Indian Pharma Sees Surge in M&As

India’s domestic pharmaceutical market has been estimated to reach US$15 billion by the end of 2015, with a growth of 12%, according to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). Nearly 27–30% of India's pharmaceutical market is catered to by multinationals operating in India, while the top 20 companies account for 64% of the market. Macleoids tops the list with 23.4% growth followed by Intas with 21.3%, Cipla 19.7%, Glenmark more than 19.4% growth, and Mankind 19.3%. India’s pharma exports stood at US$ 15.3 billion in 2014–15.

According to IBEF, mergers and acquisitions (M&AS) in the industry accounted for US$5.78 billion, which is an increase of approximately 44.5% in comparison to 2013.

The local government’s ongoing efforts to make medicines accessible across India have resulted in a steady decline of communicable diseases. Polio and small pox, for example, have been successfully eradicated. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has implemented various national health and family welfare programs such as the prevention and control of major communicable diseases and maternal and child health initiatives.

The key drivers facilitating the growth of the Indian pharmaceutical market include public-private partnerships, an increased penetration of healthcare facilities in non-metro cities, the involvement of multinational companies in setting up facilities in the country, and the establishment of educational institutions. Other key assets that have played a role in India becoming a leading pharma market are a thorough know-how in the manufacture of generic drugs, rapidly developing R&D facilities with talented technical staffing, internationally recognized systems of pharmacy education, and a broad patient population pool enabling intense clinical trials.

India accounts for 30.3% (2911) of 9619 drug master files (DMFs) filed with the United States, which is the highest record outside the US. India has been accredited with approximately 1187 certificate of suitability (CEPs) and 584 sites approved by FDA.

Pharmaceutical R&D activities are gaining momentum in India despite the challenging intellectual property landscape. An average of 8–10% of the total revenue of the India domestic pharma market, i.e., US$15 billon, is spent on R&D.

Zydus Cadilla has developed Lipaglyn (sarogltazar) for the treatment of hypertrigycerdemia in patients with type-2 diabetes. Glenmark has several new chemical entities as well as biologic drugs.

Contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) in India is estimated to reach US$ 18 billion in 2018, up from US$ 7.6–7.8 billion in 2013. The biopharma market is valued at US$ 2.5 billion whereas India is expected to grab at least 20–25% of global market share in biosimilars in the next five years.

India is also making inroads to new regulated markets such as Japan. The industry took on several initiatives to engage Japanese pharmaceutical players, for example, providing contract manufacturing services for advance intermediates of drugs used in clinical development or compounds that are about to reach the market. India has also marketed APIs to Japanese generic drug companies.  

The past few years have repositioned India as one the major players in the healthcare and pharmaceutical arenas. Efforts to stimulate industry growth have started to show results in terms of India’s ranking in the global pharmaceutical market.

Source: IBEF