Pharmaceutical Industry In India Records High Growth

November 19, 2009 8:51 a.m. EST

New Delhi, India (AHN) - The Indian pharmaceutical industry has been growing in leaps and bounds during the last few years. According to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, as per the information available with the pharmaceuticals department the value of Indian pharmaceutical market is at present Rs. 55,454 crore ($11.9 billion).

The market was valued at $9.4 billion in 2007. It reached to $10.8 billion in 2008 and rose to $11.9 billion in 2009. The information was revealed in a government survey.

The survey carried out by ORG-IMS included the retail pharmaceutical market at MRP, generic plus companies not tracked by ORG, hospitals and institutional sales (except government procurement), direct doctor purchase, Pharmaceutical OTC products and diagnostics.

The pharmaceutical department monitors production of selected bulk drugs only.

According to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) during 2009-10, the price increase in respect of 122 cases of Scheduled drugs/formulations ranged from 0% to 25%. Only in three cases, the price increase was from 25% to 50% mainly due to upward revision in the notified price of the bulk drug.

Secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Kalhan Bajaj, warns that the trend might, see a reversal. As Bajaj says, "Many MNCs will buy into Indian pharmaceutical companies. Our exports have also been hit due to the recession."

Bajaj points out that the main problem is that almost all the companies are into generic drugs. "No new drugs are being discovered as it's a time consuming process. It takes at least 12 years to come up with a new drug and after that getting them approved is a huge task. The rejection rate is 90 percent," he said.

Bajaj says that in order for the pharmaceutical industry to maintain its upward trend, the Indian government needs to step in and support the companies by investing in research and development.

"Developing a new drug involves a cost of around $1-2 billion. No company at present has the financial prowess to do that," Bajaj said. "The government should step in before the MNCs does."

There are around 15,000 pharmaceutical companies in India.