Monday March 11, 10:15 AM
Industry: Coming of age |
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By Equitymaster.com
One can safely say that the Indian pharma industry is now making its presence felt in the global markets. While the industry tourchbearers are making rapid strides in both research and international business, smaller players are also fast catching up. The industry is displaying its expertise in producing difficult to manufacture super generics at the most cost effective prices. On the other hand the R&D efforts, though minisucle on global benchmarks, is not something that one cannot ignore.
Once bound by the rigours of DPCO, the industry seems to be coming of age. Recognising the need to invest in R&D, the cummulative R&D has more than doubled in the last five years. The industry seems to be proving that the concerns over its survival post 2005 are unfounded to a large extent. Its not only the front runners that are looking for investing time and resources in research but other companies like Cadila, Glenmark, Lupin are also fast catching up. The country can now boast of 10-12 most modern and integrated R&D facilities. Dr. Reddy (REDY.BO, news) 's insulin sensitiser from the company's research stable is something which the global industry is eagerly awaiting.
On the other hand, Ranbaxy is rushing to enter the league of few pharma companies in the world with US$ 1 bn revenues. Ranbaxy is now one of the 10 largest generic companies in the US, with a unique distinction of being the fastest growing generic company. Ranbaxy, which was the first one to indentify the generic opportunity is planning to take the company truly global. The company already has its marketing infrastructure across 25 countries and it exports to more than 90 countries across the globe. Industry pharma exports have registered a sharp growth in the last decade. From a miniscule level of Rs 8 bn revenues in 1990's, the export value in the current year is expected to cross Rs 100 bn. And considering the rapid pace at which Indian companies are penetrating export markets these figures are only going to shoot higher.
There is no doubt that the industry is in for most exciting times ahead. It is matter of time before Indian brands capture a larger shelf space in the super stores of developed markets.
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