plants (more than 262 including APIs) outside of USA. India has nearly 1400 WHO-GMP approved Pharma Plants, 253 European Directorate of Quality Medicines (EDQM) approved plants with modern state of the art Technology.
India is the source of 60,000 generic brands across 60 therapeutic categories and manufactures more than 500 different Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). The API industry is ranked third largest in the world contributing 57% of APIs to prequalified list of the WHO.
The country is home to more than 3,000 pharma companies with a strong network of over 10,500 manufacturing facilities. The domestic pharmaceuticals market turnover reached $20.03 bn in 2019, up 9.3% from 2018, growing as penetration of health insurance and pharmacies rise.
As world economies restart their engines in a bid to regain lost ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India too shows signs of economic buoyancy and promise. India’s Make in India initiative holds a key to the global economic revival, something that should interest Australian government ministries, corporate sector, entrepreneurs, institutions seeking R&D collaborations and Australia Inc in general, among others. India assumes greater importance as several major world economies including American, Japanese, German, British and South Korean look to move out and diversify their businesses from China. India has jumped to 63rd rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Development 2020 report, and has also been ranked as the 9th largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment destination in 2019 by the World Investment Report 2020 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Over the following weeks WATCH THIS SPACE of India News for emerging opportunities across 30 sectors in India, starting with pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and health in this edition.
The pharmaceutical industry was valued at $36 bn (2018-2019).
Generic drugs, with 71% market share, form the largest segment of the Pharmaceutical industry in India. This is set to grow as exports of generics to the US rise, as branded drugs worth US$ 55 billion will become off-patent during 2017-2019. In the domestic market by revenue, Anti-Infectives (13.6%), Cardiac (12.4%) and Gastrointestinal (11.5%) had the biggest market share.
Biotechnology: Leading the charge in vaccine development
India is among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world, with approximately 3% share in the global Biotechnology industry. India is also the leader in the global supply of DPT, BCG and measles vaccines.
The Biotechnology industry in India comprises of 2700+ Biotech start-ups and it expects to grow up to 10,000 by the year 2024. There are more than 2500+ Biotech companies in India.
India has the highest number of US FDA approved plants (665) outside of the US as well as 44% of global abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) and over 1400 manufacturing plants compliant with WHO.
Health: Towards a healthier India
Healthcare industry in India comprises of hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance and medical equipment. The industry is growing at a tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage, services and increasing expenditure by public as well as private players.
Growing incidence of lifestyle diseases, rising demand for affordable healthcare delivery systems due to the increasing healthcare costs, technological advancements, the emergence of telemedicine, rapid health insurance penetration and government initiatives like e-health together with tax benefits and incentives are driving healthcare market in India.
Medical Devices: Leading innovation for improved health
The medical devices industry in India consists of large multinationals as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) growing at an unprecedented scale.
The current market size of the medical devices industry in India is estimated to be $11 bn.
India’s medical devices industry is poised for significant growth in the next five years:
Imports: $6.2 bn, Exports: $2.1 bn (2018-19) India’s expected export of medical devices will reach ~ $10 bn by 2025. Overall import dependency of 75 – 80% in India.
The Government of India has taken several steps to ensure the growth of a vibrant ecosystem of medical devices manufacturing in India over the past 5 years:
Cancer care/Radiotherapy medical devices
Funding for Medical Devices Parks in the country, 2020