India Pharma Leaders Urge Shift From Generic Drugs To Innovation
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Forbes India•05-10-2026, 17:21
India Pharma Leaders Urge Shift From Generic Drugs To Innovation
- •Major pharmaceutical leaders argue that India must transition from low-cost generics to developing new drugs following China's successful path.
- •Speaking at the IFQM Symposium 2026, industry figures like Dilip Shanghvi, Glenn Saldanha, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw emphasized that India has reached the scale required to invest heavily in innovation.
- •The domestic pharma market is valued at approximately $60 billion and is projected to more than double to $130 billion by 2030.
- •Experts highlighted the need for strategic policy-led ecosystems, faster regulatory reforms, and accelerated processes for early-stage molecules.
- •Industry leaders pointed out current hurdles such as local risk aversion and tedious clinical trial procedures, urging for a patient, long-term commitment to research and development.
Key Questions Answered
The domestic pharmaceutical market in India is valued at about $60 billion and is projected to more than double to reach $130 billion by 2030.
Sun Pharma's acquisition of Organon will enable the company to register products within about three years of a first-market launch and lift the share of innovative products in its business from roughly 22 percent to about 30 percent.
Industry leaders point out that India's basic problem is risk aversion, making local clinical trials tedious because people expect absolutely no adverse events. Consequently, companies like Biocon often prefer to run their clinical trials abroad.
