The Hindu Business Line : Pharma ingredients potential put at $20 b by 2015

Pune, Oct. 17 The projected growth in the global healthcare market holds huge potential for the Indian pharma industry, in general, and for active pharma ingredients (API), in particular.

Mr Satish Khanna, Group President, API, Lupin Laboratories, placed the market opportunity for API by 2015 at $20 billion, including $10 billion in the Indian market alone.

Speaking on the challenges and opportunities for the Indian pharma industry at a meet organised by the Society of Chemical Industry, he said, “The API market size is around $2 billion currently with potential of $12 billion by 2015. With 80 per cent of these produced here, it is $10 billion (opportunity) a year just from India for India.”

Another $10 billion will come from the global demand generated as the API market grew from $48 billion to $80 billion, he added.

Mr Khanna pointed out that macro trends in the pharma industry such as greater demand from an ageing population, price parity and the loss in revenues on account of patent expiries were leading to restructuring initiatives in key MNCs.

He cited Astra Zeneca investing $40 million in India over the next few years with plans to outsource 95 per cent of its API requirements to developing countries including India, GSK’s plans for India to be R&D base and its intent to outsource all drugs that have gone off-patent to reduce costs and Novartis’ and Sanofi Aventis’ plan to make India a prime hub for R&D as examples.

Companies were moving from ownership of assets to access to assets, he said based on the principle, ‘Core they own, rest they outsource’. This would lead to emergence of opportunities from migration, aggregation and creation of manufacturing facilities.

Earlier, Dr Ian Cliffe, Director, Discovery Chemical Sciences, Ranbaxy Research Laboratories, speaking on ‘Scope for Research and Innovation in the Indian pharma industry’ said that India had opportunities for collaborative R&D and off-shoring.

“There is a shift in the centre of gravity in drug discovery research from the West to South-East Asia,” he said.

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