The Indian pharmaceutical industry, the most respected amongst the emerging nations, is one of the most sought after sectors from a global collaboration point of view. Having a strong macro and socio economic foundation, the “driving” factors are intrinsically deep-rooted in the Indian pharmaceutical sector and have not been deterred by recent speed breakers like quality issues faced by a few Indian  companies.  
 
The Indian pharma sector offers a lot to be optimistic about. The sector which was only $ six billion in 2005, has zoomed to $18 billion market in 2012, clocking a CAGR of 17 per cent. The sector is expected to grow to $45 billion by 2020. Even in the most pessimistic scenario, the sector is expected to be the sixth largest in the world in terms of absolute size by 2020.
 
The sector stands to benefit from various domestic and international driving factors. On the domestic front, the sector is expected to register a strong double-digit growth of 13-14 per cent in 2013 on back of increasing sales of generic medicines, continued growth in chronic therapies and a greater penetration in rural markets. Favourable factors such as increase in affordability driven by rise in per capita income, wider insurance penetration are also key growth drivers.

Exports continue to make a significant contribution to the industry growth story. Critical and developed markets like the US are driving growth in the generics segment. The “patent cliff” , the impending expiry of patents worth $ 148 billion is expected to buoy export oriented Indian generic companies. Apart from the developed markets, Indian pharma companies have established a strong presence in other fast growing semi-regulated markets like Russia, South Africa and Latin America.

Contrary to other sectors, the recent rupee depreciation has been a positive development as export-oriented pharma companies are expected to get better rupee realization for every dollar of sales generated.

The president Obama’s healthcare plan, popularly known as Obamacare is also a positive development for Indian players as it increases the scope of supplying high quality affordable drugs to the American markets.  

Recently in India, the Union Cabinet has proposed revision to the FIPB policy. If approved, the revised proposal states that 25 per cent of investment must be sanctioned towards R&D activities and if the projects deal with rare facilities and critical verticals, only 49 per cent FDI should be allowed post government approval. The key concern of the government is that high presences of multinational companies in India will negatively impact availability and affordability of off-patent medicines in India.

However, if one was to put the Indian pharmaceutical industry in perspective, the social threat as assumed by the government seems to be unwarranted.  

One of the key characteristics of the Indian pharma industry is the fact that it is very fragmented. The largest domestic market shareholders hold about seven per cent of the Indian markets, while the top 10 companies command about 40 per cent of the market share. On the other hand, India has the highest generic penetration of over 99 per cent and provides equal access to both large and small players.

The share of pharma companies of Indian origin is close to 73 per cent of the Indian market while multinational companies hold the remaining 27 per cent. This clearly indicates that the majority share of the Indian market is with domestic pharma companies and equally distributed amongst both large and small scale pharmaceutical companies. These statistics also indicate that the industry is well diversified and protected to cover the social concerns that have been cited by the Cabinet.

Over the last decade, various events have facilitated the stellar performance of the pharma industry. A major factor has been both inbound and outbound strategic initiatives undertaken by Indian and multinational pharma companies. In the previous decade, there have been close to 45 inbound transactions and over 15 of them have been in excess of $ 50 million toping $ 14 billion. During the same period, there were over 60 outbound transactions and over 22 of them were in excess of $50 million. This is a clear indicator that Indian pharmaceuticals are actively looking to grow in both the Indian and international markets and investors that are supporting these transactions should be supported and not disheartened.

For India to continue to be a force in the international markets, the industry needs to continuously invest in development of global R&D capabilities and develop its strong and well established CRAMS segment. India will have to imbibe the technical capabilities and knowledge of the west especially in areas of manufacturing and new drug delivery systems. Strong international collaborations and partnership will insure that India continues to reinvent itself by delivering on more value added products to the global markets, thus protecting its global market position.
 
Currently, India’s share of the US generic market is 24 per cent in terms of volume and 40 per cent of the new product approvals granted by the US FDA has been to Indian companies (YTD 2013). It has established a strong reputation in the global space for being a high quality supplier of affordable generics. In order to promote the sector, the regulatory authorities must not curb the inflow of funds as it will have a cascading affect that will adversely impact the outflow.

The Indian pharmasector is at the threshold of exponential growth. It is believed that the Indian pharma market will be amongst the top three global markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020. Curbing inbound M&A will adversely affect the pillar of globalization that currently supports this dynamic and fast growing sector. The Indian pharma segment should continue to be a two-way street that offers a win-win situation for both domestic as well as multinational pharma companies.