India Tipped to be Major Exporter of Pharmaceuticals

september

30th

India Tipped to be Major Exporter of Pharmaceuticals

Report Buyer, the online destination for business intelligence for major industry sectors, has added a new report which forecasts that pharmaceutical exports from India will grow at a CAGR of 18.5% between 2007-08 and 2011-12.

Booming Pharma Sector in India finds that India has emerged as one of the world’s most promising destinations for pharmaceutical exports, with the country exporting drugs worth US$ 7.2 Billion in 2007-08. This growth will particularly be driven by multibillion dollar patent expirations and growth in the global generics market, it says.

Authors of the report say that Indian pharmaceutical companies hold a very strong competitive advantage in drug manufacturing over their Western counterparts in terms of cost of production and reverse engineering skills. The cost of manufacturing both bulk drugs as well as formulations in India is around 10%-20% of the cost it takes in the West.

The study also highlights that several Indian manufacturers have upgraded their manufacturing plants, enabling India to have one of the highest numbers of plants certified by the FDA, EDQM and other regulatory agencies.

The U.S. and Europe remain the biggest export destinations for Indian generics manufacturers. However, Indian companies are also increasing their presence in emerging markets such as those in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Research Highlights

Between 2007-08 and 2011-12, the Indian domestic pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 16%.

The size of the domestic pharmaceutical market is larger than export market. However, owing to the growth of global generics market, stringent price controls in the domestic market, and better margins, the export market is growing much faster than the domestic market.

Traditional branded generics presently dominate the Indian pharmaceutical market but the future will see strong growth in the specialty branded generics and patented drug segments.