India’s pharmaceutical exports seem to be kicking the drift. Just when the geopolitical pressures and worldwide demand collapse have led to a reduction in general goods exports, pharma exports soared 9.6% to hit $27.8 billion in FY24.
This is the largest export growth for the pharma segment in the past three years. Authorities said that main categories such as generic formulations (73% of entire exports) and API (active pharmaceuticals ingredients) segments observed healthy growth from critical markets such as the US, Africa, and Europe.
The segment of Middle Eastern countries, which is at the center of geopolitical disorder, in total exports is fairly low at about 3.7%. Whereas it’s too early to comment on the falling effect of the Iran-Israel struggle, the pharma segment has been riding out the international storms intact so far, said Ravi Uday Bhaskar, administrator of the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).
The past couple of years have been mainly tough for Indian drugmakers. A sequence of quality gaps concerning Indian drugs was stated in countries such as Gambia, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan. In 2023, for example, Indian-made drugs came under examination after patients developed difficulties following cataract surgeries at state hospitals. Before that, the demise of 88 children in Gambia and Uzbekistan from Indian-made cough syrup damaged the country’s reputation for being a universal leader in the pharma category.
After these events, the administration began acting and reviewing the guidelines under Agenda M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 in January this year. These guidelines have presented new quality standards as per the present international regulatory requirements.
Specialists said drugmakers are trying new advanced methods to shield and grow exports despite the problematic market environment. Indian companies are capitalizing heavily on the advancement of their product range. They are entering into complex generics, injectables, and biosimilar classes to raise the export market. Simultaneously, pharma exporters are increasing their geographies to Japan and Latin American countries. However, there’s a lot more that can be attended to grow the export market further, said Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).
