“Make in India” to fuel four-times growth in biosimilars and vaccines by 2026: CII-Kearney report

Global consulting firm Kearney, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), published a report today titled “Taking India’s life science to the global stage: “Make in India” to fuel four-times growth in biosimilars and vaccines by 2026.”

The report outlines that India is home to only eight per cent of the world’s biopharmaceutical market. Most of this share by volume is derived from vaccines—a category where India holds more than 40 per cent of the market share, according to WHO.

“India needs to build on the momentum by putting in place a sound biotech strategy encompassing investments, R&D, exports, and a strong start-up culture—an effort that will require involvement from the government, academia and the private sector. From its current share of only eight per cent in the overall biopharma manufacturing space, India can replicate its generics dominant position in this segment as well, commanding a share of 20 to 30 per cent within the next decade if decisive actions are taken,” said Saumya Krishna, Partner, Kearney.

She further added, “India pharma has continued to lag in driving cutting-edge innovation, ranking 14th by value despite being the world’s third-largest volume producer. The COVID-19 pandemic offers the potential of being the next step-change moment for the global pharmaceutical industry that can help India jump to the top.”

The report also said that two Indian companies have gotten approvals for biosimilars in the US and European markets. The development of the indigenous Covaxin vaccine for COVID-19 in record time is another recent success story. However, in an industry that thrives and rewards R&D innovation, India-led novel drug examples have been extremely rare. While global life sciences companies have been developing new biological entities for a while, the examples from India are extremely rare.

Adding to it, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said, “India’s lifescience industry has been one of the fundamental drivers in achieving better health outcomes, domestically and globally. This is thanks to the country’s inherent strengths in vaccine production, generic drugs, and more recently, its move towards biopharma. Despite India’s rising position in the global lifesciences industry, there are several segments where the country can further improve. A cohesive environment with the implementation of new policies will help in establishing self-sufficiency and usher a new era for growth in the industry.”